I wait for Silas to say Margaret’s name. He hesitates long enough to make me think he won’t tell him about her involvement but he eventually comes clean. “Margaret was with me. Helped me get here. Honestly, without her, I’d still be sitting in that truck.”
“If it wasn’t for Margaret, you would be in Texas working and not hanging out with low-life drug dealers.”
Silas doesn’t say anything else, just stares at the ground.
“Is Paul Granger aware you took his truck out for a joyride?”
“I don’t think so. He passed out before we left.”
When he realizes he isn’t getting anything else out of Silas, Mr. Everett turns to me. “I’m sure you’re smart enough to figure out what we need from you but I’ll explain it so we’re clear. This is going to be a fucking disaster to clean up. So this is what happened tonight. Silas chose not to go with everyone else to the gin because he had already made plans with you. You came and picked Silas and Margaret up from Paul’s shortlyafter everyone else left. Once they were in your car, you dropped Margaret off at her house.” He pauses a second, looking at Silas. “I’m assuming that’s where she ran off to once she heard I was on the way here.”
“Yes, sir.” I barely recognize this meek version of Silas.
Mr. Everett turns his attention back to me. “After you dropped Margaret off, you and Silas went to our condo in Baton Rouge, where you both stayed the rest of the weekend. As you had originally planned. And if anyone comes asking, that’s exactly what you’ll say.”
I’m not sure what I was expecting but it wasn’t this. “You want me to be his alibi.”
“Do you love my daughter?”
His question is so surprising, I take a step back. “You know I do.”
“That makes you family.” By the way he flinches at his own words, I’m assuming they were painful to say. “Family helps each other out. Family protects family. Family makes sure family succeeds in life.” He pauses for effect. “If there was ever a moment where the ball is in your court, it’s this moment right now. You’ll never get an offer like the one I’m giving you again.”
He knows how enticing this is. If I cover for Silas, he won’t stand in the way of our relationship.
But he’s not finished. “And there’s the matter of what happened this afternoon.”
My mom.
She hasn’t been the same since my dad died last year. I got a call from her earlier this afternoon while I was at work. She was drunk and crying and rambling on about how we were about to lose everything. The house, her job, her car. I knew she was struggling emotionally and financially, but I didn’t know it had gotten that bad. And there isn’t much I can do forher until I graduate, since I’m barely getting by on my own. Scholarships, student loans, and a summer job are the only way I’ll able to go back to school this fall.
The second call I got this afternoon was from the president of the local bank. Apparently Mom had gone up there to beg them to give her more time to pay the mortgage and car note. From what it sounded like, she made a scene. I told him I would come and look into it, which I planned to do on my lunch break on Monday. I shouldn’t have been surprised he called Mr. Everett after getting off the phone with me. He wouldn’t have missed this opportunity to tell him about my family’s situation, since I’m dating his daughter.
“How is your mother now? I heard she had a rough afternoon.”
This shouldn’t feel as humiliating as it does. She’s a grieving woman. I have to clear the emotion from my throat to answer. “She’s resting.”
She actually passed out before I got home. Slumped over on the couch with an empty vodka bottle next to her. I got her in bed without her waking up.
“Another benefit of being a part of a family…my family…is we make sure everyone we care about is taken care of. And since you obviously care about your mother, so do I, which is why I’ll make sure she gets the help she needs and ensure the bank understands a little leniency and forgiveness are called for in tough times like these.”
Shit. He knows he’s got me now. Because agreeing not to stand between Camille and me doesn’t mean Camille and I are guaranteed to stay together. But offering to help Mom is a game changer. She needs help with the depression plaguing her, driving her to drink. She needs financial help. All the things I can’t give her.
“Ben, am I right to consider you a part of our family?”
I hesitate only a second before saying, “Yes, sir, I would be honored to be a part of your family.”
Mr. Everett’s face relaxes for the first time since he got here. Silas is staring at me, though, seemingly shocked I’ve agreed to his dad’s plan.
Mr. Everett extends his hand and we shake. I can’t help but feel I just made a deal with the devil.
“I expect the two of you on the road to Baton Rouge within the next ten minutes. Do not stop on the way. Not anywhere. I will call to check in tomorrow.”
“What about Margaret?” Silas asks.
“I will speak with her personally.”
I can tell there’s more Silas wants to say but doesn’t.
