“Then if you have everything handled, and you know exactly what you’re doing, why did you call me today? There’s something you’re not telling me. I can feel it.”
There’s a lot of shit I’m not telling him, which of course he can feel, because he’s my damn identical twin. It’s always been the greatest, yet also the most annoying thing about being brothers.
“Obviously, I don’t do what the rest of you do,” I say, referring to professional fixes.
“Right.”
“And the girl gave me a deadline to find him. Three days.”
“Three days?” Seven scoffs. “That ain’t going to happen. We haven’t had one lead on him for six years. He’s like a phantom.”
“Now we have more information.”
“Why is there a deadline?”
“She needs his help with something personal, I’m assuming, probably to get away from the guy I’m about to give a beat down.”
“Then problem solved. You beat his ass, and that buys you more time to figure this out or tell Dad.”
“I’m not telling Dad.”
My Father and I are in a delicate place. He blames himself for what happened to me but is also incredibly disappointed that I haven’t taken advantage of what he deems is my second chance at life. The emergency room doctors made it clear to my parents that I almost died from blood loss that day. If Seven had taken a half hour longer to find me, I’d be dead.
It’s clear that both of my parents think I’m blowing my second chance by living a “meaningless” life as a bounty hunter. I think my Mom almost wishes that I’d live off the trust fund that Grandpa Joe established for each of us instead of doing what I do, because work keeps me away from home and away from her.
But what she has to accept is that I can’t change the past. I’m not that fun, life of the party kid she raised anymore. I’m staying away from my family because I should.
I spend most of my days managing my pain with liquor, tracking some shit stain who’s skipped on his bail, and fucking my misery away all night. What mother wants to watch that?
“You’re not telling Dad and you’re telling me instead, so that if God forbid something happens to you they’ll what, blame me again?”
“What are you talking about? They’ll blame you? You’re internalizing your own bullshit guilt again. Nobody blames you for anything, Seven.”
“If you believe that our Father or our Uncles don’t hold me responsible for that night, then you’re farther gone than I thought you were.”
I’m at the top of Ruby’s block and can see from a distance someone who I assume is Karma’s ex pacing across the front lawn, but this is an important conversation, so I stay in the car. Seven and I haven’t been this raw and honest with each other in years.
“How would you be responsible, Seven? That makes zero fucking sense.”
“We knew there was a serious threat made against the family and we didn’t take it seriously. We blew off the security detail. We kept going places by ourselves and we weren’t even armed.”
“We were kids! We were doing what college kids do.”
“Exactly my point. We made a lot of immature and selfish decisions back then. If security had been with us, this would have never happened.”
“And how is that your fault? I’m the one who suggested we duck them. I was too worried about getting my dick wet and they were cock blocking us at every turn.”
“Of course, it was your suggestion to duck them. Everyone knows that it was your idea because that’s who you are, that’s what you do, but who am I in that equation? I’m the brother who’s supposed to be the voice of reason. I’m the one who’s supposed to always keep you in check, but I didn’t do it that day, did I? And because I was asleep at the wheel, my brother got kidnapped, tortured, damn near left for dead, and I didn’t even have a clue! I was stumbling around the dorm looking for you for an hour before I realized that something was actually wrong.”
I slam on the brakes in the middle of Ruby’s block.
“So you’re saying that I’m the fuck up in the family and you were what, always responsible for me?”
I thought it was guilt that fueled this rift between us, but now I see that wasn’t what it was at all.
It’s resentment.
I should have known this was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have called him.
