well.
“Oliver, dude, Pokémon cereal. Do you want a bowl?” Silas greeted as I joined him, happy that he’d hit the reset button.
I took the white Starbucks cup, inhaling the robust aroma. “Looks like the mice ate most of it. I didn’t even hear you leave. Where did you get this? There’s a Starbucks in town, too? Man have things changed.”
Silas didn’t comment on my growing community statement. He had something on his mind, something he needed to say. “I’m not okay with this at all, Oliver. Let’s get that straight right from the start.”
“Really?” I sarcastically replied, my taste buds happy that my brother had found the coffee shop.
“I’m being serious, Oliver. I don’t know what your plans are, and I’m not sure I want to, but I do trust you. There’s something burning in you that I haven’t seen in a very long time, probably since you used to stand over dad’s shoulder, watching him do nothing but write calculations and numbers for hours. I know there’s something going on here, I just don’t know what, but…because I know you and I know your intentions are nothing but good, I’ve got your back.”
I nodded and slid onto the wobbly stool with a feeling of relief. This made things a whole lot easier for me. Having Silas on my side meant a lot. He’s all I had. Until now. Until Jaq. “Thanks, Silas. I needed that.”
“Why the hell is her name Jaq anyway? Is it short for Jaqueline or something?”
“Hmmm, I never thought about it. No, it’s Jaq. All the research I have found on her said Jaq. One elementary school I found even had her sex listed as male. I’m pretty sure that’s her birth name.”
“What’s wrong with her?”
“It’s not what’s wrong with her, it’s what happened to her. I don’t know, Silas.”
Our talk about Jaq was interrupted by a car door. After a peculiar glance toward each other, we walked to the front door. Silas stepped out first and then me, the screen door creaking open and then slamming behind me.
Silas stepped in front of me in a protective stance, one I didn’t understand just yet. Not until he spoke.
“You the Benson boys?”
My heart instantly dropped, my hands went numb, and a lump swelled in my chest. Angry adrenaline I hadn’t felt in years surged through my veins when I stepped around Silas and glared at him. His police car was updated, his uniform changed from gray to blue, and he looked older, but it was him.
“You should know who we are,” I said, my voice sounding a lot stronger than I felt.
“What are you doing here?”
“We own the place. Taxes paid up and everything. What are you doing here?”
“Oliver,” Silas said, a tight hand gripping my forearm when I tried to take another step.
“No, he has no business here. This is private property and we didn’t give him permission to be here.”
The cocky officer hadn’t changed a bit; he didn’t care that my dad was inside that building any more now than he had back then. “This is a courtesy call. Just because this place is miles from town, people still call me, and it’s still my jurisdiction. When I get calls about strangers lurking around, you can bet your ass I’m going to check it out. This is my town. Don’t you forget it. If you think you’re coming back here for a repeat of what happened to your old man, you might want to think again.”
Silas’s response beat mine, a whole lot nicer than the one on the tip of my tongue. “We didn’t come here for any trouble, Sheriff, and lucky for you neither of us followed in our father’s footsteps. I’m a businessman and Oliver here writes text books. He’s going to fix the place up and work from here for a while. You don’t have to worry about science labs.”
“Then welcome home. I truly am sorry about your dad. We’re having a spring festival downtown next weekend. You boys are more than welcome to come.”
Again, Silas beat me to the punch. I wanted to tell the slime ball to get off my
“Oliver, dude, Pokémon cereal. Do you want a bowl?” Silas greeted as I joined him, happy that he’d hit the reset button.
I took the white Starbucks cup, inhaling the robust aroma. “Looks like the mice ate most of it. I didn’t even hear you leave. Where did you get this? There’s a Starbucks in town, too? Man have things changed.”
Silas didn’t comment on my growing community statement. He had something on his mind, something he needed to say. “I’m not okay with this at all, Oliver. Let’s get that straight right from the start.”
“Really?” I sarcastically replied, my taste buds happy that my brother had found the coffee shop.
“I’m being serious, Oliver. I don’t know what your plans are, and I’m not sure I want to, but I do trust you. There’s something burning in you that I haven’t seen in a very long time, probably since you used to stand over dad’s shoulder, watching him do nothing but write calculations and numbers for hours. I know there’s something going on here, I just don’t know what, but…because I know you and I know your intentions are nothing but good, I’ve got your back.”
I nodded and slid onto the wobbly stool with a feeling of relief. This made things a whole lot easier for me. Having Silas on my side meant a lot. He’s all I had. Until now. Until Jaq. “Thanks, Silas. I needed that.”
“Why the hell is her name Jaq anyway? Is it short for Jaqueline or something?”
“Hmmm, I never thought about it. No, it’s Jaq. All the research I have found on her said Jaq. One elementary school I found even had her sex listed as male. I’m pretty sure that’s her birth name.”
“What’s wrong with her?”
“It’s not what’s wrong with her, it’s what happened to her. I don’t know, Silas.”
Our talk about Jaq was interrupted by a car door. After a peculiar glance toward each other, we walked to the front door. Silas stepped out first and then me, the screen door creaking open and then slamming behind me.
Silas stepped in front of me in a protective stance, one I didn’t understand just yet. Not until he spoke.
“You the Benson boys?”
My heart instantly dropped, my hands went numb, and a lump swelled in my chest. Angry adrenaline I hadn’t felt in years surged through my veins when I stepped around Silas and glared at him. His police car was updated, his uniform changed from gray to blue, and he looked older, but it was him.
“You should know who we are,” I said, my voice sounding a lot stronger than I felt.
“What are you doing here?”
“We own the place. Taxes paid up and everything. What are you doing here?”
“Oliver,” Silas said, a tight hand gripping my forearm when I tried to take another step.
“No, he has no business here. This is private property and we didn’t give him permission to be here.”
The cocky officer hadn’t changed a bit; he didn’t care that my dad was inside that building any more now than he had back then. “This is a courtesy call. Just because this place is miles from town, people still call me, and it’s still my jurisdiction. When I get calls about strangers lurking around, you can bet your ass I’m going to check it out. This is my town. Don’t you forget it. If you think you’re coming back here for a repeat of what happened to your old man, you might want to think again.”
Silas’s response beat mine, a whole lot nicer than the one on the tip of my tongue. “We didn’t come here for any trouble, Sheriff, and lucky for you neither of us followed in our father’s footsteps. I’m a businessman and Oliver here writes text books. He’s going to fix the place up and work from here for a while. You don’t have to worry about science labs.”
“Then welcome home. I truly am sorry about your dad. We’re having a spring festival downtown next weekend. You boys are more than welcome to come.”
Again, Silas beat me to the punch. I wanted to tell the slime ball to get off my
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