Page 58 of Grace

“Where the fuck were you?” I attacked her instantly.

“With the guys,” she replied flippantly.

“And why don’t you pick up the goddamn phone when someone is calling?”

“What the hell is wrong with you, Grace?”

“Where is the dope, Nikky?” I stepped in front of her quickly, and shook her by the shoulders.

“You are insane!” she screamed, and shoved me back, making me stumble back a few steps. “What dope?”

“The dope you took from Jamie.”

“I gave it to Bo.”

“They killed Jamie!” I screamed, completely losing control.

“What?” She looked at me with her mouth wide open, without blinking.

“Those guys don’t mess around, Nikky. You must get it back… because they’re gonna come back for it. They shot him right in front of my eyes…”

When I thought about Jamie, tears flooded my eyes. He had been withdrawn and sometimes acted weird, but he was still my brother—who was much nicer to me than Nikky.

“Calm the fuck down, Grace!” she yelled. “Where is his body now?”

“I pulled him behind the house.” I buried my burning face in my hands.

“We’re going to bury him.”

Now it was my turn to stare at her with my mouth wide open, without blinking. “What are you talking about? Jamie was our brother. He deserves a proper funeral!”

Nikky started to walk toward the door angrily. “You’ve lived here with us, but you have no idea who Jamie got tangled up with. I won’t go to jail because of him and Bo—and I don’t think you want to, either. I’ll get the dope back—I don’t think Bo has sold it yet. Have you talked to Cyrus?”

“No,” I snuffled. “But…”

“Don’t even think about it! Not for a second!” The force behind her words overwhelmed me. She turned to me, her cold face showing emotions that scared me, held up her index finger in warning, then called Bo.

I followed her to the courtyard with quick steps.

“Fuck you!” she hissed. “He didn’t pick up,” she grumbled, then picked up the shovel leaning against the side of the house.

“I’ll text him. In the meantime, you start digging.” She put the shovel in my hand. She licked her upper lip, then pulled the hairband off her wrist and tied her long blonde hair into a ponytail.

“We can’t do this, Nikky. Jamie—”

“—was a loser.”

“He died because of you! You got our brother killed! Why did you give the dope to Bo? If you knew the people Jamie had tangled up with… Why, Nikky?”

“People sometimes make bad decisions on impulse, Grace.” She lit a cigarette with shaking hands. “Listen, I’ll go to Bo. In the meantime, you should… Fuck. This is gonna take hours.” She pinched her nose. “You should go into the house and close the door. Don’t open it to anyone. The boys will help with the digging.”

“Nikky…” My voice trembled, and sorrow and anger burned like acid in my throat.

“You have to be strong, Grace. I’ll come back, okay?”

“Okay.”

I did what she told me: I went into the house and locked the door. I sat on the couch, holding Whiskers against my chest, stroking his soft fur.