She stopped short when she saw the state I was in. “Darling girl,” she said, in a motherly voice. “Are you all right? What happened?”
Seeing the concern on her face, I just broke down. She hugged me tight and patted my head until I had calmed down enough to string a sentence together without sobbing.
“Jared just called me,” I told her. “From jail.”
“What?”
“He’s been arrested for possession of drugs.”
“No.”
“I can’t believe I fell for his lies.”
“Are you sure that the drugs are his?” Marta asked.
“Who else could it be?” I said. “I knew his past… He dealt drugs when he was younger, and his brother went to jail for it, but when he told me he changed his lifestyle and stayed away from all that shit, I actually believed him. He lied to me, Marta…”
“Oh, honey… What did he call to say?”
“He claims he’s innocent,” I replied.
“Did he give you a reason to back up that claim?”
“No,” I said, even though I didn’t mention that I hadn’t given him the opportunity to back it up. “Marta, I don’t know if I can get through work today.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said, putting her hand on my arm. “Go into Kevin’s office and tell him you’re sick. I’ll vouch for you. You can take the rest of the day off.”
Grateful for the suggestion, I went in to see Kevin with my excuse ready. Because of my swollen face and my pale skin, Kevin believed that I was sick easily enough and let me off work, much to my relief. I gave Marta a quick thank you as I headed out, and then I went straight home. I walked through the door, ready to collapse onto the sofa and cry my eyes out when I realized that Brent was home.
I wiped away my tears hurriedly, upset that I wouldn’t have the privacy I craved. Brent looked carefully at my face, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide this from him.
“Whoa… Who died?” Brent asked, straightening up a little.
“Have you heard?” I asked.
He frowned. “Heard what?”
“About Jared?”
Brent looked even more confused. “What about Jared? Did he save another cat or something?”
“He’s in jail,” I said, in no mood for jokes.
Brent stood up. “What?”
“He called me from there,” I stammered. “He was caught with drugs.”
“No fucking way,” he said, shaking his head.
“He says he’s innocent—”
“He’s not.”
“What?” I said, looking up at Brent’s confident expression.
“You really didn’t know he was dealing?” he asked me.
I looked at my brother in shock. “Wait… He was dealing? You knew this?”
