Page 121 of Pucking Them
How much my music means to me?
How much sharing my past does?Sharing my family?
Robyn touches the ring that I bought her to her lips, and a rush of relief rushes through me. “Jude, this is…” My name.She said my name.“It means a fucking lot, okay? Are you sure?”
I adjust my diamond cuff links, twisting them in anxious patterns of three. “Sure.”
“Will you speak to Maria?”
I shake my head. “What would I have to talk to her about? We’re strangers by now. She is much older than me. Growing up, I hardly knew her because she had moved out when I was still a small kid. Bruno was older too, but only by a couple of years. We were close. He tried to be a good older brother, talking to me about cars, religion, and sport. Being raised in an Italian American family, it was expected that he would be strict and keep me in line, which he did. But he also joked around with me and protected me from everyone else,until he didn’t. Maria was kind but distant, you know? She never knew how to connect. But I get it now. I was just this little kid to her, and she did the right thing about fighting to save me from the Discipline School whenit mattered. I’d love to hear her play piano once more. When I used to listen to her, I’d think that she was an angel.” I laugh, tightly. “I never had a good grasp of the Bible, no matter how hard my family tried. But then, out of all of them, Maria was the only one who pulled me out of hell. So, it doesn’t matter how distant she was. I owe her my life.”
Robyn takes my hand. “Then we’ll sit in the back row and listen to her together, huh? Though I still bet that no one is better than you.”
I give her a fond look. “I thought that you didn’t want me to grow cockier.”
“Don’t feed a hockey player’s ego.” Robyn tuts to herself. “I keep forgetting that rule. You’re like gremlins.”
I laugh, feeling lighter. “Too late.”
Before I can drag Robyn through the door, however, it violently bangs open.
Reflexively, I jerk backward. I shield Robyn, pushing her behind me.
A short, bulky man with olive skin barrels into the lobby. He has broad shoulders and thick, black hair. He is wearing a thin suit, which is shiny at the seams.
His eyes are the same blue as mine.
When he sees me, his jaw clenches with rage at the same time as mine drops with shock.
Is this an ambush?
Terror spikes through me.
But only for a moment.
Why is my brother here?
Bruno rams into me, slamming me into the wall.
Robyn yells out in surprise. Her hand is wrenched from mine.
My heart hammers in my chest. Adrenaline surges through me.
I stare into eyes that everyone always said looked like mine, which I haven’t seen since that night I lost my family under bruises and blood.
The night I lost my brother.
Only, did I ever truly have a real one like I do now with Eden?
“Get off him.” My brave Robyn is slamming her palm on Bruno’s back. “Let go.”
Bruno doesn’t loosen his grip. He is staring at me with a burning rage. His hold on my collar is choking me.
I surprise myself by blurting, “I’m taller than you now. You must hate that.”
Bruno’s eyes widen. “Shut up, Jude.”
I flinch.
