Page 95 of Driftwood Daffodil

My face dropped. “Why were you in the infirmary?”

“You know how it is, Nova.”

Unfortunately I did. The Mancini’s had a lot of friends, some of whom were locked up with my brother. This was the tenth beating my brother had taken this year. He spent more time in the infirmary than he did in his cell. It was ridiculous, and of course no one would do anything about it.

“Kato,” I sighed.

“It’s okay.”

No it wasn’t. What if the next time he didn’t make it out, or was hurt so bad that he was disfigured or couldn’t walk.

That didn’t stop him from trying to reassure me. “Things will get better.”

“How?”

“I made some friends.”

And by friends he meant… “You didn’t join a gang did you?”

I’d seen some of those prison shows and knew what friends meant.

“No,” Kato snorted. “It’s more like a club.”

Right, cause that was so much better.

“Is club code for cult?” Because I wasn’t going to start wearing robes and dancing naked in the moonlight, unless there was some serious alcohol involved.

“It’s not a cult.”

“Are you sure, cause most people don’t know it’s a cult until it’s too late.”

Mandy Richards’s parents had to hire some guy to kidnap and reprogram her. At least that’s what people said. Personally I think she did a stint in rehab. Anyone who ran around naked at a party saying 'I am the lizard queen’ was on some serious drugs.

“It’s not a cult, Nova! It’s a biker club.”

“Okay.”Geez calm down.“Wait… so you’re a biker now?”

“Yes,” Kato huffed. “I’m a member of The Lost Souls.”

The Lost Souls? I think I saw some of those guys when we went to New Orleans. But why would they want my brother? “You’ve never ridden a bike.”

“Yes, I have.” Kato argued.

“No, you haven’t.”

“Yes, I have.” He insisted.

To which I challenged, “When?”

“Before I had to take care of you two and trade in for a minivan.”

That made me cough out a snort. “You’ve never driven a minivan either.”

“That’s beside the point.”

“I don’t think it is. If you’d lie about one thing, who’s to say you wouldn’t lie about the other?” I thought it was a valid point.

Kato did not. “Put Maw Maw back on the phone.”

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