“It’s okay, Mom. I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”
“How? Where have you been? Why are you back?” Jeff fired off at me.
I knew they were going to have questions. Hell, they’d be crazy if they didn’t wonder where I had gone.
But the problem was, I couldn’t tell them. Not everything, not right away. It was for their protection more than anything else. It would have been so much easier to tell everyone every little gory detail of my fucked-up life the past four years, but I needed them to trust me. They definitely wouldn’t trust me if they knew where I’d been and what I’d been doing.
So I had to tell some lies.
“Jail, mostly,” I said to him.
He narrowed his eyes. “We checked all the jails.”
“Not here. Mexico.”
He raised an eyebrow. “What were you doing there?”
I nodded at the kitchen table. “Let’s sit down.”
Once Mom was comfortably seated and no longer hyperventilating, I launched into my mostly fabricated tale. I told them about running away to Mexico that night in order to start a new life. I told them about stealing cars in Chicago, about getting caught, and about starting up again across the border. I told them it was my only choice, either I stay or I run.
Then I told them the lies. I told them about getting arrested, about going to jail. I told them about getting out and going back in not long later. And I told them that I was cleaned up, had learned my lesson, was completely done with the illegal shit.
That last part wasn’t true. Not by a long shot. I was knee-deep in illegal shit, though for good reasons.
As I finished, Mom and Jeff stared at me.
“So you really fucked yourself over,” Lacey said.
I looked over and saw her leaning against the doorframe.
“Yeah, I guess I did.”
“Why’d you get caught twice?”
“Stupidity, mostly.”
“Why not run again?”
“The Mexican police aren’t like they are here. They don’t wait for arrest warrants.”
“So what makes you think you’re welcome back here?”
“Lacey,” my mom said.
“She’s right, Lynn,” Jeff cut in. “We have a life now.”
She stared at the two of them. “This is my son,” she said. “Lacey, he’s your brother now. I don’t care what he did. I’m just happy he’s not dead.”
I held up my hands. “Hold on, Mom. They’re not wrong to be angry.” I paused and grinned at Lacey. “Right, sis?”
“Damn right we’re pissed,” Lacey said.
I couldn’t help but laugh. I was glad Mom and Jeff got married, though I wasn’t sure how I felt about being Lacey’s stepbrother. I definitely didn’t think of her like a sister. The dirty thoughts swirling through my brain as I stared at her arms crossed over her breasts defiantly would have definitely been inappropriate even before we were related.
“I don’t expect to be taken in just like that,” I said.
“Good,” Jeff replied. “Because that’s not happening.”
“Stop it, both of you,” Mom said.
“Mom, please. It’s okay if they’re mad. I just wanted to drop by and say hello.”
“You’re not staying?” She looked almost crushed.
“I have a room nearby.”
“But you’ll stay for dinner.”
I shook my head. “I think you guys need time to get used to this.”
“What about the authorities here?” Jeff cut in. “Aren’t you still wanted?”
“Not exactly. I heard they arrested someone else for the car stuff.”
“But you could be in trouble still,” Lacey said.
“It’s a possibility.”
“You can’t leave us so soon,” my mom said.
I crouched down next to her and took her hand. “Listen, Mom. I promise that I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”
She nodded. “I’m so, so happy you’re home.”
“Me too.”
Jeff and Lacey both watched me suspiciously, but I didn’t care. I needed to keep my mom calm, or at least as calm as I could make her, before the shit really hit the fan.
I stood up and looked at Jeff. “I’m glad you married her.”
“Me too,” he grunted.
“I should get going.” I started walking toward the door. My mom stood and followed.
“How can I reach you?” she asked.
“Room 101 at the Lincoln Motel. I don’t have a cellphone yet, but that’s where I’m staying.”
“Come back soon,” she said.
I hugged her again. “I will. I promise.”
I moved out the front door before she could stop me, heading toward my car. All in all, that little visit went way better than expected. I figured there’d be more yelling, maybe some cursing, and definitely some thrown objects. Instead, my mom seemed shocked and happy, and Jeff was suspicious at best. Lacey, well, Lacey was a whole different issue.