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They�d been talking for the nearly twenty-mile brougham ride through Long Island, and hadn�t come close to running out of topics for their continual conversation. First, it was an elongated version of the niceties:
Jordan: �How�re you holding up?�
San: �How�re the ribs? �
Jordan: �How are Cash and Cory?�
San: �Oh, right, you haven�t been home in a few days��
And then they had moved on to even less pleasant talk, talk about Te�s funeral arrangements for the following day, the plans that Jordan had been making over the past day and a half. Then there were Mars and Dalliance to be discussed � the way they were both dealing with the loss of their unborn child, yet another tragedy of the shooting at the Social Club that had only happened Wednesday � and how Mars would retaliate against the shooters� boss, an Englishman, new to the Americas and harboring a great desire to take over Mars� West Brooklyn territories. The night had been a terribly eventful one: the shooting sent a handful of staff members to the hospital, one to the morgue, and Jordan Cassidy�s own trip to the Jamaica Bay area jail for a short overnight stint. The following day was filled to the brim with hospital visits, talks to lawyers and police, and mindless attempts to clean up the crime scene. It wasn�t until that evening, though, in the privacy of Mars� staff attorney�s office, that Jordan had been informed of her new responsibility in life.
�So basically all Te� had to her name was her sister and her bank account?� San asked, shifting on the coach�s slightly worn leather bench to better accommodate his six-foot frame.
�Pretty much,� Jordan shrugged somnolently. Not many people who�d been at the club on the night of all the activity had found much ease when it came to resting, and San doubted the business� heads - Lucas, Jordan, Jamie and Mars � had found more than an hour�s worth of sleep at a time since the �war� had been initiated. �Pretty much,� Jordan repeated herself, �yeah.�
�And�you got them both.� San kept watching his friend, who was becoming visibly tenser by the thought.
Jordan rubbed the back of her neck carefully, her bruised ribs still whining at her whenever she made much of a moment. �Pretty much,� she shrugged again, adding a laconic timbre to her words. �Yeah.�
San deliberated the situation for a moment before speaking. �Really, though. How does this work? You have to consent, right? You know, say you�re not okay with this or something? Because damn, this is an enormous responsibility.
�I realize that, Panchito. I do,� Jordan replied, spiting her bruises and pushing her shoulder-length brown hair back, then resting her head against the back of the bench. �But what�s my alternative? Te� didn�t leave any secondary provisions. If I don�t accept, Arabella goes to the state.� She paused and looked at him pointedly. �And we know what happens to wards of the state.�
�Yeah,� San snorted a knowing laugh. �They turn out like you.�
Jordan rolled her eyes and bravely held back a smirk. �And worse. Mars. And Easy and Jamie. And Josephine and Naomi and Eden.�
San lifted an eyebrow. �None of those are by any means worse than you,� he said, then quirked a playful grin.
�Shut up, Panchito,� Jordan replied over a grin before turning her attention out the window as they crossed boroughs. The scenery outside changed subtly, but noticeably, as they headed into the suburban Bronx area of Westchester.
After letting that matter rest a moment, San spoke again. �And you and Te� never discussed this?�
�Never. I had no clue. And, in this huge way, it�s really flattering.�
�And, in this huge way, it scares you.�
�Shitless. Yes.�
And that San could imagine. He thought for a minute about Cashlyn and how she had to raise her brother after their father had passed, and while the situation seemed similar,
vaguely similar is all it was. He hadn�t even met Arabella, and he was around � or had been around � Te� just about as much as anyone ever was, save her roommate, Bryony. Ara didn�t know anyone in Brooklyn well, and that was just the way Te� had planned it. Brooklyn, and particularly Mars� part of Brooklyn, wasn�t known for safety or scarcity of corruption. Somehow, even though her sister was two boroughs away, Te� had managed to keep intimate with Ara. And, thinking about it, Ara was possibly the only person who saw the ardently affectionate and tender parts of the badly damaged twenty-five year old. The more San thought about it, the more questions were raised.
�How�s this all going to work out? She�s got another year and a few months left in school. Are you going to pull her from Linden Hall now, or wait until the school year�s over, or�what?�
Jordan frowned and shook her head, and lifted it to look at him. �I really don�t know yet. I talked to Mars about it, and he said to bring Ara in for a discussion on Monday, after the funeral and all. Ara has permission to take a week off from school, and I suppose we�ll decide by then.� She paused and inhaled as she thought. �I really don�t know what would be best for her. She�s seventeen, though, and she�ll probably have a very strong opinion. And I�m open to that opinion. I�m a whole three years older than her, you know? There�s no way I�m going to be able to thrust myself into her life and make her do things just out of the blue, because they seem right to me.�
�I think you have a good mindset there, Cass,� San nodded. �Really. And it�s only ten months till she�s eighteen.�
He was trying to give her hope, Jordan knew, but she also knew better. �But a whole lot can happen in ten months, when you�re seventeen, Panchito,� she smiled. She was seventeen when she�d become Mars� favorite plaything and work partner. Less than ten months of being seventeen had thrown her life into whirlpool of money, violence, crime and lies, and had completely changed her forever. At the same time, though, there wasn�t too much she regretted, other than the inevitable death and long-term emotional pain. She had good friends because of Mars, and that, in the mind of Jordan Cassidy, made it worth most, if not all, of the hard times.
Another question had struck San, and he didn�t hesitate to ask. �Cass? Do you even
know Ara?�
Jordan rubbed the back of her neck again. Staidly, she responded, �Yeah. I do.�
�I detect a note of severe disquietude, Cass.�
Jordan�s hand moved to rub her temples. �The Kennedy sisters: Gorgons and hydras and chimeras dire,� she muttered, mostly to herself.
That triggered a wince from San, who had read Milton�s book as well. �So, she�s like Te�, then?�
�Um. Not quite. She has this miraculous way of making Te� look graceful, outgoing and pleasant.�
�Oh. God.� San stiffened. �I didn�t think it could get much worse than Teᅔ
Jordan�s brown eyes were affixed out the window at the dreary setting of Linden Hall as they pulled up into the court. �Just�brace yourself,� she advised as she pulled herself together and prepared to exit the brougham. �And don�t take a thing she says personally.�
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