Page 15 of Waiting for Ru
“I do, but not enough.”
“Let me share mine with you. It’s not wrong to want to do this on your own, but it’s also not wrong to accept help when it’s offered. I’m worried about you. I love you.”
Ru knew he was supposed to say it back but he couldn’t.
“Remember what I have tattooed on my back?Níor mharaigh mé mo dheartháir riamh.I never killed my brother. If you don’t let me help you, will that still be true? Catch the train. Come to us. Today. Do you need money for a ticket?”
“No. I have enough. I don’t want to be a bother.”
“You could never be a bother. You’re my brother. Lost and found. And I’m here for you however and whenever you need me. Everything in your world will one day be right. Where are you?”
“Near Dorchester. I’ve come to see Cookie and Joni.”
“They’re still with the guy who bought them?”
Oh God.That hadn’t occurred to him, that Jasim might have sold them on.
“Yes.” Because he didn’t want to admit to being stupid. “I might have to wait until tomorrow to see them though.”
“Come whenever you like. Just call and tell me or Tay when and where you need to be picked up.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t give up, Ru. Promise me that. No matter how bad you feel, don’t give up because I can’t…” Ink gave a shaky sob. “You will be happy again. I promise. I thought I’d never find contentment and I have. You will too. You’ll find some girl who’ll take one look at you and know you’re the best thing to ever happen to her.”
“Maybe not a girl,” Ru blurted.
Ink chuckled. “Okay. Then not a girl. Everything is going to be all right. I’ll help you.”
“Okay.” Ru could feel himself shrinking. “Bye, Ink.”
“Bye.”
Did I just come out to my brother?
While he still had his phone in his hand, he tapped in the number from the card Jasim had given him and took a deep breath before he pressedcall.
“Benning Park. How may I help you?”
It sounded like the same woman he’d spoken to earlier.
“Could I speak to Jasim, please?”
“Sorry, he’s unavailable.”
She ended the call. That was rude. Ru powered down his phone to save the battery and put it in his backpack.
“Right, Bela. We’ll go back to the gates and wait there. Maybe we can sneak in if they open. All I want is to do is see that Cookie and Joni are okay and then we’ll leave.”
Bela flew off and Ru put on his helmet and the backpack, and cycled down the road. There wasn’t anywhere to wait where he wouldn’t be seen, so he stopped worrying about that and propped his bike against the wall at the side of the gate, hung his helmet over the handlebar and sat next to his backpack, with back to the wall and his face to the sun.
Despite his worries about bothering his brother and Tay, he felt a sense of relief that he’d made the decision to go north.
Ru was curled up on the ground, resting his head on his arm, with Bela perched on the saddle of the bike watching over him, when a sleek silver car pulled up in front of the gates. As they began to open, Jasim stepped out of the vehicle.
At last.Ru scrambled to his feet. “Hi.”
“I wondered if you were dead and English vultures were gathering. Well, one anyway.”
