71

Arawn – eleven years ago

“Your face tells me that you still didn’t grow your balls back to go get her.”

I take a sip of my beer as Jensen slumps into the couch next to me.

“Did you at least tell your father?” He asks, and I click my tongue.

“How did the talk with your father go, by the way? Did he believe that you didn’t steal the stuff?”

He chuckles, shaking his head. “Nah. He beat me to a pulp as soon as I tried to make excuses.”

Leaning in, he adds in a whisper, “He is kind of touchy when it comes to his drugs.”

“I told you. You should have just admitted it and gotten over with it.”

Raising his shirt, he shows me his beat-up sides, now covered in black and blue bruises. “Dude, he was about to kill me. If he knew it for sure, he certainly would have.”

I shrug, taking another sip.

“It’s not that you wouldn’t have deserved it.”

“You are unbelievable. Our good and righteous, Arawn.” He lights his cigarette, propping himself on his knees. “But don’t change the subject. Don’t y