Page 11 of Laying Low

“Which one?”he asked, thinking,Please don’t be Dean.Please don’t be Val.Please don’t be Dean.

“Does it matter?”Anthony asked.

“Val yells,” Reg muttered.“But Dean makes me feel stupid.”

“Then both of them,” Anthony retorted, sounding petulant.“And Marcus too.Because we are in big trouble here, Reg, and I would rather we all walk away.”

Reg sighed.“You know, I would rather nobody know, and we just lay low until it’s over.”

“Not this time,” Anthony said, his voice grim.“Finally, I get to see the benefit of having six brothers.”

Reg frowned, even as he drove.“Val, Sal, Prock, Dean, Chance, Marcus, me—seven?”

“Oh no,” Anthony muttered, and to Reg’s surprise, he put his hand on Reg’s knee and squeezed.“Not for this adventure.If you and I are going to tuck into that passageway and hide out for our lives, I’ve got six brothersandyou.Trust me.There’s a difference.”

From behind them, he heard Ilia and Reynaldo laugh in that way teenagers had that indicated all adults were stupid.

“Even I could see that,” said Ilia, “and I had no idea Mr.Royal’s family was so big.”

And then Anthony removed his hand and started texting, and Reg was left to concentrate on the road.

Band of Brothers

DEAN:I’Msorry, you and my brother WHAT?

Marcus: Wait, how soon will you be here?All the parents are gone for some sort of lawn bowling thing at the local park.Should I send them for ice cream or send them to Canada?

Val: Romeo and Julian of Bakersfield.Heh.

Anthony: Can we allfocus?What do we do with these kids?

Dean: Hiding them at the ranch was a good call.Let me deal with the parents.Val, wtf are you right now anyway?

Val: On my way back from Seattle.Rory’s in town, though.Anthony, maybe you should tag your father into this.

Dean: When do you have to bebackin Seattle?

Val: Next week, why?

Dean: Because I have a wonderful awful idea.

Anthony: Are you going to clue us in?

Dean: No, because first we need Reg’s help on all that illegal electronic equipment in Mom and Dad’s den.Me and Marcus gotta make some calls.

Marcus: No, we don’t.

Dean: Okay, I gotta make some calls.

Marcus: Fuck.That means we both gotta make some calls.

Dean: You could claim plausible deniability, but you’re living in my parents’ basement like a loser.BTW, I’d take the lift up and get ready to pretend to play dumb.One of the things fake ICE can do is call REAL ICE and have them show up to make your life interesting.Bring your badge.

Marcus: Sure.It looks like the snake is gonna poop anyway.It’ll be fine.

Anthony: Hallelujah, I feel so much better knowing snakeshit is coming my way.

Val: My God, Junior, you’re fitting in just fine.