Since thatsitchwith Mal the weekbefore, Jagger had made a point to hang at the store, mostly just to be around,be visible.
Be available.
For Mal.
Mal hadn’t taken him up on this in the way Jagger wanted,sharing what might be going down at school (or after it) that continued to draghis mood down.
That didn’t mean Mal didn’t respond to Jagger being around.
They connected.
It was surface, but definitely Mal got something out ofJagger giving a shit.
Could be it elevated his position in the kid gang at thestore, having Jagger’s attention, Jagger being Archie’s, Archie being sofucking awesome.
Could be he just needed a consistent man in his life sincehis dad was temporarily out of the picture, and Fabe didn’t play favorites, buthe was also at work, and his work wasn’t hanging with the kids, so he didn’thave the time.
“What’s the gig with his dad again?”Dutch asked, bringingJagger out of his thoughts and into the now.
His convo with Archie that weekend got him to thinking.
It also prodded him to reach out to his brother, share whatArchie did for her community and get into what was going on with Mal.
He finished this with sharing with Dutch that he thought itwas time for some sleuthing, and asked him if he wanted to join in.
First, Dutch thought it was the shit that Archie stepped upfor her people that way (and he was right).
Second, Dutch hadn’t hesitated when Jagger asked if hewanted in.
And there they were.
Jag felt good about this.
It was right.Two brothers hanging together, workingsomething important.It was how it should be.
And maybe he should go to his ma and Hound, share aboutArchie, her kids and Mal and get their take on it.
One thing Keely and Hound Ironside knew was raising boys.
But for now…
“The dad’s in the military.He was transferred.He’s nowstationed in one of the Carolinas, and he’s currently deployed,” he answeredDutch’s question.“But I get the sense from Archie that the dad isn’t anissue.”
“But the kid doesn’t talk about it?”Dutch asked.
“Nope,” Jagger answered, thinking this said a lot, just notcertain what it said.
Dutch didn’t ask about the mom.Or the sick grandma.
He asked about the dad, like the dad might be an issue, whenin this case, the dad wasn’t an issue.
But that was Dutch’s first go-to.
And there it was.
It was a thing, boys and their dads.
It wasn’t just Jag.
