Read My Brother's Keeper for Free Online

I’ve got a few errands to run anyhow.”
    Ellis escorted Rudy up the stairs. By the time Jon had the milk and glass cleaned up, Ellis and Rudy were back downstairs. Ellis had changed Rudy’s clothes.
    Jon carried the towels to the laundry room and left them by the washer. When he came out, Ellis was waiting on him.
    “You sure you don’t mind going?”
    “No, I don’t mind going.”
    Ellis put his hand on the back of Jon’s head and pulled him closer. Their lips touched, but Ellis only gave him the slightest tip of his tongue. Ellis started to let go but Jon caught his face. He pressed their mouths together and thrust his tongue deep, sweeping Ellis’s mouth.
    Ellis moaned and Jon held him tighter, kissed him harder. His lips ached and their teeth clashed. Jon fucked Ellis’s mouth like he did his body. Unrelenting and possessive. Both of them were left gasping for air.
    “What was that for?” Ellis said.
    “Because I can.”
    Ellis laughed.
    “Okay, I’m gone. Stay here and keep Rudy out of trouble.” Jon pecked Ellis on the forehead and then left.
    ********
    Jon sat in his car, parked in front of the large windows of the pawn shop. Inside, a few old men talked. If the store had been a barber shop, the picture would have been perfect.
    Selling the gun had been an easy decision a day ago. With the news about Lenny’s new bail hearing, it felt like cutting off an arm. He considered talking to Ellis again, but remembering the expression on his face when Jon suggested he learn how to shoot, snuffed out the thought.
    Ellis was not going to allow a gun in the house. Not with Rudy there. But without one, they were defenseless. Telling himself that Lenny wouldn’t get bail didn’t soothe the worry curling in Jon’s chest.
    If anything happened to Ellis, there would be no coming back from the brink. He’d simply break. His father wouldn’t even have to beat him to make it happen.
    Jon had promised, and the only way he could keep his promise was to sell the .38. In the trunk of the car, the metal box waited for him. The gun had been his friend and his enemy. He wouldn’t miss the .38, only the security of having it.
    Bells on the shop door clattered against the glass as it closed behind Jon. The men tossed him a quick look then resumed their conversation.
    A man behind the counter excused himself from the group and walked over. Suspenders held up his pants. They barely contained his stomach spilling over the waist. He planted his beefy hands on top of the counter.
    “Can I help you?”
    “Yeah, I have a gun I want to sell.”
    The man plucked a pair of glasses from his shirt pocket. “Let’s see it.”
    Jon opened the case. He made sure the clip was out, empty, and nothing was in the chamber before handing it over.
    The man perched his glasses on the end of his nose. He looked through them then over the rim while he turned the gun in his hands. “You must be new in town. Never seen you before.” He continued his examination.
    “Been here about six months.”
    “You got a name?” The man laid the gun on the counter.
    “Jon Foster.”
    The cleared his throat. “It’s a nice gun. Let me go get my price book and I’ll see what we can work out.”
    One of the men in the group said, “‘Bout time that SOB got nailed for something. Should’a been under the jail years ago. Specially after that what happened to the Grizzle boy.”
    “The police never could prove anything,” The tall man with thinning gray hair rocked back on his feet.
    The one with a pot marked face said, “Yeah, but you know Lenny did it. Only reason he got away with it was because there wasn’t no body.”
    Jon looked over the selection of GLOCKS in the display case.
    Tall guy added, “The boy could have run off. Kid his age? They do that you know.”
    “That kid didn’t run away and everyone knows it. Like that Carter girl. That middle Whitman boy…what was his name?”
    The third man said, “Russ.”
    “Yeah,” Pot-mark