Page 29 of Flare

“Are you done with your homework?”

Jack nodded.

“Then sure, you can game for a bit. But lights out before midnight.”

“Cool. And I, um, meant to ask you.” Jack glanced at me, then back to Beck. “There’s a party at one of the kid’s places tomorrow—”

“No.” Beck glared and Jack sighed. “You’re still grounded for another week. And asking me in front of a guest isn’t going to improve your chances of getting a yes.”

“Kind of hard to make friends if I can’t socialise,” Jack grumbled and headed for the stairs. But he came to an abrupt stop the second Beck’s phone rang.

The two shared a look. After checking his screen, Beck gave his nephew a sharp nod, and the tension in the room skyrocketed.

“I can go,” I quickly offered.

Beck held up a hand. “No, stay, please. My sister sometimes rings on Fridays. This shouldn’t take long.” He walked to where Jack waited on the stairs and leaned in close so he could hear.

The conversation was short and to the point. I couldn’t really follow from just one side, but Jack clearly wasn’t happy. His scowl deepened and he slid down onto the stair with an angry grunt that set Beck’s brows in a deep frown. He finished the call and took a seat next to Jack on the stairs, his hand on Jack’s arm.

Jack jerked it away. “What the hell, Uncle Beck?”

“It wasn’t her fault,” Beck said softly. “She was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“It’s never her fucking fault,” Jack snapped, and my eyes popped at the language. “What’s wrong with her? Why would she do that?”

Beck took a deep breath, and I imagined he was trying not to give Jack the reaction he sought.

“It’s prison.” Beck kept his voice low and even. “I don’t imagine it’s easy to avoid disputes between inmates all the time, and your mum wasn’t involved, as such. She was just trying to help her friend.”

“Yeah, right.” Jack sneered. “It was afight, Uncle Beck. Afight. And like she gives a shit about other people. She never worried what would happen to me, did she? What did she think was gonna happen, stealing all that money? That her employers were as stupid as she was? And now everybody’s paying for her fuck up. Why didn’t she get help?”

The despair in Beck’s expression pinned me to my chair. He looked so fucking miserable and... lost.

“Come on, Jack,” he implored. “This wasn’t deliberate. Your mum doesn’t fight. That’s not her.”

“How do you know?” Jack seethed. “How do any of us? No one thought she was up to her eyeballs in debt, did they? And it’s not likeyouwere around much either to know how she thought or what she did. Christmas and the occasional visit, right? So much for family.”

Beck winced and I wanted to race over and put my arms around him.

“Seeing you every weekend is the most important thing in your mother’s life right now. Even if it doesn’t feel like it at times. That much Idoknow.”

Jack folded his arms and the scowl deepened. “A whole week.”

“A week’svisitation. But we can still call, or even try and book a video link if that’s allowed. We can try for tomorrow.”

Jack pushed to his feet and walked away. “I’m busy tomorrow.”

“Doing what?” Beck threw up his hands. “That isn’t going to help. Come on, Jack.”

“Busy doingnothing,which is better than talking to her. I’m going to my room.”

“Jack!”

“No, I’m done talking.”

Beck watched his nephew climb the stairs with a desperate ache in his expression. I made my way over and crouched in front of him. “I’m so sorry. That would’ve hurt. Do you want me to go?”

He looked up as if only just remembering I was there, anguish written in every line of his face. “I’m sorry you had to see that. Has Jack told you about his mother?”

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