Page 30 of Honorable Sins

Last winter when we were visiting mamó and daideó in Ireland, my cousins teased me about bringing Gobby and Miles with us. Gavin said something about me and my da going overboard when it came to our pets.

Shelley gets a weird look on her face and tells the others to leave it alone. She's Uncle Kyren's oldest.

Lais is fifteen and doesn't like when his sister bosses him around because she's only two years older. He glares at her and then asks me, "You know what your da did because of Toby, don't you?"

Toby was my da's dog and he's told us kid's stories about what they did together when he was a kid. It always makes me sad to know my da never had another dog after Toby. But my grandparents treat my da differently than they do my aunts and uncles. And I guess they did that when da was a kid too.

I just stare at Lais. He's looking at me like he can't wait for me to ask. So, I don't.

"I want to know," Úna, his younger sister, says. "Tell us."

"Shut it, Lais," Shelley orders bossily. "Úna's too young to hear about that."

"I am not!" Úna yells. "I'm only a year younger than Fitz. If you don't tell me, I'll ask Uncle Mick himself."

"Good luck with that," I mutter.

My da doesn't tell his stories about Toby to anyone but me and the littles.

But all my older cousins look nervous, like they don't want my da to know they were talking about him. It's stupid. What do they think da is going to do? Tell on them to their parents? Da's not like that.

"Okay, I'll tell ya but you better keep your trap shut about it," Lais threatens.

"I know how to keep a secret." Úna crosses her arms over her skinny chest and glares at Lais.

"A drunk driver hit Toby with his car and he died. Your da found the man and killed him." My cousin looks at me, waiting for my reaction.

I shrug. That's the life. When people betray the mob, they die.

"Your da was only eleven, the same age as Úna," Shelley points out, like I wouldn't know how old my da was when his dog died.

"Da doesn't give second chances." Except to his family, but that's different. That drunk driver killed da's dog. "If someone ran over Gobby or Miles, I'd want to kill them too."

"But you wouldn't do it," Gavin, Uncle Adam's youngest, says.

"Nah. My da would do it for me." Da will never let anyone get away with hurting us and he would see it as a life for a life. "Miles and Gobby are part of our family."

"They're pets," Shelley says, sounding shocked.

I shrug.

Eoghan sighs. "I wish I was more like your da."

He's sixteen and usually quiet. Uncle Adam's oldest, Eoghan is supposed to be the boss someday, like me. Only I don't think he wants to be. His brother Gavin is harder, but he doesn't control his emotions as well.

A boss has to be able to set emotion aside to make choices for the mob. But we never put the mob above those closest to us.

Both mom and da say that.

"Why would you want to be like Uncle Mick?" Shelley asks all disapproving.

I bristle. My da's the best.

"Uncle Mick does what he wants. He doesn't care if daideó thinks he's stupid." Eoghan frowns. "Or weak," he adds real quiet.

"Your da tells you that you're stupid?" I ask.

My da would never.