He didn't even look. "Tell you what?"
"Well for starters, why you're acting so funny."
He gave a humorless laugh. "Funny, huh?"
If there was a joke in all this, I sure as heck wasn't getting it.
Finally, he turned to face me. "I heard about your trip."
I gave him a perplexed look. "What trip?"
"To my dad's place."
Oh. That.It wasn't so much a trip as a daylong effort in futility. Joel's hometown was a four-hour drive from mine, which meant I'd spent eight hours on the road for absolutely nothing.
His dad hadn't even answered the door. But hehadbeen home. I'd been almost sure of it, thanks to a blaring television and the sounds of movement behind the front door.
I said, "I was hoping to find you there." I tried to think. "Is that why you're mad?"
He gave a tight shrug. "I'm not mad."
"Oh, come on," I said. "Obviously, something's wrong. What is it?"
Once again, he ignored my question. "And you called Jake."
"Well, yeah. Because I was worried."
"About what?"
"You, actually."
"Yeah? Well, don't."
"Don't what? Worry? Youdidhear everything I just told you, right? About Derek? And his threats to get you thrown in jail?"
"I heard."
"So, you could see where I'd be concerned, especially when you didn't return my calls." My voice was calm, but beneath the surface, a storm was brewing. Trying not to show it, I continued. "I mean, look at it from my point of view. Derek shows up, he tells me about the suspended sentence – somethingyounever mentioned, by the way – and I'm stuck dealing with it all by myself."
"That wasyourchoice," Joel said. "Not mine."
"Yeah," I said. "Like it wasyourchoice to not tell me you were in some sort of trouble."
"I wasn't worried. Why shouldyoube?"
He was totally missing the point. I tried again. "You should've told me." I gave him a pleading look. "Seriously Joel, all those nights we spent together? All those days? And you never thought to mention it? Not even once?"
He gave another shrug, but said nothing.
I made a sound of frustration. "Okay, I get it. You're mad at me for not telling you earlier. But in my own defense, I had just a few short hours to figure things out. You had weeks, almost months, to tell me what was going on. Why didn't you?"
"Because it wasn't a big deal."
I felt my gaze narrow. "I don't believe you."
"Alright."
Alright? That's it?
