Totally Clueless

Chapter 60

Reid stood at the front desk making copies of coloring pages for a kindergarton teacher. He'd collected her payment receipts and handed her the last copy.

Suddenly, a sharp rush of pain slammed into his ribs, and he held a breath and slowly exhaled until the pain subsided.

"Josh..." he whispered out loud.

All at once he became terrified. He had a bad feeling his brother was in trouble. He quickly went to the cooler and chugged a cup of water so he'd stop sweating so profusely.

The pain had gone, but the feeling lingered.

He had to leave.

He told the manager he was ill, then he rushed home in a panic.

He had tried calling Josh on the way, but he never picked up.

Relief came when he walked into the living room and saw Josh fast asleep on the sofa. He released a sigh.

It was obviously nothing, Josh was okay.

But still he couldn't shake the feeling.

He took a closer look at his brother as he stirred on the sofa. He whimpered in his sleep.
That's when Reid noticed he had bruises. Over his left eye, his right arm, and his knuckles. Barely noticeable, but they were there.

They weren't there that morning. Something wasn't right.

He spotted the duffle next to him on the floor and he went to take a look.

Reid instantly felt his lungs go dry. A blood smeared t shirt. What the hell did you do Josh?

Rummaging through the bag he realized his worst fears were a reality. There was a stack of cash, four thousand to be exact.

Was Josh fighting behind his back? He promised he wouldn't.

He went to the bedroom. If he had been fighting there would be more money.

His heart stopped when he found the stacks of cash in the back of Josh's sock drawer.

His anger boiled.

For the first time in his life he knew what it felt like to be betrayed by his own brother. Is this what Josh had felt when he had drugged his tea...no this was different.

Furiously he took the cash with him to the living room.

He shook him vigorously and a disorientated Josh opened his eyes in a frenzy.

"What is this Josh?" He threw the shirt in his chest.

Josh blinked at him, trying to make sense of what was happening.

"What is all this?" He flung the money at him stack after stack.

Josh slowly began to process.

"Where did you get that?"

"You tell me..."

Josh could not speak.

"I was going to tell you..."

"Tell me? Tell me what exactly? That you lied to my face? I told you all I heard about the fights Josh... you said you would never even consider it."

"If you would just let me explain,"

"What could you possibly explain to me? What about the one line we'd never cross? We promised we'd never lie to each other, how am I supposed to trust you now?"

" I couldn't get a job. I didn't know what else to do," Josh kept his voice and his eyes low. He wasn't proud of what he had done but he felt like his reasons justified it.