“Well, let’s not jump the gun. Let’s hear them out,” he cautioned seeing a side of Jewel he had never seen before. She was furious.
“Not jump to conclusions! What other reason could they have by sneaking into club with fake ID.? And how did they get fake IDs?”
He had a suspicion. Those envelopes. That cash. Although he didn’t like it any better than she did, he knew boys would be boys. And there weren’t any teen clubs nearby, “Eve is keeping her eye on them. They haven’t been drinking anything other than soda. They seem to be scoping out the girls right now.”
“I’m going to kill them,” she repeated as she sat on the bed to put her heels back on.
He restrained his laughter at seeing her this angry, and pushed back the doubts of them being with Justin. She was a real mamma tiger. Heck, even when she had been angry at him, he had not seen this kind of fierceness.
*
When they reached The Rainmaker, Eve was waiting at the door, and she pointed them out. Lesley was dancing with a pretty brunette, while Wesley and Justin remained at the small table they had claimed. Justin was sitting next to a petite girl who clung to him.
When he spotted Jewel, Justin had the decency to look panic-stricken and nudged Wesley. Wesley turned to see Jewel leading the threesome in his direction. Jewel couldn’t make out what Wesley said, but just from the way his mouth formed the shapes she knew it involved the words, “Oh shit!” Well, she was about to give him exactly that.
“What. Are. You. Doing. Here?” she stated emphatically pointing her finger into his chest with each enunciated word. “I turn my back for a moment and you boys do something stupid.”
Lesley must have noticed the scene his sister was making and he came over right away. “Shit, Jewel. We’re sorry. We’re not drinking. Just dancing.”
She turned her blazing eyes on Wesley’s twin. “Well, let me remind you both, you are not old enough to go clubbing. You need to pick up girls elsewhere. Follow me,” and with that she turned on her heel and walked right out of the bar. She ignored Justin completely.
Guests were laughing at the spectacle she had caused, and Joseph and Eve exchanged knowing looks. They had been through this as well. Only it was their mother who had caught them and dragged them from places they shouldn’t have been.
From Jewel’s quick pace and the boys following her with stooped shoulders, all who witnessed the scene knew the boys were in big trouble.
Jewel didn’t stop at the lobby. She walked right out the doors with her brothers in tow. Joseph told Eve to go back to the club. He would handle it and call her later.
Jewel spoke firmly twenty feet ahead of him. “Oh no. I am handling this.” She turned once outside in the parking lot. “Keys!” she demanded.
“I said we weren’t drinking, Jewels.” Wesley dug in his pocket to find the keys and dropped them into her proffered hand.
“I don’t care what you said, Wesley. No truck for two weeks. You big men can take the bus to school for the next two weeks. Now get in the car.”
“Jewels?”
“Lesley, now!” She opened the door for them and they both slid into the cramped back seat. Neither of them dared sit shotgun. They knew she could be an ogre when they screwed up. And they both knew they had screwed up badly.
She slammed the door after them, and turned to Joseph. “I’m so sorry, Joseph. I really can’t believe they did this.”
He smiled apologetically. “No need. They are boys, and sadly I admit, I did that a time or two. Though it doesn’t make it right.” The brothers looked away in shame.
“It’s so hard,” she complained. “But I promise it won’t happen again. They are going on restriction for two weeks. And no truck, no friends. No Justin.” She enunciated each phrase. “And when we get home they are going to watch me burn their fake IDs.” Both boys bemoaned the loss of their coveted IDs.
Joseph suppresses his smile remembering his mother doing the same thing to him. “I know this is your call, but how about you make them do a little volunteer work at the center with me. I’d like to help if I can, and maybe they can help me with the younger kids.”
Her eyes lit up at the thought. “Oo, that would be perfect. They’ll have to get up extra early.” Again, he heard the groans from the backseat.
“And I’ll even pick them up on the way to the youth center. They can catch the bus there to school.”
“That would be perfect.” He heard the anger slipping away from her voice. He saw her frown and knew she was worried about how this incident would affect them.
He leaned down to press a chaste kiss to her lips. And he hugged her whispering in her ear, “I’ll get to see you every morning too. This is not something to worry about. For us.” He heard her shaky intake of breath and knew he had said the right thing. “Go get them home. I’ll call you later.”