PROLOGUE
You ever notice how, in a family with two or more brothers, one of them usually ends up with a better deal? Better hair. Better looks. Better everything?
Yeah. That was me.
And there’s also one who’s more charming and likeable.
More athletic and can just do shit without trying.
Also, me.
I didn’t ask for it. I didn’t even make a big deal about. It was just the way it was. It was like the good Lord dropped me on Earth and said, “Here ya go, kid. Try not to cause too much trouble.”
And I did try, but trouble seemed to follow me like a bad itch.
Girls, school, and everything in between. I’d start with just a little scratch, and the next thing you know, I was deep down in the thick of it. I couldn’t seem to help myself, but I always managed to weasel out of it, except when it came to my brother.
Davis wasn’t an ugly guy.
He wasn’t stupid, either.
He just… wasn’t me.
And that seemed to piss him the hell off. He was older and bigger, and he was as strong-willed as they came. And he was determined to make my life as miserable as his, and he used his fists to do it. Hell, he’d beat the shit out of me just for shits and giggles.
I tried.
I didn’t just sit back and let him stew in whatever storm he’d built in his head. I went out of my way to try to even the scales. I’d draw attention to good things he’d done and try to get the folks to toss him a compliment or let him take the lead on things. I thought it would soften the blow of my just existing, but it didn’t matter.
Davis was set on hating me, and nothing I could do or say was going to change his mind. And when our mom died, everything went sideways. My brother’s disdain for me grew to a whole new level.
He couldn’t seem to get it through his thick head that I’d lost her, too.
That I was a wreck, too.
He acted like I’d taken something from him, and I’d done it on purpose. I wanted to be there for him and hoped he’d be there for me in return. I loved Davis. Still do. In whatever messed-up way, you love someone who keeps shoving your face in the dirt. I never gave up trying. Not when he started spiraling. Not even when he got arrested for the first time.
And you want to know how stupid I was?
I actually used my college money to bail him out. I used every last cent. I thought it might change things between us, and he’d see that I was his brother, not some enemy he’d made up in his head. But it only made him hate me more.
Life’s funny like that.
You can give someone everything you’ve got, love them till the bitter end, and you’ll still end up the villain in their story.
1
GOOSE
“He moves like a fridge with legs.”
“Who?”
“Deen.” I crossed my arms and watched Sergie’s head guard prowl the floor like a pissed-off rhino. He was a big bastard with a thick neck and a handlebar mustache, and he sported an angry glare that made him look like he was personally offended by everything, including the existence of air. “He’s just so damn big and mean. Why’s he gotta be so mean?”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about. He’s been nothing but nice to me,” Memphis goaded. “Must be you.”
“You’re full of shit.”
