Page 43 of The Care of Broken Things
“But they’re not in my debt! I’m just answering their questions.”
“Debt is debt,” Samuel disagreed. “And you’d make them feel better if you’d tell them what you wanted. Then they wouldn’t have to guess.”
Most of the time the items Eli received were food, but he’d gotten some unusual things already—like a homemade cock ring and another thong (black lace this time). Eli had laughed his ass off when he found them, but Samuel hadn’t been amused. Lucky for the inmates, he’d decided the gifts had been well-meaning (they were supposed to be on their honeymoon, after all) and not the disrespect he refused to tolerate. Still, he was glad people had begun asking him for his opinion about compensation. It meant Eli was getting fewer candy bars and porn mags, and more books and skin care products, especially his beloved cocoa butter. Samuel couldn’t seem to turn his face lately without being visually assaulted by a moisturizing Eli.
“So you’ve finally become a back-alley doctor. Do you—”
Darren slammed his hand down on the table. All eyes turned to him, and Nathaniel put out an instinctive hand, but Darren pushed it aside.
“So you’re all choosing to ignore the elephant in the room?”
Hailey reached for the napkins. Darren’s slam had caused one of the cups to slosh over. “Elephant?”
But Darren didn’t look at Hailey. His eyes had found their target, and with a sharp twist of his gut, Samuel realized he was the elephant.
“Do you really think you can make a decent partner to Nathaniel in here? Or are you so selfish that you just don’t care about that part?”
He sucked a burning breath into his lungs, but he couldn’t form it into words. It didn’t seem to matter. Darren had already moved onto his next target. He grabbed hold of Eli’s jumpsuit and pulled him forward. “And you. Is this some misguided form of punishing yourself for landing your stupid ass in prison, or just an instance of misplaced confidence?”
Eli reached behind Darren and tucked in the tag on his sweater. “It’s not misplaced.”
Darren released his hold and smacked the hand away with a disgusted snort. “You’re so stupid. All of you. I’m surrounded by morons.”
“Darren—”
But whatever Nathaniel had to say was cut off when Jenny took hold of Darren’s arm and dragged him up out of his seat. The two were of similar heights, but in her heels, she had the advantage. She gave him a tug, and he stumbled forward.
He jumped to his feet. “Jen—”
But he didn’t know what else to say, and she kept going until the visitor door closed behind them.
He couldn’t look either Nathaniel or Eli in the face and found himself speaking to Hailey. “She won’t hurt him. I promise.”
Nathaniel pressed a hand over his eyes. “I had a feeling he was going to do something when he suddenly agreed to come visit today.”
Samuel sat up straighter. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. If I did or said anything inappropriate—”
A small hand slipped into his, and he abruptly stopped speaking. Hailey was looking at him with tight eyes. “Is Jenny okay?”
Jenny. When was the last time someone other than himself had worried about his sister?
The little hand in his gave him a squeeze. It was very warm and a little clammy in the way kids' hands often were. It wasn’t big enough or strong enough to protect him, or at least, it shouldn’t have been. But the lump that came to his throat was so large and painful he couldn’t swallow it down. “No,” he said. “For a long time, she hasn’t been, and it’s all my fault.”
Bigger hands, even warmer, came up around him and pulled him into muscle that smelled like cocoa butter. Eli didn’t say, “No, it’s not your fault.” or “It’s okay.” He said, “We’re going to take care of her.”
“That’s right,” Hailey said. She still had his hand in hers. “She can stay in my room, and I’ll make her good food. Don’t cry, Samuel.”
He wasn’t crying, but he could understand why she said it. He felt like he was crying, even though his eyes were dry.
“That’s a sweet offer, but we need to think of her privacy,” Eli said.
But Hailey shook her head. “No more privacy. She needs Samuel, and I can’t give that to her, but I can be a sister instead.” She leaned over and pressed a kiss to Samuel’s cheek. “Is that okay?”
He was so overwhelmed he couldn’t say anything. Not even thank you. So he nodded and was rewarded with Hailey’s smile. “I’ll be back,” she said, and let go of his hand. “Right back.” She slid out of her seat and left them.
“I would love to have Jenny with us,” Nathaniel said once Hailey was out of earshot, “but I’m not sure we can be much in the way of support. Hailey is only with us half the time, and Darren and I are poisonous to be around these days.”
Eli frowned. “No, you aren’t.”
