Page 26 of The Bad Brother
“I can’t.” Shaking my head, I take a step forward. “I gave you the last bit of money I have—and to tell the truth, I was lucky to have that.” Saying it out loud makes me realize how true it is. Aside from a little wiggle room on my credit card and a gas card I keep for emergencies, I’m broke for the next two weeks.
Still frowning, River’s gaze drops to my hands. “Jen says that bracelet is worth about twenty-thousand dollars.”
How would he know that?
Before I can ask, River keeps talking in a rush.
“You didn’t have to lie,” she says quietly. “I liked you. I still would’ve?—”
“I didn’t lie,” I tell her, suddenly desperate that she believes me, even though it doesn’t matter if she does or not. It’s a done deal. The lease is signed. Neither she or her boss can get rid of me—not without risk of legal repercussions. All I know is that Iwanther to believe me. “I like you too. I—” Suddenly worn down to my bones, I sigh. “Can we sit?”
Giving me a shrug, River turns away from me to make her way to the living room area. Sitting on the couch, I take the chair across from her. As soon as we’re both settled, I nod. “Your boss is right—the bracelet was probably expensive but I honestly don’t knowhowexpensive because my mother gave it to me when I graduated med school.” It’s a miracle I still have it. If I hadn’t worn it and the diamond studs my mother gave me for my twenty-first birthday tothe engagement party that night, I’m sure Ethan would’ve kept them too. When I went through the bag he packed, I noticed my more expensive items were missing. The emerald and diamond pendant my mother gave me for my high school graduation. A pair of Louboutin slingbacks from a shopping trip in Paris. Amy had always liked the shoes. Even though her feet are a full size bigger than mine, she’d begged to borrow them more than once. I’m sure she’s been hobbling around in them since Ethan packed my bags.
I hope they give her blisters.
“Med school?” From the look on River’s face, I just made things worse somehow. “You’re a doctor?”
“I’m a surgeon,” I answer her, matter of factly.
When I say it, the color drains out of River’s face. “You cut people open?”
“I’m a trauma surgeon,” I clarify. “Generally, they’re alreadyopenwhen they come to me. I just put them back together.” When she doesn’t say anything, I lean forward on a sigh. “Last week, I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me with my best friend.” I don’t tell her that Ethan was actually my fiancé or admit that Amy was never really my friend because the half-truth I’m giving her makes me sound pathetic enough. “He moved her into our condo and drained our bank account. I’d just gotten my paycheck from the hospital the day before so?—”
“Your best friend?” Her expression hardens and her eyes narrow. “What a couple of assholes.”
You have no idea.
“Yeah…” Saying it on a quiet laugh, I shake my head. “The only reason I had the money I was able to give you to rent this place is because I made a cash withdrawal, right before it happened. I took the money out to buy him a gift but I got tied up at the hospital and wasn’t able to find the time. Aside from a gas card and a few hundred left on my Visa, I’m broke until my next paycheck from the hospital comes in.”
Two weeks.
While Mark paid for my tuition and housing, throughout college, everything else was my responsibility. I lived on ramen and peanut butter for six years. I can do it again for two weeks… dropping my hand onto my wrist, I feel the bracelet my mother gave me for graduation. “I suppose I could sell the bracelet.” Even as I say it, I know I’d never be able to do it because it’s the only thing my mother ever gave me that symbolizes how proud she is of the hard work I put in to get where I am, even though I know it wasn’t pride that prompted her to buy it. It was pretense and perception.
“No you can’t.” River shakes her head at me like I’m crazy. “You have to keep it. Your mother gave it to you.” Giving me a long look, she nods, slapping her hands on her bare thighs before she stands. “Jen’s pissed. He’s super weird about creekers so, he’s not going to make living here easy for you.”
Creekers.
I’ve heard the term before—it’s what people on the Barrett side of the river call the people who live in Clearwater. I want to ask what her boss has against people who live in Clearwater but I don’t. It’s none of my business. Instead I ask the only question that matters. “Is he going to kick me out?”
“No…” Looking down at me, River sighs. “but maybe we should forget it. I can give you your money back and?—”
“I’ve been sleeping in my car in the hospital parking garage for the past week,” I tell her bluntly. “My boss found out and gave me four days to get my shit together before she fired me—I’m on day three.” Shaking my head, I stand slowly. “I’m really sorry—I know this whole thing has probably gotten you into trouble with your boss, but I can’t do that. I have to stay—I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
Giving me a long look, River finally nods her head. “Don’t worry about Jen—he’s all bark and no bite.” She rolls her eyes. “For the most part.” Reaching out, she squeezes my hand on a wry smile, her thumb brushing against the links of my ridiculously expensive bracelet. “But to be on the safe side—you should probably take this off.”
AFRAID TO LEAVE FOR FEAR OF COMINGback to changed locks, I spent the rest of Sunday and all of Monday holed up in my new apartment. Too exhausted to navigate the staircase or worry about a shower, I spent my first night in my new apartment downstairs, barely able to wash my face and brush my teeth in the half bath before covering up with the cashmere throw from the back of the couch.
Curling up at the end of it, I was asleep within seconds. Used to waking up to the smell of exhaust fumes and the loud chirp of hospital employees setting their car alarms before heading into start their shifts, I sat up with a start, wide awake, my stomach flipping over while I blinked owlishly at my unfamiliar surroundings. It took a few seconds for it to come back to me.
I met a strange girl named River in a coffee shop. She offered me a place to live and I took it.
Her boss and owner of said place took one look at me and saidfuck nobecause my bracelet was expensive and that obviously makes me a monster.
Since the lease was already signed and I paid in advance, I threatened my new landlord with legal action if he tried to evict me.
My newhotlandlord.
Everything had happened so quickly yesterday that I haven’t had the time to process the exchange. All I know is that when he walked in and River saidthat’s Jensen, let me do the talking, I was suddenly sure that Icouldn’ttalk.
