Their mother died when they were young. Their father nosed dived into alcohol as an escape from everything, including his children.
Why shouldn’t Harlow hate the world and everyone in it? He has every right to feel the things he does, he just doesn’t have the right to make others hurt because of it.
The car drives off with Harlow in the back, glaring at us until we can’t see his face anymore.
“Prairie, I need to tell you something. Your father’s office was set on fire tonight.”
“I know, I saw it when I was driving earlier. Does my father know?”
“He does.”
“Is he okay?”
“He will be. I think he’ll be able to rebuild it. It’ll just take some time, is all. The good news is no one got hurt.” My uncle lets out a sigh, moving his eyes to Max. “As for you,” nudging his head, he points at the car. “That car was reported stolen a week or so ago. Did you know that?”
Shaking his head no, Max pouts his bottom lip. “He told me a friend let him borrow it.” Shrugging his shoulders, he tucks his hands into his pockets. “I didn’t question him about it.”
“You got lucky tonight. If it wasn’t for my niece here, you’d be with your brother right now. Don’t run off, I might have some questions for you later on. Do the right thing on this, don’t cover for him if you know anything. You still have a chance, while he seems set on spending his life behind bars.”
“Uncle Greg,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. “Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me,” he says with a smile as he starts to walk back to his car. “I’m going to need a statement from both of you, but it can wait for now. Come to the station tomorrow, you hear?” We both nod at the same time. “Good,” he says as he climbs into his front seat. “Get home soon, Prairie. I don’t need your parents calling me all worried. They have enough to worry about.”
We watch my uncle drive off in the direction of the police station. I can feel Max looking at me, but I keep my eyes forward.
“What?” I ask.
“Why did you do that? Why did you cover for me?”
“Because we all need a break sometimes.” Twisting, I let my eyes hover on his briefly. “And I know who you really are, even if you’re afraid to show everyone else.”
I leave him standing alone in the dark as I climb into my car and start the engine. I don’t need him to say anything in response, and he doesn’t as he slips in the passenger seat. Sometimes, silence is better than words.
14
Max
Her car idles quietly outside my house. I’m ringing my hands in my lap, feeling like a fucking asshole for everything that went down.
Prairie is looking out the window, her hands still gripping the wheel. Her fingers tighten, then loosen, then tighten again. The skin around her knuckles brightens as her fingers bear down, and I watch her exhale.
“I tried, Prairie. I really tried to stop him.”
“What?” she asks, twisting in her head in my direction.
“I didn’t know what he had planned. He told me he needed help with something, and like a damn idiot, I went.” Throwing out my arm, I lift my eyes to hers. “I shouldn’t have gone with him. I should have been with you. I’m so sorry for this, I never meant to hurt you or your family.”
Pursing her lips, she pulls some napkins from the center console and wipes her cheeks. “So what happened, tell me the truth, tell me everything.” Sniffling, she keeps her eyes on mine.
I’m compelled to lie to her, to tell her he forced me to go with him and threatened my life. But the truth is, he didn’t. I did what I always have, I stood by my brother. Then something changed, the switch flipped.
I finally saw my brother for the loose cannon he is. He isn’t sane, he doesn’t do this stuff for revenge. No one has ever been out to hurt him.
Everything is a lie. It has been from the very beginning.
Harlow just enjoys this shit. He enjoys watching others suffer. He gets a thrill out of the destruction. It’s fucking sick. And he’s not the person I am, or ever want to be.
I want a future, I want a life outside a cage, I want to be more than what we came from. I’m not willing to trade one box for another.
I explain to Prairie how my brother asked me for help, and I agreed. Same as I always have. How he claimed we were going to pick up some money he was owed, and he wanted extra protection just in case.
At no point did I really want to go. But I couldn’t tell him no, not if he needed my help. Harlow said the guy was dangerous, that if he went alone he might not come back. It was a simple plan; we go, he collects his money, and I’m there if he needs me.