We all took turns explaining what happened with the car break-in, her apartment, today. Each of us trying to recall any small details.
“And I have a photo of him,” Marcus said. “But it’s blurry.”
Mason sat quietly listening, something I was well accustomed to. While I tended to be loud and outspoken, Mason hardly breathed a word unless he had to.
“I see,” he said finally.
He was quiet for longer than I cared for. “So are you going to help or not?” I snapped.
“Send me the photo, and I’ll see what tech can do,” he said, his tone even, uncaring about my attitude. “And I’ll be there soon. It seems we have a lot to catch up on.”
Every muscle of my body tensed at him saying that. “Okay, I’ll send you the address.”
He hung up, the line cutting before I could say bye.
Everyone stood around. “Can we trust your brother?” Cameo asked.
“Of course you can,” I snapped.
He raised his hands. “Don’t get offended. You’ve never even mentioned him before.”
“It’s because we… don’t talk much. His job makes it hard.”
Indi giggled. “What, is he mafia or something?”
I averted my gaze, not wanting to lie, but not wanting to answer either.
Their eyes got wide. “Wait, seriously?” they asked.
“All you need to know is he will help,” I said.
“And when do you think he’ll get here?”
I thought about it. “A couple of hours if he leaves soon.” I didn’t go far when I left, just far enough to get out of my parents’ bubble.
“I guess now all we can do is wait,” Cameo said.
And that felt like the most excruciating part of it all.
A knock on the door came a couple of hours later, just as I’d predicted. Cameo insisted on answering it, not letting me leave downstairs. Those two meeting made me a little nervous, I could easily see how they would clash.
But it wasn’t too long before there were heavy footsteps on the stairs, and Cameo came down, followed by Mason.
I hadn’t seen him for so long, but it looked like nothing had changed. He was still wearing a crisp black suit, as always. He was a touch taller than Cameo, with his black hair kept shorter than mine and styled backwards. Even though he was adopted, people always said we looked alike, but I didn’t see it. Where I was chaotic and messy, Mason was the perfect picture of calm and well-adjusted.
“Mas,” I said, hopping up and running to give him a hug.
It took him a moment to actually put his arms around me too, and the way he did it was stiff. Though I didn’t take offense to it. Mason had always hated touch, but tolerated it for me.
“Hello,” he said, giving me another second or two before he pulled away. He glanced around. “I think you have some explaining to do.”
“Don’t start,” I said, my cheeks getting red. “Did you find anything?”
I could tell he wanted to push, but he relented, pulling his phone from his jacket. “The guy was one Jason Pewter. Looks like he’s an… online content creator of some kind?”
“Fucking Jason,” Indi murmured to themself.
“You know him?” Mason asked.
