Page 35 of Her Brother's Keeper

I shook my head, “No, and I don’t care to hear it. They’ve always been nice to me. I met one of them the day my dad died and the next thing I knew, they were at my house the day before Christmas Eve with toys and gifts, and money to make sure my brother and I had a good holiday and then some. They’re good people.”

“Maren, I don’t think you understand…” I raised my hand to stop him.

“Mr. Hunter, I can appreciate that you’re looking out for me, but they’ve only shown themselves to be good people to me. Abraham Lincoln once said, ‘character is like a tree and reputation its shadow. While the shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.’ I called one of them because I didn’t have anyone else to call when my car just died… he was here in less than five minutes. Don’t let the shadow of their rough appearance fool you. I’m glad I didn’t. I don’t know where Sage and I would be without them.”

Mr. Hunter sighed and ran a hand through his light thinning hair, searching my face with his blue eyes so full of concern. Finally, he nodded, “There you go, the student teaching the master… again, might I add.”

“Not the first time, eh?” I asked smiling.

“Not by far, Ms. Tracy. You should get home to your brother.”

“I really should. Thanks, Mr. Hunter, for looking out for me.”

“Of course.”

I did what Archer told me. I picked up Sage, running into the house just long enough to call him down from his ivory tower so we could go get tacos from his favorite fast food Mexican place.

“Seriously?” he asked and I nodded. He came down without a complaint and got into his coat, and then the car.

We drove in silence for a minute, Sage staring out the window and finally he said, “Sorry I was mean this morning.”

Surprised I said, “It’s okay.”

“I thought you were going to forget.”

“Forget about what?” I asked and he looked at me.

“Taco Tuesday.”

I blinked,was it Tuesday?I smiled and said, “How the heck did you think I would forget about Taco Tuesday? I know I’m busy, and the holidays were crazy, and that they aren’t homemade, but I figured you’d forgive me for the fast food version.”

Sage nodded, “I really don’t want to take the bus anymore.”

“Listen, about that; I will try to take you to school every morning, but you’re going to have to take the bus home on the nights I have work. Okay?”

Sage nodded after a time and said, “Deal.”

“And Sage?” I said after some more silence.

“Yeah?”

“If I forget things, like Taco Tuesday, all you gotta do is say something. This whole being an adult thing hasa lotto it. I can’t always remember everything. Some stuff gets lost in the shuffle.”

“Okay,” he said with a nod and it looked like he was about to cry.

“I love you,” I said and Sage went back to staring out the window.

“I love you, too.”

Meanwhile, inside my head, I thanked my dad, Nox, and Archer for the confluence of events that led to saving Taco Tuesday for my brother. That led to having this small heart to heart and a truce or two declared on some things. I mean what was it, if not some divine intervention? How weird, right?

Chapter 13

Nox

“What can you tell me?” I asked when I picked up the phone. Archer never was one for formalities and always appreciated the short version. He didn’t like long stories, and so I tried to keep everything simple. It was just how we were. So my picking up the phone and asking straight out what I wanted to know wasn’t exactly frowned upon or considered rude. It just was what it was.

“There was glass. Looked like a bottle of some kind, whatever that shit kids like to drink with the fuckin’ lizards on the label. Anyways, she was safe, in her car. Hooked up the jump starter and she fired right up. You owe me twenty bucks by the way.”

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