Page 13 of Between Brothers

Kingston

I never really gave much thought to our family situation. Truth being told, I wasn’t much of a stewer like Roy. He loved to sit around marinating in life’s what ifs, and what should have been.

Not me.

Life was what we made of it. Yeah, mine wasn’t perfect, but whose was?

I didn’t reflect on the past or my presence on this earth. I just took life for everything it was worth. Whatever I could get out of it.

That’s what I wanted.

All of it.

For the most part, it was all mine for the claiming. There were perks to being an outlaw’s son. Especially when that outlaw carried the VP patch. I’d watched our ol’ man take what he wanted for as long as I could remember.

He was a mover and he was definitely a shaker. I wasn’t surprised by his ambitions with Forty. I’d heard the stories over the years.

To be fair, I heard it every other time my father drank.

Forty ruined what my dad had with Roy’s mom, Penny. He snitched to Kate and damn near cost my parents their marriage, if you let Dad tell it.

Roy should really be a little more grateful for Forty’s intervention, to be honest. Knowing Dad, he’d probably have paid for a clinic visit and never gave Penny’s pregnancy a second thought. He always had a way of burying secrets before they could blow up.

Roy was the exception.

I smiled to myself as I thought of my half-brother. When it came to Roy, that was really all I ever saw. Half. He was half a man, with half a set of balls, and half the ambition of any other outlaw amongst us.

Did it really count as outlawry if a man had more degrees and certificates than he had charges?

My brother had been arrested all of one time in his whole miserable life, and I was pretty sure that was just an underage drinking thing. He wasn’t a criminal.

So, how the fuck did Dad think he was going to make a killer out of him?

I parked my bike in front of the Kids Center and planted both feet against the ground as my thoughts suddenly became clearer.

The old man buried secrets, and my brother was incapable of keeping one.

The only reasonable thing to do when one was applying Birdman style logic, was to off Roy after he did the dirty work.

Roy wasn’t an outlaw, but he wasn’t a dumbass, either.

I sucked my teeth and wondered if he’d thought that many paces ahead.

“You just going to hide on your bike all morning, or?” Kennedy’s voice cut through the madness.

I snapped a smile into place and leaned so I could see her better.

“It’s not too late to run. I got room for a backpack.” I patted the seat behind me.

She shook her head, planked a hand over her brow and stared at the building.

“Kate would chase us down barefooted in rush-hour traffic, and you know it.” Kennedy laughed.

“She definitely would,” I confirmed without hesitation, as I stood and dismounted.

“Guess that means we better get it over with.” She sighed and started that way.

The sunlight peeked through her Kansas City jersey, making the bold white undershirt stand out.