’ ‘I already did, don’t worry. Lay back down.’ Something about the tone of his voice made me do exactly what he said. He’s your nephew. He�...s your nephew. He’s your nephew! I had to keep repeating in my head. He’s your nephew. He’s your toned, shirtless, boxer wearing nephew… STOP THAT! I tossed him a pillow and an extra comforter that was on my bed and told him to have any space he liked. He plopped the pillow and quilt to my right side of my bed. ‘Hey you know, you could always stay in your. I went through my phone and read some text messages. Looking up, I saw that Monica was still standing there. That was odd. I had recognized Trent’s car in the parking lot as we pulled up. Fuming, I looked in my contacts to call Monica on her cell phone to tell her to forget about it. He always did this. He always ignored people, whether it was on the phone or someone blatantly knocking on his door. Even when Trent was there, he still avoided everyone. Before I pressed ‘Send’, Monica was inside. The tables were almost as dirty as was the floor, there were no pillows on the ramshackle chairs and benches, from the stove in the corner came puffs of smoke and too much heat. I had had my share of dubious food and cheap wine, but was not drunk — it would not have been a good idea for a woman on her own to get drunk in such a place. I was tired, but not sleepy. I did not want to think — or rather, there were things I did not want to think about. I had run out of things to read. I tried to. And I know where you're coming from. The dock life can be hard on a kid. But there are ways to get around the way that you feel. I can help you but you have to give me the chance. You have to let me help you. Now do you want to be extremely poor for the rest of your fucking life so that you have to work hard for the rest of your life or do you want to be a very rich man in America?"Holding the kid's face tightly between his palms so that they were staring into each other's close eyes, Leo only.