Boxing Clever St. James Academy. He bit the inside of his cheek as he sat: waiting. This place made his skin crawl. The memories… shudder. He wonders if Molly is happy. He barely sees her anymore. He hasn’t seen her since their mom’s birthday a few months ago. He couldn’t believe she was already in seventh grade. He felt so old. Chuckling to himself, he figures, ‘I’ll always be younger than Brian.’ The thought brings tears to his eyes as he realizes he’ll never see the man that meant—no, means—so much to him, ever again. But he supposes it’s for the best: Brian firing him. Now at least Brian won’t have to worry. He’ll probably never know. And that was for the best. He can feel the receptionist staring at him. Fuckin’ shit, what is taking Molly so long? What part of ‘family emergency’ does that child not understand?? Then panic sets in. Oh God. What if they took her? What if they were waiting for her… and they shot her? Oh God..Oh God…Oh God… “I hope your parents pull through,” the woman behind the desk says in a kind voice. He looks up and realizes his cheeks are wet from tears he hadn’t noticed were falling. Forcing a smile, he thanks her, and then turn to the door. Where the fuck is she? Looking around, he notices pictures on the wall from past graduation years. All the students sit in their graduation uniforms… graduation uniforms that Justin never got to wear because he was in the hospital suffering from a bat to his brain. Fuckin’ Hobbs. Something that hurt him more than anything however, was the fact that no one hurt Chris back. His family had connections, yet nothing was done about. Of course his mother couldn’t do anything. She didn’t have those connections: those belonged to Justin’s father and the Taylor side of the family. One morning while still in the hospital, Jeremy came to visit. Justin always liked Jeremy. They were closest in age: Jeremy was only two years older than him and treated him like a favorite brother. They barely saw one another though after Tammy died a few years earlier. After her death, Alex’s children distanced themselves from a lot of people, including their own family. So it was nice to see Jeremy again, even considering the circumstances. Justin had asked him candidly, “Why hasn’t anyone done something to Hobbs?” Jeremy replied in his usual candid tone, “Because then your father would have to tell Grandpa that you like cock.” It turned out that Justin’s grandfather didn’t even know that his grandson was in the hospital. Craig never told him or anyone else in the Taylor family. The only reason Jeremy found out was because he was visiting a friend in the city and bumped into Jennifer at the mall. **** Justin stares at his watch. Jesus Christ!!! What is taking her? Standing up, he is about to walk out into the hallway when Molly appears, “What’s wrong with Mom and Dad?” she asks quickly and out of breath. Without a word, Justin grabs her by the arm and hurries out the door. He was grateful that she was alive but there was no time to hug, much less talk. “Hey! Justin, tell me!!” Molly argues, trying to fight her arm free from her brother’s grasp. They hurry outside of the building and instead of heading to the visitor parking lot, Justin leads her to the staff’s lot. “What are we doing?” She asks, looking around at the cars belonging to the teachers and staff of St. James Academy. Finally, Justin speaks, “I want you to keep your eyes open. If anyone, and I mean, anyone, comes near one of us, I want you to run: got it?” He drags her to a older looking car and pulls out his screwdriver. “What are you talking about? Justin, what the fuck is going on?” Molly shrieks. Justin pauses. He has never heard, or even thought about, his twelve year old sister using the word ‘fuck.’ Shaking that thought away, he punches the metal driver through the glass. “Oh my God! Justin are you crazy?!” She shrieks again, “That’s Mr. Bertucci’s car!!” “I never liked the guy,” Justin mutters under his breath as he sits inside the driver’s side and jabs the driver into the ignition, “Get in.” Molly jumps in, looking around, “We could get arrested, Justin!” “That,” Justin begins as he speeds out of the parking lot, “is the least of our problems.”