Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 98643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
“I’ll take that as a yes even though we both know if I fucked you right now, you’d be screaming my name for all the world to hear in a matter of minutes.”
He was right but I wasn’t going to say so. “So the reason for choosing Wall Street?”
“When we were kids, West and I would go down to the video store to rent movies whenever we could. I don’t remember the name of the first one that planted the idea, but basically there was this main character who was dressed in this nice suit, people jumped to do his bidding, he had a gorgeous apartment, beautiful women on his arm—I chose to picture men on his arm, by the way—and an amazing car. He literally had it all. That’s what I wanted. I wanted people to step back to clear a path for me when I got to my office. I wanted to prove I was just as good as any other guy doing the same job. The second time I watched a movie with a similar character, I paid closer attention to what his job title was. Then I went to the library and began reading everything I could get my hands on. Once I figured out the kind of education I needed, I finished my GED and then got scholarships and worked my ass off at any job I could get. I became one of those guys in the movie but there was no happy ending in it for me. Even after the first heart attack, I couldn’t stop putting in long hours or taking big risks for my clients. I made millions but it wasn’t enough.”
“It was never going to be,” I suggested.
“No, it wasn’t. I didn’t even like the job… I just liked all the material things that came with it. It made me feel important. Like I mattered.”
I understood exactly what he was talking about. “So you ended up trying to find West?”
“Yeah. I was too afraid of what flying might do to my heart and I didn’t want to risk having a heart attack while I was behind the wheel and end up killing myself—or worse, killing someone else—so I took a bus back to Muddy Fork. Turned out most of my family had either left or died. My parents were both in prison and none of my brothers or siblings had stayed in Muddy Fork. Except one.”
“West.”
“When I saw him, I was sure he’d turn me away. I waited for him to blast me with all the rage and fury I deserved for how I’d treated him when we were younger. You know what he did?”
“Nothing,” I responded. “He didn’t lay a hand on you.”
“Actually, he did. He walked right up to me and hugged me so hard I was sure he was going to bust a rib. I began sobbing like a baby. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed him. I kept telling him ‘sorry’ over and over again, but being the big brother he was, even if it was by sixty seconds, he told me there was nothing to be sorry for and he was glad I’d come home. He introduced me to his wife who happened to be a girl he’d briefly dated when we were in high school. I then met my niece and nephew who were…”
When Flynn paused, I smiled. “Twins,” I said.
“Yep. Obviously fraternal twins. West had ended up going to rehab after our folks and several relatives were imprisoned for dealing drugs. Since West was under eighteen, the judge gave him a choice. Juvie followed by prison when he turned eighteen or rehab and probation. Once he was clean, he married Jenny and worked on getting his GED followed by a bachelor’s degree. He’s a science teacher at the high school in Muddy Forks.”
“Wow,” I said. “Good for him. And good for you for having the guts to go back to that town.”
“The town had cleaned itself up pretty good. Anyway, luckily West didn’t have the defect, but being able to reconnect with him and learn how to play uncle—the answer, by the way, is to spoil the shit out of the little buggers and then play innocent when their parents scold you for spending too much money on their kids—meant the world to me. I ended up staying with them for a little while, but I knew Muddy Fork would never be home to me. That left me homeless, clueless, and scared to death of all the things I was going to miss when my heart gave out, which I’d convinced myself would happen despite the doctors telling me otherwise.”
I squeezed Flynn’s hand a little harder. While I could never relate to the terror of believing you could drop dead at any moment, just hearing Flynn—my Flynn, who was the strongest person I’d ever known, both physically and mentally—go through the experience made me wish a thousand times over that we’d somehow met earlier while we’d both been dealing with our fucked-up lives.