Page 26 of More Than a Hero (Baytown Heroes #12)
Silence. Then a slow inhale, the kind that told Robert his grandfather was already bracing for the worst. “Oh, boy,” his grandpa murmured, his voice low with disappointment. “The deputies came to talk to your mom, but I want to hear it from you. What have you done?”
Robert’s chest ached. “I got in a car with someone I shouldn’t have. They wrecked, and then they had…” He squeezed his eyes shut, unable to say it.
His grandfather’s sharp intake of breath cut through the line. “I can’t believe that was you!” His voice had risen now, almost a shout. “Some gangbanger drug dealer tearing through town, wrecking his car with some teenager with him.”
Robert swallowed hard, his throat thick, his eyes stinging. “I didn’t know, Grandpa.” His voice cracked, the weight of it all pressing down on him. “I mean, I knew he was some badass, but I didn’t know he had drugs in the car. He just asked if I wanted to go for a ride.”
His grandfather let out a long, slow breath. It wasn’t relief. It was something worse. “Boy, you’ve done it now,” he muttered. “That was the dumbest thing you could’ve done.”
“I know,” Robert whispered. His fingers curled around the receiver, his knuckles white. “I know.”
He let the silence stretch, barely able to breathe past the lump in his throat. “I’m in jail,” he finally said. “And you’re the one call I’m making.”
Another beat of silence. “Then why the hell didn’t you call your mother?”
Robert flinched.
“She was worried sick leavin’ for her shift tonight without hearing from you,” his grandfather added, his voice heavy with something Robert wasn’t sure he could handle hearing.
“I knew she was working.” He sucked in a shaky breath. “I knew she couldn’t come. I knew you’d be okay for one night, but Grandpa, you gotta call someone. Someone to help you.” His voice cracked again, and he hated himself for it. “I’m not gonna be there for you.”
His grandpa was quiet for a long time. Then his voice dropped lower, rougher. “Oh, boy.” A sigh, low and broken. “You done broke my heart.”
Robert squeezed his eyes shut, but it didn’t help. The tear slipped out anyway, trailing hot and fast down his cheek. He wiped it away with his shoulder, jaw clenched tight. “I know, Grandpa,” he whispered. “I know.”
Another breath of silence. “I’ll talk to the detectives tomorrow,” he admitted, his stomach twisting. “But I’m scared. I never joined a gang, Grandpa. But what if it gets back to someone that I talked?”
His grandpa didn’t answer right away. The pause stretched, the quiet pressing in on Robert from all sides. Finally, his grandpa sighed again. That quiet, weary sound that cut deeper than any words. “I don’t know, Robert,” he murmured.
The whisper of air over the phone sent another tear sliding down Robert’s face. His hands tightened on the receiver. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
His grandpa didn’t say anything for a moment, then asked, “Are you gonna be okay?”
Robert’s throat burned. “I don’t know.” And for the first time since this nightmare started, he let himself admit the truth.
He wasn’t sure he ever would be. “Yeah,” Robert finally murmured, rubbing his palm over his face.
“They’ve got me separate from the adults.
I gotta wait and see if they’re sending me to juvie.
The deputy who brought me in said I might get off easy. ”
His grandpa let out a slow breath. “What do you need from me, Robert?”
The question caught him off guard.
“You may have made a big mistake,” his grandfather continued, voice firm but steady. “But you’re my grandson. I love you, no matter what. You know that, don’t you?”
Robert’s throat tightened. Another tear slipped down his cheek, and this time, he didn’t bother wiping it away. He didn’t care who saw. “I know, Grandpa.” His voice broke. “I love you, too.”
His grandpa sniffed. “I’ll call someone to check in on me, so don’t you worry about that, boy.”
Robert exhaled, his shoulders slumping. “That’s good, Grandpa. You tell Mom that I’ll talk to her soon.” He swallowed hard. “You’re the person I thought of calling first. I just… I needed to make sure you were okay.”
Silence stretched for a beat. “That. That right there.” His grandfather’s voice hitched. “That’s what tells me you’re not beyond redemption.”
Robert squeezed his eyes shut.
“I’ve noticed you, boy,” his grandpa went on, softer now.
“Hanging around outside more, looking for something. Thinking those men had it all together. Thinking they got things you want. But listen to me”—his voice sharpened, that steel-threaded wisdom cutting straight to Robert’s chest—“you go back to who you are. Not who you were trying to be. You go back to being the grandson I know. You’ll be fine. ”
Robert sniffed and nodded even though his grandpa couldn’t see it. “Okay,” he murmured. “Tell Mom everything. I’ll talk to her soon.”
His grandpa hesitated, then said, “Take care of yourself, boy.”
Robert heard the way his grandpa’s voice wavered. The soft, barely-there sniffle on the other end of the line. It cut through him like a blade. Swallowing hard, he forced out, “You too, Grandpa.” Then, before he lost the courage, he hung up.
Behind him, another juvenile grabbed the receiver without hesitation. Robert barely noticed. His feet moved on autopilot, following the guard back to his cell.
The moment he sat on the thin mattress, his hands curled into fists, and his head dropped.
He inhaled deeply, then let out a long, shaky breath.
He wasn’t sure if it was exhaustion, regret, or something else entirely pressing down on him, but damn if it didn’t feel heavier than anything he’d ever carried before.
Later, when the guard stopped by and asked if he needed anything, Robert lifted his gaze. “Will I be able to talk to the detectives tomorrow?” he asked. “If not… can you tell them I’d like to?”
The guard studied him for a second, then gave a small chin lift. “You got it, kid.”
Yesterday, being called “kid” would have pissed him off. But now? Now, he knew the truth. He had a hell of a lot more growing up to do if he wanted to be the man his grandpa believed he could be.