Brothersong (Green Creek 4)

“I love you so much,” Rico said fiercely. “You don’t even know.”

“Oh, I know. You’re welcome.”

“Straight people are so weird,” Kelly whispered to Robbie.

Ox said, “Stay together. No one goes off alone, even in town. Carter, make sure Green Creek’s ready, just in case.”

“I will.”

And then he turned around, heading for the SUV. Gordo looked at Mark once more before following Ox, grabbing Robbie by the arm and pulling him along. Kelly and Joe were about to do the same but stopped when I called to them.

They looked at me.

“A phone call away,” I said. “No matter what. You hear me?”

They both nodded.

“Good. Go on. The sooner you leave, the sooner you can come back home.”

Joe took Kelly’s hand in his and pulled him toward the SUV. “Carter,” he called over his shoulder. “Kelly and I left something for you on your bed. Take a look, okay?”

“I will.”

They waved as they climbed inside the SUV. Mark held Mom close, her head on his shoulder. Rico whispered to his son, and Bambi smiled at the both of them. Jessie stood behind Dominique, leaning against her. I looked down when I felt someone grab my hand. Gavin. He was holding on tight. I didn’t try to pull away.

Ox honked the horn once, twice as he backed up, turning the SUV around before pointing it down the dirt road. There was something in my head and chest, something that felt like lightning, that sounded like thunder.

It was the bonds that stretched between us all.

Vibrant and wild.

They whispered pack and pack and pack.

And if I listened hard enough, if I really dug in and pulled the threads apart, there was a quiet voice buried underneath.

I looked at Gavin.

He was watching me.

I heard him.

He said, i think i think i think i’m home.

I WAS CURIOUS about what my brothers had left for me. After making sure Gavin was okay in the kitchen with Mom, I took the stairs two at a time, heart thudding in my chest. I hoped it wasn’t anything big. It would feel too much like they thought they weren’t coming back. I hated it.

I shouldn’t have worried.

In fact, when I saw what it was, I hoped they’d never come back.

Those fucking assholes.

A flat square sat on my bed, wrapped in shiny paper with Christmas trees on it. It was heavier than I expected when I picked it up. It was either a framed photograph or a—

A book.

It was a book wrapped in tissue paper.

I pulled it out.