His Safety Net

Chapter 22

       Shortly after my door was closed and I was sitting on my bed, Brandon called me. I answered right away, saying, "Is Jerome okay?"

       Brandon sighed. "Yes and no. For the most part, he is but he almost got arrested yet again."

       "Are you going to tell me what he did or--?"

       Before Brandon could even reply, I slightly heard Jerome gasping before saying, "Is that the cutest person on earth you're talking to? Let me talk to him."

       Brandon must have moved his phone slightly away from him because his voice sounded a bit distant as he said, "No. Go lie down."

       "You're not my dad, Brandon," Jerome said. "Pleeeeeeease. I wanna talk to Nolan or I'll cry. You don't want to see my cry, do you?"

       I didn't have much experience around alcohol, in fact we never had any in the house and I've never stayed at a party long enough to see what it was like, but I think I knew what was going on with Jerome right now.

       "I-is he drunk?" I asked.

       "Yeah, he is," Brandon said. "He showed up like this to my work. Thankfully, I was just getting off so I was able to take this dumbass home. Anyway, I normally deal with his drunk ass but he keeps whining saying how he won't do anything until he sees you. You could come over or... Hold on a second..." He moved the phone away from him again. "Jerome, where the hell did you find that bottle?"

       "In this really cool thing that keeps food and drinks cold," Jerome said. "It's like..." He made an explosion sound. "Mind blowing."

       "Just put the bottle back or else I'm not going to let you see Nolan at all."

       "What? But... But I have to see him."

       "Then put the fucking bottle back, dumbass." Brandon sighed, yet again, and moved his phone back. "Sorry. He's such a baby when he's drunk. Anyway, can you come see him so he'll stop acting like this and hopefully go to sleep?"

       This was why I hated being in this type of mood. Of course I wanted to see Jerome, especially if he was acting like this and wouldn't stop until he saw me. 

       But I probably couldn't even leave the house, no matter how hard I tried.

       "I-I would," I said. "I mean, I want to but... I don't really want to get into it but I can't leave the house right now."

       "Oh," Brandon said. "Are you grounded or something?"

       "N-no, it's not that," I said. "It's... Complicated. It's complicated."

       "Can I bring him over?" Brandon asked. "Or would that be too much to ask, especially with the young siblings you have?"

       "I think it should be fine if I could get him to my room right away," I said. 

       "I'll have to help with that because he's such a pain in the ass," Brandon said. "Though we might not even have to get him to your room if he'll be fine with just seeing you."

       "Now can I talk to Nolan?" Jerome asked.

       Brandon ignored him as he continued his conversation with me. "I'll bring Jerome over to your house, then. Just text me the address."

       "Okay," I said. "Wait, how did you get my number in the first place?"

       "Alan."

       "Oh, right. Is... Is everything okay between you too?"

       Brandon was silent for a bit. "We're... figuring things out."