Page 222 of Five Brothers

She felt it, too.

She liked me.

She was always looking, even though I acted like I didn’t see.

I shake my head.No.

No.

She’s kind. She’s good at being kind.

It was fucking pity.

I’m so much less than what she could have and she knows it.

She’s just kind.

She won’t want …

I swallow hard …me in …

I growl, digging my fingernails into my hair… five years.“Krisjen …” I gasp.

I yank open the drawer, my heart pounding and my head splitting, but I hear a voice.

“Macon?”

I look at the phone on the table.

“Macon, are you there?”

Iron?

I pick up the phone, and it feels like fifty pounds as I lift it to my ear.

“Are you there?” he says again.

I can’t talk, but I’m breathing hard. I pull the phone away from my ear, seeing a number I don’t recognize.

“How are you …” I clear my throat. “How are you calling me?”

“A friend has a cell phone.”

I missed the sound of his voice.

“I thought if you saw the prison on your caller ID you wouldn’t answer.”

He’s right. I wouldn’t have answered. I hate that he knows that about me. “You need …”

But I stop, about to ask him if he needs money but deciding to shut my fucking mouth. He can have whatever he wants.

“Are you safe?” I ask, the tears straining my voice.

“So far, so good.”

I was worried about Iron in prison, but not because of his safety.

When people like him go to jail, it’s only the start.