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THIRTY-EIGHT
east
“OH, JAMES, IT was dreadful,” my mother said, barely giving me a hello before she started the retelling of what had gone down. “There I was, having high tea in the parlor with the ladies from the Partridge Historical Society when all of a sudden, dozens of men burst inside. They broke down the door dressed all in black. Guns drawn and pointed at us like we were criminals.Criminals,James. They were shouting, the ladies were screaming, and Miss Faye fell right over and nearly smacked her head on the Boca Do Lobo table. Can you imagine? If she’d been concussed right there on the parquet floor?”
“I don’t care about Miss Faye, Mother; I care about my father. You know, the one who was arrested?”
“Of course I know, I was there. It was the most terrifying ordeal, you just couldn’t imagine. Your poor father in handcuffs…” Her breath hitched like a fresh wave of tears was imminent. “And all the society ladies saw what happened?—”
“Who gives a shit what they saw? Why hasn’t he been bailed out yet?”
“Darling, it’s not possible on a weekend. Those horrible people waited until late Friday so he’d have to stay. Your poor father…wearing that same suit for several days?—”
“I’m sure they gave him something more comfortable to wear.”Something orange and ill-fitting.My head began to throb, and I rubbed my thumb over the space between my eyes. “So what does all this mean? They’ve frozen all our accounts? We can’t go home? What the hell do we do?”
“James, it doesn’t become you to be hysterical.”
“No, that’s your job,” I muttered. If she heard me, she pretended not to notice. “Can you give me something here?”
“For the time being, perhaps allow your friends to pick up the tab on any of your excursions. Just until we get this silly situation sorted out.”
Excursions?Silly situation? Was she hearing herself?
I put her on speaker and pulled up one of the articles on the screen. “I’m reading this shit right now. This isn't some accidental arrest—these are serious charges. If he really did all this, he’s going to prison, do you understand that? And not just for six months or a year. He could go forlife.”
She broke out into a long wail, and I had to take her off speaker so King and Zac didn’t come running thinking I’d decided to jump out of the window.
“I can’t be married to a felon,” she said, sniffling. “He’ll ruin us all. Our good name, just dragged through the mud. What will everyone think?”
“Why are you more concerned with what your friends think than what Father did? Or did you know what was happening?”
“Of course I didn’t know.”
“You sure about that? Because if you did, they’ll find out. I’ll have two parents in federal prison?—”
She wailed even louder, and I had to pull the phone away from my ear. God, this was going nowhere. I’d always rolled my eyes when one of my friends claimed I had my priorities all out of whack, but they hadn’t met my parents—who, up until now,I’d thought were smart, sensible people who enjoyed the finer things life had to offer.
“You know what, Mother, I’ve got to go,” I said. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Before she could respond, I ended the call. Tempted as I was to throw the damn phone, I refrained, but only because it wasn’t mine.
What a mess. A felon father who was going to rot in prison. A mother who was focused on how bad this all made her look. And no real answers.
Oh, other than to let my friends pay for shit.
There couldn’t be anything more horrifying in the world than the thought of a denied credit card. It made the bile rise in my throat until I thought I’d?—
“East?” Zac stood in the doorway, a dirty martini in hand. “We thought you could use one of these.”
Alcohol. Thank fuck.I could’ve kissed him in that moment. Actually…
I walked over to where he stood, a cautious look on his face, took the drink from him, then reached for the back of his neck and pulled him in to take what I wanted—no,needed—in that moment.
Zac stumbled forward a step, caught off guard, but the second my tongue slid across the seam of his lips, he parted for me.
“Thank you,” I said, letting him go, then I took a sip of the drink and let out a sigh of pleasure. “This is perfect.”
“I’d love to take credit for it, but that’s all King.”
