Page 120 of Insidious Heart
“Nah.” King shakes his head and takes a sip of root beer to hide his smile. “Not if you decided not to ask it. Serious questions are never dumb.”
Prince turns to him with the cutest scowl ever and I have to bite my cheek to hide my own smile. “Nuh uh, King. My question was too serious, I just changed my mind.”
“I’ll believe it when I hear it.”
“Stevie, make King stop acting like a poophead.”
“Stop acting like a poophead.” I chuckle at the almost eighteen-year-old before looking at his little brother. “And try not to call peoplepoopheads,bud, it’s not very nice.”
Prince folds his arms against his chest with a grunt. “Then maybe he shouldn’t be acting like one.”
“Just ask your question, little dude. If it’s really serious thenmaybeI’ll stop being a shithead.”
“King!” I half-laugh, half-scold. “Language in front of your brother.”
The teen shrugs as his brother giggles. “Ha ha. You got in trouble.”
King rolls his eyes. “Whatever.”
These two.
I seriously adore these boys so much, and it’s been really nice to have them around the last couple days. I’m not used to the house being empty and even though I’m glad there aren’t a bunch of creepy Demon Seeds lurking around, staying here totally alone was going to get to me. Even if it was ridiculous for me to think I’d actually be alone.
When I got home the other night, I ran inside and showered off the previous few days, cried my eyes out the entire time too, then looked around the house for any clues about where my father was being kept. Which was stupid because Victor took him and of course there was nothing left behind, not even any evidence of my beating in my bedroom, but while I was conducting my pointless search, Rochelle and Cal showed up.
To say I was surprised by their reactions would be an understatement, but it’s the closest word I have to describe it because theybothlooked relieved to see me, and Rochelle even gave me a hug. After a few minutes of gaping at them, I knew why.
When Beau didn’t show up for church the night after he knocked me out, then apparently missed an important run he scheduled himself, the entire club went on high alert and started looking for him. They came here first and when I was nowhere to be found either, I guess shit hit the fan. Every member of the Demon Seeds scoured El Paso County looking for us, and as one day turned into two, they began searching all of Colorado.
They were just about to expand to the surrounding states and start kicking in other clubhouse doors when Cal and Rochelle decided to look at my house one more time, which is when they found me. And since I looked like freshly showered garbage and felt about the same, I was hit with a game of twenty questions that I barely managed to lie my way through because yes, I still lied for both my father and Victor despite everything that happened.
Somehow, whether it was because they were already frantic or due to a higher power, Cal believed me when I told him that I had gotten mugged leaving work after my last shift, then Beau sent me to asafe houseso he could handle the unknown assailant. He didn’t even bat an eye when I said my father dropped me off, told me to wait three days before coming home, and that was the last time I saw him.
Which is crazy because the Seeds don’t have safe houses, and there’s no way Beau would do any of that in the first place, let alone without telling Cal about it.
But they seemingly bought my story then left the boys with me while they went back out to search for my dad, and that’s how things have been since I came home. Just the three of us hanging out and getting into the Halloween spirit just like any other normal people our ages.
I arch a brow as Prince’s blue eyes travel to the window again, staring out into the darkened street before he shifts his little body around so he’s leaning on the back of the couch. “You want to ask us your question now, buddy?”
The little boy shrugs,again.
“I promise we won’t make fun of you or anything. If you have a serious question then you should definitely ask it.”
“Ok.” Prince sighs. “I was just wondering… are ghosts real?”
King barely hides his chuckle as I start choking on nothing, absolutely nothing but my own tongue as I cough because for a split second, I took that an entirely different way than how the five-year-old meant it.
And my reaction was obviously not what he was hoping for because Prince turns to me with a frown. “You said you wouldn’t laugh.”
“I’m not,” I squeak out between coughs. “I’m not, bud, I swear. I just wasn’t expecting that.”
“Are they real, Stevie?”
Yes,I want to say, but I don’t because my real life ghost isn’t the same as what he’s referring to. I don’t want him to feel silly, though, but I don’t want to freak him out either, so I clear my throat and give the best answer I can. “I really don’t know, Prince. I don’t think anyone does for sure, but if we can believe in things like heaven and hell, angels and the devil, or even things like Bigfoot and leprechauns, then I think it’s ok for people to believe in ghosts, too. You believe in that stuff, right?”
“Yeah.” He nods slowly, his gaze drifting back to the empty street outside. “Mama says angels protect us and we’ll all go to heaven one day.”
“Not everyone,” King mumbles and I shoot him a scowl. “What? Not everyone goes to heaven when they kick the bucket.”
