Page 32 of All Your Life

His guy takes one step towards me. “I’m here to escort you off the premises.”

When he lays a hand on my upper arm, I hear my uncle make a clicking sound with his tongue, same one he makes to calm his jittery horses. I am so mad that I’m sure my face is burning red, but the subtle reminder of my uncle’s steady presence reins in the urge I’m having to knock this uppity fool on his ass.

“Wait…Are you accusing me of stealing?”

With that, my uncle steps between us. “Have you gone mad? What is this about?”

“Mr. Murphy, please understand, this has nothing to do with you.”

“This is my nephew, so if you’re accusing him of something you’d better explain yourself to me right now.”

Thomson puffs up his chest. “I actually don’t have to explain anything, but your nephew was spotted taking a few cases of premium lobster tails from the cold storage box, along with God knows what else. Do you know how much that lobster retails for?” He doesn’t wait for an answer before directing his eyes my way. “It’s enough to warrant a felony charge.”

“Fuck. You. I didn’t steal anything.”

“Care to tell me where you were last night?”

A dead calm has come over me, so I don’t raise my voice when I answer, “I’m not telling you shit, old man.”

I’m thinking this day can’t get any worse when I hear her voice from behind me.

“What’s up?”

Those two words are delivered clipped and ice cold, so I assume that Sarah just heard everything.

Fantastic.

I feel all that righteous anger bleed out of me. Why do I feel ashamed when I didn’t do a damn thing wrong?

When no one answers her, she sets her sights on Thomson. “Are you kidding me right now? Where’s your proof? Where’s the evidence?”

“Sarah, not now.”

“Not now, my ass!” Turning back to them, she points her finger at them and says, “You better have something rock solid before you start throwing accusations around, do you understand? Our attorney will rip you both a new one if you say one more slanderous word against this man.”

The guy smiles at her in a way that’s meant to placate. “Miss Hamilton, there’s video footage.”

I take a minute to let that one settle in before unleashing on the guy. “Bullshit! There’s no video footage ofmebecauseIdidn’t steal anything!”

“What is going on?”

And now her father is here…Awesome.

“I don’t need your help, Sarah.Please,just go.” And I know that my eyes must be pleading with her as I make the request because Sarah shakes her head as she wipes at her watery eyes, but then does as I ask and heads out.

“Mr. Hamilton, we have a credible accusation that this employee has been stealing from the club. He cannot stay on the premises. And if he doesn’t leave I’ll have no choice but to call the police.”

“He’s leaving right now,” my uncle shoots back, “and I can assure you I’ll be right behind him. Who the hell do you think you are?”

“Uncle Dan—”

“Not a word,” he warns me. Tossing me the keys to his truck, he says, “Go home.Myhome,” he clarifies. “I’ll get this sorted.”

And I don’t need to be told twice because I want out of there. Sarah is gone when I leave the stable, thank the Lord, and in my periphery I can see her dad talking to those two assholes before they drive off in a golf cart. Batman and Robin are in a rush, no doubt, off to solve some other first-world problems.

Just as I’m about to get in the truck, though, I turn back. I feel the need to make sure my Uncle Dan knows that I am one hundred percent innocent. I also don’t want him doing something stupid on my account. He loves his job. I don’t want him quitting.

Rounding the corner, I stop in my tracks when I hear him talking to Sarah’s father. Standing off to the side, I listen in, and want to put my hand through the wall by the time they’re done.

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