“Kaine, I didn’t know—” I began.
He held his finger up, interrupting me. He turned and glared at his brother.
“Youplanned this?” he demanded.
“I had help,” Bishop answered placidly, scanning the menu.
“Who?” Kaine demanded furiously.
“The ‘rents. Who else?” Bishop answered, chuckling.
Kaine swatted his menu down on the table.
“I should have known better than to trust Mama K when she offered to drop me off on her way to her reading group,” Kaine sighed.
“Yep. Her reading group ended last May,” Bishop answered.
“Last— no…” Kaine muttered, obviously trying to figure out how long it had been. He sighed after a moment. “Fine. I’m a little out of touch. Just remember, paybacks are a bitch.”
“Yeah, yeah…” Bishop answered.
The waitress showed up and took our orders, then silence fell at the table. After it had lasted for a few minutes, Bishop sighed.
“Shit, really? Again?” He asked. “Fine. Apparently, this time I have to stay and referee you two, because you don’t know how to have an adult conversation.”
Kaine and I both bristled at Bishop’s assessment of us, but I had to admit he wasn’t wrong. He turned to me.
“Nick, what the hell happened?” he asked, his golden-brown eyes pinning me to my seat.
Kaine looked at me angrily, but expectantly, too. I sighed again, wishing suddenly my soda was something with a much higher alcohol content. I owed him a better answer than I’d given him the night before.
“When I was diagnosed, my Mom admitted she had cheated on my dad years before. That was how she got HIV. My parents split up. To get my dad to agree to give her the divorce she wanted, I had to agree to stay with him in Florida,” I said.
I saw Bishop and Kaine both taking in the partial revelation. It wasn’t the whole story, but I thought it was enough for now. I didn’t want to go into all the sordid details in the middle of a restaurant.
“He— he made me cut things off with you. Kaine. If I hadn’t—” I looked at Kaine. I didn’t want to tell him about my dad threatening to kill my mom and me. It seemed so out there. I mean, whodidthat? It certainly didn’t happen around here, right? “If I hadn’t, he wouldn’t have done what she needed him to do.”
I dropped Kaine’s gaze to stare at the tabletop. I had my hands clasped in front of me, and this time it was my turn to have white knuckles. I forced myself to relax, taking a deep breath.
“He— he made you—” Kaine sputtered. “That sonofabitch!”
Kaine’s face was flushed and his eyes glittered dangerously. His voice had risen about the noise of the crowd and drawn the attention of some of the diners.
“Kaine! It was my choice. I’m so sorry, but it was the only choice I could make,” I said. I reached out hesitantly and placed my hand over his. “But it’s over. He can’t control me any longer. He doesn’t have any more power over me.”
Kaine stared at where our hands touched, and I saw him visibly struggle to release his anger. It took a few moments, but his fury slowly seemed to drain away. I withdrew my hand under the guise of taking a drink of my soda, and my skin tingled where I’d touched him.
Bishop gestured to the waitress and ordered a round of drinks for all of us. She eyed me for a moment. Before she could even ask, I got out my ID. I still had my Florida ID, and she stared at it for a while as if trying to find a counterfeit stamp on it. I looked a little young for my age, and I got carded regularly. My supposed friends both snickered at me as I put my license away. By the time she came back with the drinks, we had all relaxed a little.
“He… he’s why you cut things off?” Kaine asked. “That’s why you said what you did?”
I nodded.
“There was some— some other stuff, too, but that was the most important reason,” I said, glancing in Bishop’s direction. Bishop was watching his brother with a satisfied smirk on his face, and I really wanted to dump his drink on him. I might have to tell Kaine about what happened with my father, but I wasn’t ready to share it with everyone yet.
Kaine stared at me. I knew he’d seen my glance at Bishop, and I hoped he’d realize there were things I didn’t want to say in front of his brother.
The waitress brought our food a few minutes later, and conversation started to flow more naturally as we began to catch up. We talked about school, jobs, friends. I told the brothers about Vivian and her parents, and how much her friendship had meant to me.
