Renn appeared composedwhen he and Robbie re-emerged. The knifepoints of the earlier tension still reverberated off the black walls of the studio, but time dulled them as Renn coaxed his brother to grab his things. He told me he’d call later, promising to do something special for my birthday. I hoped the drive home would give them a chance to decompress, and I was eager to get back to my apartment to talk with Zach.
But an oblivious Pete walking into the studio annihilated the tenuous calm.
He entered with the sunlight barreling in on his back, pulling off blue-mirrored aviators as he shut the door behind himself.
It was instantly clear the others hadn’t been ready to see him yet.
Archie, who had returned to his station, sat back on his stool, crossing his arms as he cemented his lips in a grim line. Renn put a firm hand on Robbie’s shoulder in front of him and the pink tinge of his fingers revealed he was applying pressure, holding the boy back. I did my best to plaster my back against the wall, head down and body still.
There was no diminishing the friction his entrance caused, silence hanging heavy in the air, punctuated only by the drip of the leaky ceiling. Pete registered the tense faces of Archie and his nephews, asking tentatively, “Hey everyone. What’s up?”
“You fucking asshole!” Robbie screamed, shrugging out of Renn’s grip but making no move toward his uncle.
Pete looked stunned as he took in the tween’s infuriated expression. “Robbie? What the fuck?”
“Robbie, stop,” Renn interjected. “That’s not helping.”
“Well, he is an asshole.” Robbie had tears in his eyes and looked like he wanted to wreck Pete, as much as someone frozen in place could look that way.
Pete took in the room again, more insistent when he asked, “Does someone want to tell me what the fuck is going on? Why am I an asshole?”
Oh, Pete.
“Robbie, I need you to stay in the car while I talk to your uncle.” Renn’s voice was flat.
“What? No way, Renn. I don’t want to leave just so you guys can invent some bullshit story to sell me on later. You can’t just make this better!” Robbie swiped his tears away viciously with the arm of his hoodie.
Pete leaned toward his nephews, looking like he was going to say something, but Archie stood and glared at him, shaking his head to signify that any words Pete tried to utter would be met with a quick tattoo gun to the neck.
Renn reached out to his brother and spun him around, bending so they were speaking eye-to-eye. “Hey listen.” He put both hands on Robbie’s shoulders. “I need to talk to your uncle. Alone. I think you understand why. But you have my word I won’t lie to you or keep things from you, okay? I can’t pretend you didn’t see the card, and I’m not going to sugarcoat it. But I have to find out what’s going on. This is all news to me, too.”
“Really?”
“I promise.” Renn tried to muster a laugh as he continued. “Besides, it will be better this way. If I decide to murder our uncle, you won’t have to testify against me.” Renn looked my way. “Sadie can watch, since she seems to witness all my finer moments these days.” He glanced at me with an earnest expression that encompassed everything from “I’m sorry” to “Holy shit.”
“And you’ll tell me? Whatever he says?” Robbie persisted.
“Absolutely. Please, just go in the car. You can listen to music or whatever. I need you to give me a few minutes with Pete.”
Robbie nodded and headed toward the door, keeping his head down and deliberately knocking Pete with his elbow as he passed him.
After Robbie left, I grabbed my purse. “Since this is a family thing, I’m gonna take off.” Archie tilted his chin at me, but Renn was immediately on his feet.
“Fuck that,” Renn said. “Sadie, you basically already know everything and if there’s more, I’ll just repeat it to you later, so please—” He caught my hand and gripped it tighter than he had before. “I want you to stay.”
I looked at our joined fingers. I wanted to leave because this felt so heavy, that slap of the card on the table so evocative of a plastic stick slapped down on a bar in Boston just over a year ago. Renn was taking it for granted that I was going to support him and I just…didn’t know if I had it in me.
“Archie, you should stay too,” Renn stated. “You’re family. Besides, I have a suspicion this isn’t new information for you.”
Renn peered at Archie and the other man met his eyes coolly. “It wasn’t my place, Renn. Your dad confided in me because we were friends, and that’s where my loyalty will always be. I still don’t think it’s my place, but I’ll stay if you want me to.”
“Dad knew?”
“Jesus Christ! Thomas knew what!?” Pete was coming unglued, still standing near the entry. “I need someone to tell me what the fuck is going on!”
Renn sighed loudly and glared at Pete before grabbing the card and putting it in his uncle’s hands with a staccato, “Robbie found this.”
Pete stared at the envelope, recognition dawning. He looked at his nephew, then me, then Archie, then back to the envelope again. A guttural noise—something between a hiccup and a groan—escaped his throat. Both horror and relief clouded his face, as though he’d known this reckoning was coming, before his expression finally settled into one of resignation. He dropped into a chair.
