“Sure am.” Once again, her face falls. “I guess I am, aren’t I?”
“Only if you get caught.”
“In that case, are any of us criminals?”
“Trips is,” I state.
She sits up straight. “Mr. Rich-Boy-Finance-Bro has a record?”
“Sealed because he was a minor, but yeah.”
“What for?”
I go grab a box of crackers. “You remember the house party you went to with us last fall?”
“The one where Bryce showed up and wrecked Clara’s arm, then Trips absolutely destroyed Bryce? I couldn’t forget that if I tried.”
“Well, Trips has done that a few times. Always because some guy’s getting physical with a girl. And the first time, his dad let it make it onto his record.”
“Why? If he has the power to keep that from happening?”
I shrug. “Trips thinks it was a combination of a punishment and his first move in building up Trips’ reputation as an unhinged monster. Which is what his dad wants everyone to think he is.”
“That family is just…weird.”
I bark out another laugh, unable to keep it in, giggling and coughing in equal measure. Emma rushes to get me some water, and once I can keep from spitting it all over the floor, she sits back down across from me.
“Weird? That’s what you chose? Not scary or evil or proof that money corrupts?” I choke out.
“Well, all of those too, but also, weird. Like, I feel like most abusive parents I’ve come across are kind of lazy about it. But Trips’ dad is playing 3D chess with his abuse, and that’s just, well, weird.”
Shaking my head, I munch on some crackers, the silence between us much less fraught than it was twenty minutes ago.
“Emma?” I ask after a bit.
“Yeah?”
“Do you think Evie will ever forgive us?”
Emma takes a cracker, but doesn’t eat it. Instead, she carefully breaks it until it’s nothing more than crumbs left on the table. “Before this, I would have said yes without a second’s hesitation.”
“And now?”
Her blue eyes are dark with hurt when she looks up. “I don’t know. Not anymore.”
“Do you think it’s worth the risk to find out, to let her know I’m okay?”
She brushes the crumbs into her palm, standing to toss them into the garbage. “What if she doesn’t forgive us? Even after seeing you’re okay?”
I blink back tears. “Then I guess she doesn’t love us enough to give us a second chance.”
Chapter 13
RJ
Trips is a no-show for the whole second week after Jansen got himself shot. We’d be more worried if we hadn’t gotten Clara’s note. At least he’s alive. But apparently, not well.
I still don’t understand how Clara looked so composed, so at ease whenever one of us brushed against her, how she’d trailed her fingers over the back of my hand, or gripped Walker’s palm when we’d tried and failed to get a note back from her. It’s infuriating—the woman I love was locked away for a week, and Trips is still caged. It’s a vicious punishment if Trips’ description of his childhood is accurate. One that began with Clara killing a man.
