Page 18 of Birdy

My brother throws the pot back into its rightful spot—harder than necessary, I should add—and crosses his big-ass arms as he leans up against the laminate’s edge. "Because you don't know how to stay out of trouble. How many times have I been arrested?"

I know where this is going, and still, I find myself squaring my shoulders and responding. "None."

"And how many times have you been down to County?"

"Twice."

"Ex-fucking-actly. So don't stand there and ask me why you shouldn't be doing this shit when you know damn well why. If you get caught, he's not going to take the fall for you." Those brown eyes of his, the very same ones we all got from Ma, stare me down as he brings the mug to his lips.

I feel my blood simmering in my veins. The fact that he thinks I’mthatstupid is what pisses me off the most. "I would never expect him to, Tommy. I'm a big girl; I can handle myself."

"Then handle yourself out of all the shit you have going on and stick to La Carretabefore you get fucked a third time. You thought County sucked? Max makes that shit look like summer camp."

My head nearly flies into the wall behind me. "Fuck’s sake, Tomás, who the hell pissed in your coffee?"

"You!” he belts. “I'm so tired of Ma worrying about your ass when, clearly, you couldn’t give three flying fucks. Every time he comes back around, she’s a nervous wreck. Is he married or some shit, and that’s why he’s not around much?"

Oh wow, we’re going there? I may be a lot of things, but I amnota homewrecker. "No,” I lift my chin. “but even if he was, it would be none of your business."

Tommy rolls his eyes and takes another sip. "Just stop, Benni. Shit's getting hot as fuck out there, and the last thing we need is for you to get locked up again over some asshole who wouldn’t give a fuck if you got locked up in the first place."

"Does that mean you're hopping out too?" I press because if it’s too hot for me, it should be too hot for him, too.

"My jump isn't as high as yours. I don't have nearly as much on the line if they snatch my ass up."

Oh, please.

My lips curl dubiously. "Donotact likeel santo. You’ve been doing this longer than I have."

"Holy fuck, are you deaf? I just said my jump isn't as high as yours, and you wanna know why? ‘Cause I didn’t go out there trying to beel Jefe.I knew my place, and I did what I had to do to put food on the table and money in Ma’s wallet…that’s it. But you—"

“But me nothing! I didn’t go out there trying to bela Jefa,either. It just happened.”

“Because you got involved withhim,”he grits, sharp jawline flexing as his teeth grind together. “He’s bad news, Benita. That lil’ fucking tat you got keeps popping up, and I don’t mean on tags. I mean on bodies.”

The Yakuza.That’s definitely their style.They brand their targets sometimes.

“I have nothing to do with that.” I’m actually offended he would or could possibly think otherwise.

“But you got that shit inked on your arm, right? The feds ever see that, they’re gonna assume you’re involved by association.”

“Why are you trying to turn this into something it doesn’t need to be? I literally just told you that I’m not involved in any of that and—”

"Can the two of youpleaseshut the fuck up," Noely's voice resounds from the hall. "It is way too early for the two of you to be going at it."

Her dark, kinky curls are like a freaking lion’s mane, last night’s makeup still plastered on her pretty face. I’m surprised she made it out of her clothes and into that oversized white T-shirt she’s sporting. My lil’ sis parties hard—harder than I did in my day.

"He started it," I tell her, sipping my coffee as she ambles between us to the cupboard.

"I don't really care who started it. Just shut the fuck up, and we’re good. I'm surprised you didn't wake Ma up yet."

"She's not here," I inform, noting how Tommy takes her presence as his opportunity to escape. "It's Sunday…you know where she is."

Noely puckers her lips and nods enthusiastically as she goes about preparing her coffee. "Oh, shefor surewon't missla misanowadays."

La misa—church.

My brow arches. "What is that supposed to mean?"

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