Law and Order- complete

XVIII

Harry

"I don't know what they're gonna make you do man, but it's gonna be some weird shit." Jason bites the inside of his cheek. He sat on his bed, his elbows on his knees and his back leaned forward. He stared at the converse I wore.

I stand to my feet and walk over to the wooden door of the dorm, looking in the long hallways before closing it shut and locking it. The last thing I needed was somebody overhearing me talk to the assistant president of  the most infamous frat house on campus about backing out from a ritual.

"Harry. Are you even listening to me, dude?" Elizabeth's snappy voice causes me to blink a few times as I stare at her blankly, "What?"

Her eyes roll and I can't help return the action upon seeing it. The worst part about having an older sister was having a second mom.

I brush the haunted memories away as I push my fork down into the Salmon. They churned my stomach everytime.

"I brought you out here so we can celebrate, not so you can stare off into space thinking about God knows what." She reminds me. It took her a while to drag me away from my books to come to Cheddars. I had no interest in going until she told me it was for my birthday. Which was yesterday. With everything going on, It'd slipped my mind. I didn't see the big deal, I haven't celebrated my birthday in years. Being 28 wasn't special.

I had to cancel my session, which I found myself upset about. But Liz knows I'm never enthusiastic about the study and she'd ask questions if I showed it. Truthfully, I'd rather be figuring out what happened at that party with Logan.

It was undeniably un healthy for me to latch myself onto this, but as I said before, I need a distraction from my own issues. I need to feel like a defendant again.

"Happy birfday uncle Hawwy!" Liyah yells! Throwing her arms in the air and giggling afterwards. Elizabeth looks at me, her face tightening and her left eyebrows twitching up as if saying, "see?" She leans down to take in a piece of broccoli in her mouth, holding her hair back with one hand.

"Thank you, Liyah. Liz, Where's Mom?" I bite into the smoked Salmon. I know I didn't care about my birthday, but Sharon not being here somewhat hurt my feelings. What kind of business did she have to handle and why did it take so long?

"She's handling business. Who fucking knows." 

"Mommy! You said a bad word!" the four year old's eyes widen and she smirks, pointing at my sister. Her dark brown hair was pulled into a ponytail and her purple unicorn shirt had ketchup stains on it from the fries. 

"She did, didn't she?" I chime in sarcastically, earning a glare.

The rest of the dinner is full of small talk. It wasn't enough to keep my mind off of everything. I was able to entertain Elizabeth with a couple of mindless nods, as my head raced with thoughts. My focus was on Logan. I have the address, but I have no clue what to do with it. The first step would be figuring out who lives there and how they know her, which I figure I could ask her myself.

Then I would have to figure out who was at that party, which would be the easier part. Teenagers are dumb, all I'd have to do was find a few social medias and cross reference them for the dates and location.

Soon, the waiter brings us our check, and Elizabeth handles the entire tab, telling me to consider it a birthday gift. Liyah begs to spend the night, and I almost say yes to the large green eyes, but I remember how much work I had, and I have to tell her no.

After promising to take her to a Jojo Siwa concert, she calms down enough to get in Elizabeth's car.

"I'll see you later, sis. Thanks for dinner." I mumble while shutting the door of the Malibu. Liyah was already dozing off in her seat. "Don't mention it." She says tiredly. Underneath her eyes held bags and it wasn't until now that I realized how tired she was. Being a nurse wasn't easy at all, let alone being a single mother. And she took time that she could have used for resting to do something for me.

"Hey," My hand stretches out to her shoulder, "I'm being serious. You didn't have to. So..."

Her lips curve into a small smile and she rolls her eyes, releasing a yawn. "Love you, and I'll see you later."

I watch her as she gets into the car and wait until she peels out of the parking lot, honking twice. Then, I get into my own Cadillac. The sky was a purplish orange as the sun was barely setting. Part of me wanted to just go down to the river and think. It's how I got a lot of things done before.

But it's too cold, and I have a lot to do.