With that, she took off.
Jagger lifted his Coke and sucked some back.
Dutch showed and took the position Archie had been in at theback counter.
“Belated intro, that’s my brother, Dutch,” Jaggerintroduced.
“Yo,” Dutch said to Mal.
“Yo,” Mal replied, then bent hishead to the striped, paper straw coming out of his glass.
Jag couldn’t get a bead on him.
But just to cover his bases…
“Don’t be pissed at Arch.Like she said, she’s sharing withyour mom because she cares about you.”
“You guys think it’s this.It’s not this.Though, Dad’sticked about this,” Mal mumbled to his drink.
Jag shot a look to Dutch who had his arms crossed on hischest, his boots crossed at the ankles, but he didn’t move after Mal spoke,except to catch Jag’s look.
That was an opening and Jag wanted to jump on it and tear itwide.
But he fought against that urge, and instead proceededcarefully.
“Your dad knows about the twins?”Jag asked.
Mal sucked back more Coke.
“Mal, buddy, pleasetal—”
Mal let go of the straw, and still slumped over his drink,he turned only his head to Jag.
“He wants me to tell Mom.I don’t want to worry her.I canhandle the twins.”
“No offense, bro, but it wasn’t looking that way to me,” Jagreplied warily.
“I don’t care about them.”
“Youkindahid that you wereracing away from them, but not totally,” Jagger pointed out.
“Not wanting to put up with their shit isn’t the same ascaring about them.”
You couldn’t argue that.
“Have they done this before?”Dutch asked.
Mal looked to him and Jag didn’t know whether to give Dutchthe sign to shut up, or not.Jag barely knew the kid.Dutch didn’t know him atall.And he was finally talking, they didn’t need for him to clam up.
“The shoving, yeah.The kicking, no.The generally being apain in the ass, all the time.But they don’t matter,” Mal answered Dutch.
Jag let out a relieved breath, hearing the news that todaywas the day it escalated, and today was the day they were making moves to put astop to it.
Then he asked, “So your dad knows and…”
Mal looked to him.“And I told him I can hack it.I made himpromise not to tell Mom.So he’s ticked that the Harris brothers are beingpains in my ass, and he’s ticked because he thinks Mom should know.He’s alsoticked that school hasn’t done something about it.But I told him I’m the manof the house now, so I get to make that choice.And he got me, so he stooddown.”
Right, well…
