My Brother's Best Friend

Chapter 9

I stayed glued to where I was,"Trey."

"Long time, no see," he said smiling.  He turned to the two people and the red head and said, "I need this room."

All three of the people trampled out of the room leaving Trey and I alone.

"I'm here for Cat," I said in a monotone voice.

"Woah, woah, woah," he said chuckling. "Let's skip the business. I've missed you. You don't call me."

He was still the same: 5 foot 11 with dirty blonde hair and a pearly smile. When his green eyes weren't blood shot, they reminded me of the forest. I fell in love with that when I was fourteen and then he used me.

"That's because I don't want to," I snapped.  "If you could give me whatever Cat sent me here for, I'd be ever so grateful."

"Ouch," he said. "You've changed."

"And you haven't," I shot back.

He locked his gaze on me before his eyes trailed down my body.

"Trey," I said averting his attention away from my body.

"I'll get it," he said finally.

I watched him walk into another part of the room and retrieve something.

When he returned, he handed me a small metallic box that had a latch on it.

I accepted the box and glanced at Trey once more before leaving the house.

I pulled into my driveway not too long after with the box at my side.

It was eleven when I entered the house.

"Where'd you go?" I heard from the corner of the room.

I turned my head to see my mom sitting at the kitchen table with papers set out in front of her.

She had her reading glasses on and looked concerned.

"Hanna wanted to talk to me," I said.  "I didn't think it'd take long."

"Oh," she said.

I prepared to leave but she called my name.

"Yes," I said.

"I've been meaning to talk to you," she said.

I clutched the box behind my back.

"I'm kind of tired..." I said.

"It won't take long," she said smiling softly.

I sighed and approached her slowly.

"I want to thank you for understanding your sister and giving her a chance. She isn't exactly in the best of places right now," she began.

I thought of Catalina who was probably pacing right now.

"I want to be here for you three. I know I wasn't before..."

She glanced at me and gave a genuine smile,"I want my kids to be good people. So, I'm here now and hopefully for good. Thank you for understanding."

As she sat there smiling at me, I thought of the times where she wasn't, and the times where she'd be yelling at Cat or me.

When Cat ran away, I not only lost her but, I lost my mom. She would get extra hours of work, convincing herself she went somewhere wrong in raising us.

"Your welcome," I said quickly.

She nodded and turned back to her work.

I backed out of the kitchen and turned towards the stairs. I opened the door of the bedroom and saw Cat flipping through a magazine.

When I walked into her view, the first thing she noticed was the box I had in my hand.

"About time," she said reaching for it.

I watched as she hastily unlatched the box.

I peered to see what it was and saw stacks of bills. Hundred dollar bills.

"Is that yours?" I asked.

She glanced at me quickly and replied,"No."

She flipped through the stacks and began counting.

"Lock the door," she said.

I did as told and sat back on my bed.

"Nine, ten, eleven, twelve..." she mumbled.

She had counted almost fifty thousand dollars.

She counted all the bills twice then said,"I'm short."

I furrowed my eyebrows.

A little louder she exclaimed,"I'm short!"

She peered into the box and lifted up a small sheet of paper that she must have overlooked.

"Trey," she growled under her breath.

She crumbled up the paper and tossed it to me. When I unraveled it, I saw scribbled print and it read:

I'm sorry it had to come to this. Don't worry though, I don't want your money. You can get the rest at the same place. And by 'you' I mean Lauren. Can't wait to see you.

He didn't need to leave a signature for us to know it was him.

"I need that money by tomorrow," Cat said latching the box again.

I knew it wasn't up for discussion. She knew things about me that no one else needed to and she knew that.

She didn't speak anymore as she settled into the bed adjacent to mine and continued flipping through the magazine.