“Ah.”
There’s something about the comprehension in his tone that bothers me. Like he now understands something about me he didn’t before. Maybe I shouldn’t have told him even that much. “They were always assholes and bullies,” I add. “They fit right in.”
“They hurt you?”
“Mostly emotionally, although they occasionally pushed me around.”
“I’m sorry you got stuck with them as brothers then.”
I can’t hear anything fake or mocking in his tone, so I assume he means it. “Thanks,” I mumble. “My parents weren’t much better. I didn’t luck out in the family department. That’s for sure.”
“Yeah. I hear that.”
“What did you get stuck with?”
“Drunk father who mostly spoke with his fists.”
“Shit. What about your mom?”
“She wasn’t strong enough to do anything about it.”
“Did you have brothers or sisters?”
“Little sister. She was the only good thing about growin’ up.”
His tone is as edgy as I feel.
With a delicacy that’s not normally like me, I ask, “Is she still around?”
“No.”
I don’t pursue the topic. Instead, I ask, “What did you do to piss off the militia types?”
“Doesn’t take much. Took somethin’ back they thought was theirs.”
“Was it theirs?”
“Absolutely not.”
I believe him. I don’t know why, but I do. If he’s on the wrong side of that militia, then he’s on the right side, as far as I’m concerned.
“Your brothers still with ’em?” Micah asks after a minute.
“I don’t know. I don’t think so. A big group broke off shortly after they joined up and joined a drove. I’m pretty sure they went with them.” I blow out a breath. “I hope they did. I never want to see them again, and if they’re still with that militia group, then they’re way too close to me.”
“What’re their names?”
A chill runs through me. “Are you familiar enough with that militia to know them by name?”
“No! No way. Just curious.”
Relieved, I tell him the truth. “Tim and Mike. My husband was Jesse.”
“Your husband?”
The shock in his tone clues me in that I haven’t shared this minor fact of my background with him yet. “Yeah. He was my boyfriend all through high school. Just before Impact, we eloped and ran off. Moved out here.”
“He died?”
