Ruin

Twenty

Aaron is still cutting the meat when the door opens and Jimmy walks in.

The both of us glance up, him with a smile I can see from the corner of his eye. My heart stops, and my hand jumps to my chest like there's something I can do to make it start again. But then Brandon walks through the door. His eyes fall on me and my legs nearly give out with the weight of the relief at seeing him again.

Jimmy doesn't even look at me. He walks over to the kitchen island and smiles at Aaron, "You creepy bastard."

That's all I catch before Brandon is in front of me with his own greeting. "Hey." He smiles at me, but there's a slight twitch above his brows. "Are you okay? He didn't say anything, did he?"

Behind Brandon, I can hear Jimmy and Aaron talking and even laughing like any two ordinary men. I shake my head. "What're you doing here?"

"Alex came and got me." He keeps his voice low and his back turned to Aaron and Jimmy. "But I was with Jimmy."

Jimmy isn't looking at either of us. He watches Aaron seasoning the meat he's chopped as he talks to him in a low voice. I think I hear him say, "So you thought you'd come over and start chopping things?" He smiles, his attention focused on Aaron until he seems to notice me, and then I look away quickly.

Brandon pulls me close to his side with an arm around my shoulder as he turns around to face them. "So you need our help? We can chop up the vegetables."

Aaron turns his head towards us, but under Brandon's arm I'm safe. I'm family. "I'd like to see him actually doing something." He points the tip of his knife at Jimmy who breaks out in a wide grin.

"I am doing something." He taps the counter top with a fist.

Aaron gives an exasperated sigh though one corner of his mouth turns up as he turns to Brandon. "When are you going to take your rank and put him in his place?"

Brandon tenses. I can feel his body contract next to me. He glowers at Aaron, "Just leave it alone, Aaron."

Jimmy smirks. "He's still being stubborn about it."

Brandon is really tense now with the two of them apparently starting to pile on him. He holds onto me with a hand at my shoulder.

"You don't want to be the leader of the Southlands someday?" Aaron motions around the room with his knife, but his eyes don't leave Brandon.

My breath holds. The entire room is still. I don't look up at Brandon even when he lets a sigh fill up the sudden quiet. It seems that all eyes are more on me than him. As if they were waiting for me to realize that the future Henri, the future leader of men like them, is standing next to me with his arm around my shoulders.

Brandon doesn't move. "I don't want to have to deal with you for the rest of my life."

"It won't be that easy to get away from me." Aaron smiles and then steps back into the kitchen to start grabbing more things to chop up. He moves around the kitchen without needing to search. He already knows where to find things. It's the second time tonight I feel deceived though I expect it from Aaron.

Brandon and I take a seat at the table. I glance at him, but he seems intent to look at anything other than me. My lips press together, a subconscious attempt to keep quiet, but I can't. My voice is a tiny squeak in the room barely louder than the soft clicks of Aaron's knife against the cutting board.

"But isn't Jimmy the next leader? That was what everyone else said."

Jimmy is still standing at the kitchen counter with one hip leaning against it. He smiles at me before my question is even fully out of my mouth and answers me first. "That's what we want them to think."

I glance at each of them, but Aaron is focused on his cutting and Brandon is staring at the table. Only Jimmy is looking at me. "So then why tell me?"

Brandon answers before Jimmy can. "Because they're a*sholes." I catch a glimpse of his eyes before he turns away again. But it confirms it for me. Letting that tidbit leak out was for more than just for Brandon. It was something for me.

Jimmy still watches me with his strange light and clear eyes. I look away, but I can still picture his mouth. In a neutral position, it still has a pleasant upturn to it like the shadow of a smile.

Aaron just manages to put the dish in the oven and set a timer when Henri walks in the door. He stops with his hand on the knob and takes a look around the room at all of us. The crease between his bushy brows folds deeply.

"Sorry, Henri," Jimmy says, his lips still hinting at a smile. "I didn't realize it was going to be a party or I'd have brought something for us to drink."

Henri gives a loud sigh as he steps in and shuts the door. "Aaron, why didn't you wait downstairs?"

Aaron crosses his arms. "With the Lost Lander? He almost didn't let me up. You should probably do something about that."

Jimmy looks from me to Brandon then Aaron. There's only one person who's been sitting on the stairs not letting people up, and he hasn't said anything about being a Lost Lander. I bite the inside of my lip, frustrated with this group who all seem to think the best thing is to not tell me anything unless they are trying to make me uncomfortable.

The rest of dinner doesn't get easier. Henri pulls out an extra chair for himself from his bedroom and sits at the head of the table on my side. Jimmy takes a seat across from me and I catch his eyes again, a bit thankful that it's not Aaron sitting in front of me, though it doesn't exactly matter which of them are in the seat in front of me. Both of them are dangerous, and I've actually seen what Jimmy can do.

Over dinner, they talk about things that make no sense to me. Aaron and Jimmy generally lead while Brandon and Henri sit back. It's a thought I try to keep hidden, but a glance from Brandon and I'm sure he's caught the comparison. He smiles through his grimace and lifts a brow, but doesn't say a word.

Jimmy is the most surprising. Though he leads the conversation, I notice that he never speaks with his mouth full. He takes small bites and never drops a piece of food back down to his plate. He's the neatest eater of all with Aaron a close second. It's such a strange thing to witness I wonder if I'm even looking at the same man I watched kill another in front of a large group just a few weeks ago.

Eventually, I realize I'm staring, and so I look back down at my own plate, trying to keep my eyes there. The food is actually really good and perfectly spiced. It's simple, but I can taste bits of home in it. This isn't like anything that Brandon ever cooked. It's definitely inspired by food from home.

I glance up at Aaron as he eats and catch his eye by mistake. He looks ordinary enough. People who crossed his path back home would be completely unfamiliar with that prickly feeling on the back of their necks warning them of danger. A territory filled with prey for him.

"Are you enjoying it?" Aaron asks. "It was something I learned that I thought you'd be familiar with."

His eyes are naturally narrow as if he's constantly suspicious. I give a nod and look back down to my plate.

At the end of the night, Henri doesn't waste much time chatting. They stand in front of the door, and he bids Jimmy and Brandon good night. It surprises me how abrupt he is about it. It's almost downright rude, but Jimmy only smiles as if he's used to it.

"I think that's our hint."

Even Brandon smiles. "Subtle."

Henri just waits for them to leave, then shuts the door behind them. Once they're gone, he turns to me, and I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to do. He's not as blunt with me as he seems to be with Jimmy and Brandon, so I take it as an actual hint that I should leave.

"Uh, I'll just be in my room."

The dishes aren't done, but he doesn't protest. I go to my room and shut the door, leaning back on it. My breath is shallow. In the darkness of the room, it's hard to breath, but I don't dare move.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" Aaron's muffled voice is clear through the hollow wood of the bedroom door.

Henri responds, but he speaks low and his voice is deep. When he speaks, it's hardly more than an indistinct growl. All is quiet as Henri speaks, and when he's finished, Aaron's voice is clear.

"That's suicide. Even I can't get in there."

My heart races. Nothing has been said, and yet I just have a feeling that I know who they must be talking about. I blink back my tears.

"There's no way."

I can almost hear Henri's sigh. Who is this man that is supposed to be my father? What would he be asking for? Does he want my mom saved or does she just know too much?

Their conversation doesn't last much longer than that. Aaron never seems to pick up that irreverent jocularity from earlier at dinner when Brandon and Jimmy were here. He says good bye, and I think I hear him say, "We'll see." But he's gone before I can process it.

Henri doesn't stay up longer than that either. It's late for him. He shuts out the light and I hear his boots scrape along the floor to his room where he shuts the door. Only then do I move from my spot and lay down on my bed. I don't dare turn on the light. I don't do anything else other than lay still and fight the memories and the tears. The moon is just a sliver in the sky and not enough to brighten the room.

It takes a while before I can fall asleep.