So they both sat there with two full shakes in front of thembecause Archie didn’t fuck around withhalfsies.
The taste test was done, and Jag had discovered that Mal wasright.
The syrup option was seriously better.
As they slurped between the two, Jag asked, “Your mom okaywith all the stuff?”
From Mal:Slurp.“She freaked out at first.”Slurp.“Went into the school and lost it on the principal.”Slurp.“Hestepped up surveillance of the Harris brothers.”Slurp.“They weresuspended today.”
Jag turned from his shake to Mal.“They fucked with youagain?”
Mal shook his head even with the straw still in his mouth.
Slurp.
He then let the straw go and looked up at Jag.
“There’s a girl.She’s in a special needs class.She’s superpretty but she sees letters backward or something.”
“Dyslexic,” Jagger told him.
“Yeah.That.They mess with her too.Mostly because Aaronlikes her, and she thinks he’s a dick.The more she puts him off, the moreAaron pulls shit with her.They messed with her today.Since teachers were onhigh alert about them because Mom lost her mind, they were caught.”
“Allan in on it?”
Mal put the straw between his lips, shook his head and,slurp.
Then he said, “No, I wasn’t there.I didn’t see what theydid.But I figure it was a guilt by association thing.”
“He ever in on it?”Jag asked.
Mal shifted the glasses in front of him while shaking hishead again.“Allan’s quiet.Get him away from Aaron, he’s not a total asshole.But twisted props to him, he never leaves his brother hanging.”
Jag didn’t have any brothers who were dickheads, either ofthe blood or of the cut.
But he suspected, he got fucked repeatedly because of theirdamage, it’d eventually begin to get old.
“I should probably tell you not to cuss,” Jagger noted.
Mal shot him a smile.“You probably should.”
Jagger smiled back but said no more on that subject.
Instead, he said, “You walking with the store crew hereafter school like I told you?”
Mal got instantly serious.
“Yeah, but I don’t blame them, Jagger,” he said.“No onewants to be a target of those jerks.”
“There’s safety in numbers,” Jag pointed out.
“Maybe.”He shrugged.“Maybe not.But I get not wanting totake chances with that.”
“I don’t get that,bruh, becauseyou look out for your own.Even if you get your ass kicked doing it, or someonedogs you, it doesn’t matter.You take your brother’s back.”
Mal lost interest in his shakes and stared at Jagger.
“Same goes for you with them,” Jag continued.“It sucks,they’ve been messing with you.But if their focus shifts, Mal, to one of yourbros, or one of the girls, you back them.You with me?”
