of nowhere.
While he made no move to cover his ink or take out his piercings for family events, he did leave all the gel out of his hair, which made it fall long to one side, making the other side appear to be the only one shaved.
"Oh, please," I said, snorting as I took the champagne out of Huck's hand. "We all know that is my title."
"True," Jones said, giving me a smirk. "But they hate me more because they can't hate me," he said, shrugging.
"He means," I clarified to Huck who was looking at us with furrowed brows, "that all of my many shortcomings can be blamed on the fact that I am not one of them, that my step-father was so gracious to take in his new wife's bastard daughter when they married. They don't get to blame all of this," I said, waving at Jones's face, "on breeding."
"Well, they try," Jones reminded me, giving me a little kick to the gut as he and I shared a look.
"Your mother," Huck guessed.
"Yes. The only reason I am here," I said, feeling my shoulders slump a little, not sure I was prepared to see her, to see what they had done to her since I'd seen her last. It seemed that every year, she got smaller, frailer, like she had stopped eating, like she was trying to disappear. I would want to disappear, too, if I had to deal with her husband day in and day out.
"Why not just see her alone?" Huck asked.
"Because my stepfather moved her up to Connecticut." I let the rest of it hang, knowing Huck could pick it up. And it makes it impossible for me to visit. And he knows that. It was part of the reason he did it.
"She looks thin," Teddy said, confirming my fears.
"I bet," I agreed.
"He's a dick, huh? Teddy asked, meaning my step-father.
"Yeah."
"Kind of a shame he got the use of his legs back then, huh?" Teddy said, giving me a humorless smile.
I could feel Huck's gaze on the side of my head, knowing I would have to give him more of the story.
After I found my mom and told her I loved her, I missed her, I would give her a place to stay if she ever left. I knew it was pointless, that she was in too deep, she was too far gone, but I had to say it. Just in case there was some small part of her that was considering leaving. After all this time, I knew the chances were slim, but I had to hold onto a little bit of hope.
"Oh, this fuckwad," Teddy said under his breath, making us glance over to a man who was waving as he approached. "He fucked his third wife's eighteen-year-old daughter and thinks no one else knows about it. The pig. Hey, Mitchum! Long time no see. How have you been?" Teddy asked, moving away.
"Okay, if I thought you were impressive, Teddy takes the cake," I decided, watching him slip from complete derision to sycophancy in a blink.
"Mitchum owns a company Teddy is planning a hostile takeover of," Jones told us, "No one is supposed to know that."
"And how do you?" I asked. "You hate this world as much as I do."
"Yeah," he agreed. "But I'm thinking about the long game here, Harm. If I play my cards right, I can set us both up for life without needing to worry about kissing the matriarchal ass of our beloved grandmother to secure my place in the will."
"Will," I snorted. "Please, evil people never die."
"True," he agreed, sighing.
"Besides, I don't need you to take care of me, Jones. You're my little brother, remember? I'm supposed to take care of you."
"You need someone to look out for you," he said, more serious than I had seen him in a long time as he looked at me.
"I—" I started.
"Harmon!" my mom's voice called, a glint of the old her in her voice, happy, excited, pleased to see me.
"Mom," I said, turning, giving her a smile, reaching for the hands she offered me. Hugs, it seemed, were a thing of the past for us. We held hands and squeezed hard. That was as good as it got. And, I guess, in a way, it was a relief because if I embraced her, I would feel all the bones popping out of her skin, would know for certain just how thin she had gotten under a dress made of a thick