“We’re not breaking into a millionaire’s home and stealing their stuff again,” Nolan says.
“Again?” Paisley asks.
Brandon, who seems to have turned over a new leaf, shakes his head. “They’re joking. Such a joke. Haha.”
“Oh, sorry! I thought you guys were being serious,” she says before looking at August and Landon. “How did you two begin dating?”
“Brandon dragged me into a bank which he was?—”
Brandon claps his hand over Landon’s mouth. “I was getting a loan… for my truck!”
“Oh yeah, that’s what happened,” August says. “Landon sprained his ankle watching Brandon get a loan, and I had to carry him to his car.”
“You sure did. It was a lot of work getting that loan. The guy almost didn’t want to give it to us for some reason. No idea why,” Landon muses. “Could have been the masks, or the pillowcases… or something.”
“So strange,” August agrees.
“You two are so sweet,” she says.
After we’re finished eating, Patricia looks at Landon. “What are we supposed to do if we can’t rob anything?”
“We could all read books?” Landon suggests.
She tsks. “Fucking hell, child, you’re so boring.”
“Paisley and I brought a croquet set!” Brandon says eagerly.
Patricia raises an eyebrow. “Croquet?”
“I’ve never played it, but I’ve heard of it,” Ellison says.
I shrug, up for anything. “Never played it or heard of it.”
“It’s got mallets!” Brandon says.
“I approve. Do we hit each other?”
“Balls, Asmodeus. We hit balls,” Ellison says, like it’s my fault for thinking otherwise. This family drives over one child, ditches the other with strangers, and he thinks it’s odd I’m asking if we’re supposed to smack each other with the mallets?
We follow everyone out to the backyard where I watch them set it up. They claim they have no idea how to set it up properly,so they just put the hoops in random spots with a stake here and there. Pocket Lint chases Brandon around and chews on his ankle some, dissatisfied that she gets no reaction out of him. Then she sees Nemesis and prances over to him. She doesn’t make it all the way there before Zacia leaps onto her, bats her once, and flies off. Pocket Lint barrels after the naked cat.
“Pick a color,” Landon says as he waves toward the mallets. “There are too many of us, so let’s just do teams. We’ll just do it so each person on the team swings once each turn.”
“Let’s go with red so it’s already the color of blood,” I decide, grabbing it just as Lex goes to grab the red.
“No, sorry. This is mine,” Lex says. “It’s Nolan’s favorite color.”
Nolan cocks his head. “Oh? My favorite color is blue.”
Lex’s hand stops mid-reach as he slowly looks over at Landon. “IS IT?” His voice becomes oddly squeaky. “IS IT?”
Nolan seems confused. “Yes. Yours must be red,” he says, noticing Lex’s all-red attire, hair, and nails.
“Ha… haha.”
“What a loser,” Landon says, all smiles.
Lex grabs the blue mallet and starts stalking toward Landon.
