Page 39 of Social Sinners

“Whenever you boys get up and around. Jeremiah, the key is still hidden in the same place.”

“See you tomorrow, Mom.” I hung up, sitting back in the desk chair and released the breath I’d unknowingly held.

“It’ll be alright, Ethan, you’ll see. She’s not who you think she is. That key she mentioned; she hid it so when I needed to get away from him I could. He’d lock me in my room, and I’d climb out the window. That was how I got back in. Not a day went by that she didn’t tell me how much she missed you, but she was terrified of him.”

My brain couldn’t comprehend all of this right now, so I honed in on something Sal had said earlier, “I’ll need to call Sal in a couple of hours and see what he wants me to do about security. He’ll probably call Ventura out for at least the funeral.”

“I still can’t believe my brother is a big shot drummer,” he smiled.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever,” I brushed his compliment off, but the smile I had could be seen from a mile away. There was pride in Jay’s statement, and that resonated deep within me. “You’ve never seen me play live, you’ll have to come to our next band practice.”

“I’ve only seen the videos on your YouTube channel. I stalked you on social media until he took my computer away.”

“Wait, I have a YouTube channel?” That is freaking awesome, I may just have to stalk myself now.

“That you do, my love,” Easton said, stepping inside the office with Nathan trailing behind him. “How are you guys doing?”

We both shrugged. “Gonna head over to Mom’s tomorrow, err today and see how we can help. Probably need to talk to your dad about security detail. I’m sure it’ll turn into a three-ring circus outside our folk's house.” That was putting it mildly, although things never progressed past the shrine the fans erected outside of Joey’s parent's house when he was in the hospital. But, better to be safe than sorry, especially since my mom would be there alone now.

“I’ll take care of it,” Easton said. “Do you want me to go with you?”

My staple answer was yes, I loved having Easton with me wherever I went. Sad part was I didn’t know what the response from not only my mother would be, but the old biddies from the church, and I didn’t want to subject him to that potential negativity.

“As much as I really want to say yes, I think it’s best if Jay and I go alone. That way, I can get a feel for what Mom’s reception is going to be when it comes to our relationship.”

“That I totally understand. If you want, Dad and I can handle the funeral details once you find out from your mom what his wishes were regarding that,” Easton’s kind heart was truly without borders.

“I’m sure it was something along the lines of not letting his gay sons anywhere near his funeral,” Jay scoffed.

“Well, tough shit because it’s probably going to be this gay son’s money who pays to have his homophobic ass buried.” Fucker had no choice now, did he?

“Can you drop me off at Randy’s?” Nathan asked Jay. He’d been so quiet I’d forgotten he was even there.

“You’re more than welcome to stay,” Easton told him, “I’ll be working here in the office all day. I promise you won’t be in my way.”

“What do you want to do?” Jay asked him.

“I’d like to be here for you when you get home if that’s okay?”

“That’s more than okay,” I assured him. “It’s going to be an emotional day no matter how we look at it. It’ll be nice to have our men here waiting for us when we get back.”

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