“Juan’s not been right since you left. When he got sick with the cancer it got worse. It’s a mental thing, always paranoid that someone will kill him, or your mother, or come after you. I’ve told him so many times we are safe, that if those guys who stole that s**t from you wanted us dead, it would have happened a long time ago. But, you gotta know, he’s only kept you away to keep you safe.”
His words made sense, but left me cold.
“Are you still in the business?” I asked. He shook his head no.
“What are you doing now? Have you heard from… never mind.” I stood, unable to stomach the smoke from his cigarette. I paced back and forth, then looked down at my knuckles, skin scraped off in places, red and sore.
“No, I stopped dealing right after you left us. Told your father I couldn’t stomac
