“And look how you turned out, right?” I’m proud of how Josh turned his life around.
“You’re not making your case here, Greer. Argh.” He scrubs his hands over his face. “Who am I kidding? I have no idea what I’m doing. What if I screw this up?” There’s real worry in his voice. So much for the selfish, self-absorbed guy he claims to be.
“Seems to me you’re doing okay so far. And you know what? If you do screw up, you can always call on the brains trust. Dad eats this shit up for breakfast.”
All the annoyance and frustration I’ve felt over the way Josh has pushed me away has melted in the past few hours. The way he dropped everything to help his brother, no questions asked, shows what a deep down good person he is. He’s the only one who can’t see it because he’s so attached to the screw-up narrative his father embedded when he was a kid. Getting him to see himself for who he is now won’t be easy.
Tyrone sleeps until late afternoon, and by the time he wanders out of his bedroom, Josh and I have cleaned up the mess and stocked the pantry and fridge. He looks relaxed until he spots the recycling bin full of empty bottles.
“What the fuck?” he shrieks. “Where’s all my booze?”
“Down the drain. Where it belongs. You’re seventeen, not twenty-seven. There’ll be no more alcohol, no more drugs and no more car,” Josh responds, calm but firm.
Ty groans and runs to his bedroom. We can hear him tearing his room apart. “No, no, no. Not the drugs. Shit man. Not the drugs.”
“Yep. The drugs. All gone, kid.”
“You’re an arsehole, you know that?”
“I’ve been told. Now, you and I are going to take all these empties downstairs to the bins. Then how about some pizza for dinner? Or would you prefer Thai?”
“What? What are you even still doing here? Go home, old man.”
“Oh, I will. Tomorrow afternoon, after I drop you at school. Until then, you’re stuck with me.”
“Us,” I chip in.
Tyrone gives me one of his so-not-sexy teenage once-overs. “You, I can handle,” he says, and it’s all I can do not to laugh at his attempt at a Joey Tribbiani-style come-on.
“We’re a package deal, I’m afraid.” I grin at Josh, who doesn’t say anything to contradict the suggestion we’re a couple.
“Aww, damn. What a waste. Any time you want to trade up, Greer, you let me know.” Ty gives me a wink. I worry about the state of the world if this stuff works on young girls.
“I’ll be sure to remember that.” I have to turn away so he doesn’t see my smile, but Josh catches it in my reflection in the window. The same way I catch him clipping Ty over the ear.
“Respect, kid. Don’t forget it.”
It takes three trips for them to get all the rubbish out of the apartment and into the bins, by which time both the dishwasher and the washing machine are on their final loads. At least the place is now smelling less like a seedy pub, since I opened a few windows and lit a candle I found on the sideboard.
In the end, we order burgers and chips, and Ty gripes about drinking cola rather than beer. By the time we’ve finished dinner and a stupid movie about some sort of alien monsters the guys both loved, it’s obvious we’re all ready for bed.
Ty gives me one of his t-shirts to sleep in, and Josh gives me the bed in the spare room, making himself up a nest on the sofa.
“There’s another bed, you know,” I remind him, pointing to his stepmother’s room. “Although you might need the window all the way open. Even though she’s not here, there’s an overpowering perfume fog in there.”
“Yeah, not on your life. I’m sleeping here, where he has to go past me to get to the front door. And when I say sleeping, I mean lying in wait.”
“You don’t think that’s a bit of overkill?”
“Watch and learn, Greer. Watch and learn.”
I feel like I’ve barely drifted off to sleep when I hear a blood-curdling scream.
Chapter Seventeen
Josh
Ittakesalittlelonger than I expected. I guess Ty really is exhausted. My phone is showing just shy of two when I hear the almost imperceptible click of a door opening and closing. Ty creeps towards the hallway, pausing as he passes the sofa to check I’m asleep. My eyes are closed. I keep my breathing deep and even. And Fuck, it’s a struggle to keep the grin off my face. I wait until he’s almost at the front door.
