44. Bellamy

FORTY-FOUR

bellamy

The next day after school, Drew went with me to pick Arlo up from the bus stop, then go meet the guys at Waffle Hut.

Arlo shot inside, hurling himself into the booth, then patting the plastic seat. "Miss Drew, you sit next to me."

Hendrix's head lifted on a glare, tracking Drew as we made our way across the restaurant. She sat beside Arlo, and I sat next to her.

"Don't, dude." Wolf shook his head at Hendrix. "Just don't."

Hendrix twisted the straw paper in his hand, then dropped it to the table. "You disgust me, Bell."

"Jesus Christ, man. Shut up." Not that I expected Hendrix to be excited about my moving Drew in. I threw an arm around Drew's shoulders, and Hendrix sank back in the seat with a snarl.

"It's bullshit, Wolf." He snatched up a menu. "And you know it."

Drew flipped him off. "You need me to buy you a tiara over there, drama queen?"

One of his eyes twitched before he looked at me. "And you chose to live with that…"

"Miss Drew's living with us?" Arlo clapped his hands. "Yay!"

"No, Arlo." Hendrix leaned across the table with a stern glare. "It's not yay. She's a succubus, and she's just sunk her claws into your brother and is dragging him down to an estrogen-riddled hell."

"Estrogen?"

"Don't listen to Hendrix, Peehead." Drew patted Arlo's head. "He's just salty because no girls like him for more than one night."

This would never end.

"Hendrix. Shut up. Drew, shut up." I grabbed a menu. "Arlo, yes, she's staying for a while."

Wolf chuckled, opening his menu and hiding his face behind it while humming the tune to "Another One Bites the Dust."

After the waitress came over and took our order, Arlo crawled over the back of the booth to go to the restroom.

Hendrix glared at Drew for a second. "So we're gonna talk business in front of her now, I guess?"

"Yeah…"

Wolf's gaze drifted to the front. "Shit…" He yanked the joint from behind his ear and crammed it into his pocket. "Cops are coming over here."

Officer Robins stopped beside our booth, a cup of coffee in his hand.

His gaze shifted from me to Hendrix to Wolf, then stopped on Drew. "Miss Morgan, right? How you doing?"

Wolf and Hendrix stared straight ahead at the wall.

"I'm good…" She glanced at me like I knew what the hell was going on. "How are you?"

Hendrix groaned, tossing his head back on the booth.

"That's good to hear. Just came in for a cup of Joe. They've got some good coffee here." He took a sip from his mug. "Just thought I would come by and check that you were okay. We've had a report down at the station that says you're a missing person…"

Jesus Christ. She was eighteen; there wasn't crap they could do if she decided to leave. But since her dad saw her as nothing more than a possession, I guess it made sense to him.

"Oh, that's...Nope. I'm right here."

"Well, your father seems to think you're missing." Another sip of coffee. "Guess it might be those authoritative differences, huh?" His gaze strayed to me momentarily.

She actually laughed. "Let's just say they escalated."

"I see. I'll make a note when I get back to the station, ma'am. Call him and tell him you're A-Okay."

"Sure."

"All right then. You kids have a good day." Then he walked off.

Hendrix scoffed. "Miss? Ma'am? We get called assholes and little shits."

Because we were. Drew snatched her drink. "You are an asshole, Hendrix."

"This is the kinda shit I'm talking about, Bell." He balled up a napkin and lobbed it at Drew. "Getting all Chatty Kathy with the police. Calling me names. Giving me head injuries. What's next? Burning my house down and taking a shit on it?" He shook his head. "Where is the line?"

"You pissed in my car!" Drew all but shouted.

"You got him arrested!" Hendrix did shout.

Wolf barked out a laugh. "God, Zepp is missing some grade-A shit."

Arlo came back and Drew helped him over the back of the booth while I ignored the argument continuing to go back and forth, seething.

The waitress brought our food over before I finally couldn't take it any longer. Her dad thought he'd get me in trouble, and that lit my ass on fire. "Your dad just implied I kidnapped you; you realize that?"

The banter fell silent, and Drew's hand landed on my thigh. "My dad is an arrogant old man who is pissed because I'm not falling in line. He's just throwing everything and anything he can at the situation because he has no control." She squeezed. "Really, you should be flattered. You have him so on the ropes."

Flattered? Pissed was more like it.

Arlo stood up in the booth, patting Drew on the head. "Miss Drew, you wanna watch The Good Dinosaur with me tonight? It's sad. The dinosaur parents die."

"Well, now you just told me the ending."

He frowned. "It's not the ending. That's just the beginning."

"That's not depressing." She snorted, tugging his shirt down where it had ridden up. "Sure. You want popcorn?"

He nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay. Eat your burger before Hendrix steals it like the vulture he is."

He leaned across the table, whispering, "Arlo. Remember the bro-code. Bros before hoes."

Drew covered Arlo's ears. "Really? He is going to figure out that is not the garden variety soon."

When she released him, he glanced over at me, his little brow creased in confusion. " I before E except after C , and bros before hose…"

"No! Do not go to school and say that crap."

Hendrix cackled like the idiot he was, and I crammed fries into my mouth.

I couldn't deal with this shit...