Read Online Thicker Than Water by Kelly Fiore - Free Book Online

big orders for heirloom tomato seeds.”
    I nodded. Dad didn’t have much help during the last seed harvest. I had Academic Team and Mock Trial. Cyrus had nothing but time, but he spent his in an Oxy-coma. Tomatoes were big business, all things being relative. They were the Google of the organic seed world.
    Jane slammed a drawer and Dad and I jumped.
    â€œI don’t give two shits about tomatoes if they don’t pay the damn mortgage,” she muttered. I scooted out of my chair and gave my dad a look. He forced a smile and rolled his eyes to heaven. I wondered if he could see Mom when he looked up there.
    â€œâ€™Night, guys,” I said, putting my bowl in the sink. I moved into the shadows of the hallway and stopped at the stairwell, waiting for the explosion. It took only a few seconds to detonate—Dad was the one to set it off.
    â€œDammit, Janey, you know I’m doing the best I can!”
    â€œNo.” Her tone was scathing, a blade of fury. “Your best would be selling off this land and getting a real fucking job.”
    â€œWhat happened to our dream? Living off the land? Growing a life that matters?” He lowered his voice. “Having a baby?”
    That one was a punch in the gut. It was the first time I’d ever heard them talking about having kids. A kid that belonged to both of them. But Jane just laughed.
    â€œAre you kidding? We can’t pay our bills as it is, Craig! How in the hell would we pay for diapers?”
    â€œWe could use those cloth ones . . .”
    â€œLook.” Jane sounded tired. “We’re not having a babyuntil we can break even. Right now we’re in so deep, we’re lucky they haven’t taken the farm already.”
    â€œI know. I’m working on it.”
    She didn’t respond to that, but her silence said enough. A moment later, Cyrus started pounding up the basement stairs—I could feel each stomp through the floorboards. When he got to the landing, he brushed past me like a man with an agenda.
    â€œHey there, Cy-Guy,” I heard my dad say brightly. “How’re you feeling?”
    â€œNot so good, actually. I was wondering . . .”
    All three of us knew what was coming next. I peeked around the corner, my lip curled in disgust.
    â€œ. . . could you lend me a few bucks? Lennon’s girlfriend, Maddie, is taking a massage therapy class at the Learning Annex. She said she’d work on my knee if I wanted, but she’s still gonna charge me for it.”
    â€œThat sounds like a great idea, son,” Dad said. “How much do you need?”
    I inched forward in time to see Cyrus shrug.
    â€œI dunno. Sixty bucks or so.”
    Dad reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He counted out some cash.
    â€œWill forty-eight do it?” Dad asked. Cy looked disappointed, but reached for the money anyway.
    â€œYeah, I guess it’ll have to.”
    As Cyrus headed for the back door, I watched his left hand; it was gripping the money like it was a dirty napkinor some kind of garbage. There went my chemistry lab fee. There went my brother. I shook my head. Nothing seemed to leave that house quicker than family or cash.
    The only reason I ever went into the basement was because the washer and dryer were at the foot of the stairs. I never made it past the utility sink; I wasn’t interested in seeing what my brother had turned it into. But, for once, I felt differently. I needed a blatantly obvious reminder of exactly what my lab fee was funding.
    It was hours later, just after midnight, when I stepped down onto the old shag carpet, which was almost crunchy with dry rot. Our basement had the same cool dampness of everyone else’s, plus the tinge of Cyrus Smoke and some sort of decay.
    The space was technically unfinished, but Dad put up enough drywall to make a bedroom. Once Cyrus hurt his knee—well, once he’d seen Dr. Frank—he asked Dad to set him up down