“How so?”
“Not sure yet, but I’ll get back to you when I think of something.”
26
BLAKE
“Areyou sure this is a good idea?” I whispered as we walked out to the truck.
“I can hear you guys,” Wesley muttered.
Parker looked over his shoulder, then back to me. “It’s the only way to keep him out of juvie.”
“Just send me there. It’s not like it fucking matters,” Wesley grumbled, getting into the back of the truck.
I didn’t like the idea of him going to juvie, but I also wasn’t so sure about him working with John Callahan when he had an obvious hatred for anyone in the Parker family.
Climbing into the truck, I turned in my seat and glared at the kid now living under my roof. “Look, we’re trying to help you, and if you have to go work at The General Store, then that’s what you’ll do. I don’t think you realize the kind of people you’d meet in juvie. It would make your current life look like you were living with royalty.”
“Whatever,” he muttered, rolling his eyes at me.
Grabbing his headphones, he slipped them over his ears and tuned me out. As I turned back in my seat, I wondered if he had purchased those headphones or stolen them. Somehow, I didn’t picture his parents buying them for him.
“How are we gonna keep this kid out of trouble?” I hissed. “It’s like he wants to piss everyone off.”
“Because he does,” Parker retorted. His eyes flicked in the rearview mirrorat Wesley. “His parents didn’t give a shit. So, he’s testing his boundaries. Seeing what he can get away with.”
I was beginning to have serious doubts about taking him home, and it had only been one day. I wanted to help the kid, but what did I really know about children? I was pregnant for the first time, and I didn’t even know how I was going to handle a baby.
How was I going to deal with an emotionally deficient teenager?
“Look, he’s got the job, and maybe that’ll help with his attitude.”
“Sure, keep thinking that,” Wesley snorted from the backseat.
Clearly, he was paying attention more than we thought. Spinning in my seat, I faced my new ward. “Listen, there is so much more that you could do with your life. The path that you’re on right now? You’re gonna end up in jail for the rest of your life. Is that really what you want?”
“Is this where you hold my hand, and we all singKumbaya?”
Man, the attitude of this kid…and how did he even know the songKumbaya. Wasn’t that something you learned in Girl Scouts?
“I suppose living in an eight-by-eight cell is preferable to having a little freedom. Trust me, jail is not all it’s cracked up to be.”
“And you would know so much about it?” he scoffed.
“Well, yeah. I worked for the FBI,” I snapped.
His eyes lit slightly at that. “The FBI. Seriously?”
“Yeah. Really. And it was my job to put away criminals.”
“So, you know all about what the sentences are for crimes and shit.”
“Yeah, I do. Which is why I’m telling you that if you don’t change your attitude, there’s not a single judge in the world who would keep your ass out of jail.”
“Whatever. You’re former FBI. You can take care of it.”
I sat there, stunned by his flippant attitude. “That’s what you got from this?”
