Bird-Dogging: an Academy Fan Fiction [on hold indefinitely]

Chapter Thirty

           I gave Silas my address and then skipped back out to the truck to wait for Dusty. He wasn't far behind me.

           He climbed into the truck and let out a heavy breath before turning to me. "I need to talk to you about something, Birdie, and I really need you to hear me out."

           I turned in my seat, pulling one knee up under me. I rested my hands in my lap and raised my eyebrows at him. He had my full attention.

          "Billy and I... While you were out of the room, we talked. And I think he's right. Not about everything. But, well... we didn't... we haven't..." He seemed to be at a loss for words. Billy was always the one who talked about serious things with me. Dusty was the fun one, so his seriousness felt heavy. I waited patiently for him to find his words. He sighed. "Well, Billy thinks we need to get you some self defense lessons."

         "Why?" I asked.

          He rubbed at the back of his neck. "Well, he's not as comfortable with the idea of you dating as I am. And I agree that you should be able to protect yourself."

          I nodded. That seems reasonable. But I can tell that isn't the whole reason. I decided to prod a bit. "And...?"

          He huffed. "Am I that easy for you to read?"

          I shrugged, but grinned. I knew him well enough to know that there was more.

          He deliberated before saying, very slowly, "Well, Billy and I are more than just friends..."

          I blinked. I knew they were close, but nothing had ever led me to believe there was more. It just didn't seem to fit with what I knew. And there had even been a few women in and out of Dusty's life. One woman that was like a boomerang for Billy. It didn't really change anything, so I wasn't sure why it made a difference. "And you think that your relationship will cause me problems?"

          He pulled his head back, confusion written all over his face. "Our relation—Oh! No, Sang, not like that." He shook his head in a laugh. "This is why I always let Billy do the talking," he muttered to himself. He pressed the heel of his hand to his eye. "Okay, look. We're brothers. Family. I chose him and he chose me, and now we're family."

          I knew that already. They couldn't be real brothers since they had different last names and didn't look alike. But I had accepted the "brother" thing a long time ago. I still wasn't sure where the self defense came in.

          He read my face as each thought flashed across it. "I can't really tell you much. But you're family too." He pointed at me with his whole hand to emphasis his words. "You gotta trust your family."

         "Okay." So it was about trust. I still had no idea what he was getting at. "I trust you. I can make time for self defense." I thought over my schedule and groaned. But it seemed really important to Dusty, so I had to find a way. "I think I only have Tuesday afternoons open. Will that work?"

          He nodded. "I know you know Marc from Nevermore. Have you met Axel though?"

          I made a noncommittal gesture. I'd met him, but I'd never really interacted with him.

          "Well, he's doing some training for... Well, we want you up to speed when... This coming winter..." He huffed. "Tuesday afternoon. I'll text you an address. And we think it would be a good idea for you to start running. Build up some endurance."

          If I'd been confused before, I was completely flummoxed then. What is going on that he couldn't even finish a sentence. Training for what? Up to speed for when? And if Axel is involved, is he trying to tell me that he is involved with the Russian mob too? And running? Seriously? They know how much I hate running.