Page 50 of All The Things: The Last Thing He Needs Omnibus

He could hear noise from the kitchen and guessed the rest of the family was in there. Collin broke off from him to visit with Bobby as Tommy continued through the house.

Davey sat at the table holding a bag of frozen peas to his eye while Mike and Colleen munched on carrots from a vegetable tray Judy had brought. Zoe was sitting happily in Judy’s lap while she and Colleen and Mike caught up—they apparently remembered her from when she was their teacher.

Tommy took a seat next to Davey. “Now that I’ve dealt with your brother, you gonna tell me what happened?”

“Some guy jumped me after school, Tommy.”

Tommy was skeptical and his suspicions were justified when Colleen tapped Davey on the back of the head from across the table. “Ow!”

“Now tell him the rest about why some guy randomly decided to jump you.” She looked like she might hit him again for good measure.

Davey slumped down in his chair and looked at Tommy with one eye. “He was some kid’s older brother. He found out I beat his brother at dice every day last week and got his allowance off him.”

“Which kid?” he asked, knowing it wasn’t really the top priority, but he was curious.

“How the hell should I know? I played a lot of kids last week.”

Tommy huffed a frustrated breath and rolled his eyes. “So the brother came to get his money back for him, or did he just take it out of your hide?”

“He wanted the money, but I told him I already spent it.”

“Did you?”

“No. It’s in the emergency fund.”

“So you took a beating rather than just give it back?”

Davey looked at him like Tommy had asked the dumbest question possible. “Of course, Tommy. That’s our electricity this winter. What would you have done?”

It was a fair point, and they all knew it, but Tommy said, “I wouldn’t have swindled little kids with loaded dice to begin with.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep breath. “Can you figure out which kid it was?”

“Probably.”

“Do it, then, and give him his money back.” Davey looked like he was about to protest, but Tommy cut him off before he got going. “Don’t give me any shit, Davey. It’s one thing to lift something we really need, but stealing from people—from kids—is worse. I can’t explain it, but it’s personal, and it hurts a person in a way that toilet paper off a shelf doesn’t, okay?” Davey nodded, but he still looked like he disagreed with the logic. “Now go get me your dice and any trick playing cards or anything else you got stashed.”

Davey got up like he was going to comply, but first he said, “It’s a good lesson for them. They’ll know not to gamble.” He turned and stalked out of the kitchen.

“Or it’ll turn ’em into gambling addicts or set ’em up to be victims for the rest of their lives!” Tommy called after him. “You want that on your head, Davey?”

He didn’t get an answer, but he hadn’t expected one. Tommy leaned forward and thudded his head on the table. “He’s gonna turn into some bank robber or something, I swear to God.”

Tommy had forgotten Judy was sitting right next to him until he heard her voice.

“It’s a phase,” she told him. Tommy jumped at her words and Judy laughed. “Bobby got expelled in the fifth grade for bringing a dirty magazine he’d found in a dumpster to school.”

He lifted his head as Mike and Colleen laughed. Tommy grinned. “I’m so in love with that story, I can’t thank you enough.” Judy laughed too, but Tommy went on. “This ain’t a onetime thing for him, though. This is his MO, ya feel me?”

Judy nodded like she understood and—to Tommy’s surprise—let the nonword “ain’t” go without comment, but she said, “He does these things for the right reasons, Tommy. He just makes poor choices in how to achieve his goals. That’s something that can be dealt with, and you’re doing that. He won’t be a lifetime criminal if he has you as an example.”

Tommy wasn’t willing to admit how much he appreciated her words, but he did give her a small smile.

Chapter Eleven

The weather got colder and the days got shorter. Bobby was back on regular duty, and Wyatt had made good on his threat. He came home for Thanksgiving and didn’t let Colleen off the hook with her excuses. They were back together, even with him living so far away.

Much to Tommy’s chagrin, Judy started dropping by more and more often. He remembered Bobby turning up uninvited on his doorstep one night, a lifetime ago, with movies and beer. Judy didn’t even bring beer. She would drop in to see how things were going. She would drop in because she baked cookies and there were too many for her to keep. She would drop in because Bobby had mentioned a school project one of the kids was working on and she had an idea to make it pop for extra credit. She would drop in because she missed the babies. She would drop in because she wanted to bring over something for Colleen. She could make up an excuse for any occasion, and she did it with ease.

The first few times it happened, Tommy bit his tongue and tried not to be rude. After several more visits, he tried to say something to politely illustrate he didn’t like surprise visits from anyone. His protest—which was admittedly weak—was met with an arched brow and a shrug.

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