Page 3 of The Penalty

“What would you have liked me to do as a kid? His sins are not mine.”

“At least you knew.”

I’m left speechless.

“That’s what I thought.”

“You don’t get to treat me like shit because you’re mad at him. Take it up with him.”

“You may own a small percent of the company but you will never be a part of the family.” Oliver’s words feel final.

“I never fucking asked to be.”

I’m not elated riding the train back to Brooklyn. I should be happy about the money, but I can’t find it in me. There’s too much other shit in my brain, and I can’t begin to process any of it. It’s like my entire world shifted in the last two hours and I don’t know where I stand anymore. I don’t know who I am and I’m not even sure I know anyone other than my best friend. Everyone has been lying to me, or at least that’s what it feels like. Why didn’t my mother tell me about the trust fund?

I’d stayed after to talk to the lawyer about it. Evidently it went into effect when I turned 18 and would cover college and living expenses until I was twenty-five. After that, I could do whatever I want with it. This money will solve all our financial problems and I have no idea why Mom didn’t tell me instead of making me worry that I may have to juggle hockey and working to help support us. She wasn’t too proud to take child support all these years, why the fuck is this different?

I need a damn drink, and I need my best friend.

Tobi: How did it go?

Rhys: You’re never going to believe this.

Tobi: Are you rich? Because if you’re rich, you get to buy the beer.

Rhys: Get your brother to buy it. You know they’ll card me. Tell him I’ll give him cash.

I’m still at a total loss when I take a seat next to Tobi.

“I just don’t know what to do about it all. Part of me doesn’t want to deal.” I sigh and pick up my beer.

“Maybe she doesn’t want to use your money.”

“She was fine with me getting a job?”

“Maybe she doesn’t want you to usetheirmoney?”

I lift my shoulders in a shrug. “But she was fine taking money from him for all those years?”

Tobi makes a face. “Everything you think is obvious.”

“I cannot help that I have expressive eyebrows.” I flop back on his bed. “Where is your mom?”

“At the lab, I think.”

“At nine pm on a Saturday?”

“She’s really weird about those mushrooms she’s growing.”

“Like the psychedelic kind?”

Tobi shakes his head. “No, that would be fun.”

“What about your brother?” I ask, not wanting to act like I care, because I don’t.

Tobi’s older brother is everything a hot jock should be, but I can’t think about him. Tobi would freak out if I went there.“Who knows? He’s probably off drunk, dying in an alley.” Tobi and his brother don’t get along.

They’ve always been competitive with each other, but I can’t figure out why. Tobi has always been more like his mother—analytical, studious, and more of the serious side.

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