Micah Johnson Goes West (Get Out, #2)(51)

“What have they been doing over there?” his father fumed.

“Rick,” Joanne said. “Let’s not jump to any conclusions.”

“Let me just say one thing,” Micah said. “Please, don’t blame Sam. He and his family have done everything they could to help me adjust, but I’ve kept them in the dark just as much as I have you. I was very good at hiding from them the stuff I was doing.”

Rick cleared his throat. “Uh, is there more you have to tell us?”

“You don’t really want a list, do you, Dad?”

“No, I guess not.”

Micah turned to Alex. “You’re being quiet.”

“There’s nothing I can say.”

“I’m sure there is. You’re part of this family, aren’t you? Your opinion is mandatory.”

“Stop badgering your brother,” Rick said.

“I just want to know what he’s thinking.”

Alex rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I guess I just want to know why you always keep doing the same thing. You said last year you’d learnt from your mistakes, and here you are doing it all over again. It’s like you want to wreck everything good that’s happening to you.”

Wow. Alex didn’t hold back. But it was good. It was what Micah needed to hear.

His parents were waiting, almost too scared to see what his reaction would be.

“You want to know something, Alex? Sometimes I really don’t know. I guess I justified it by thinking I was dealing with my problems in my own way, and I didn’t have to get you guys involved.”

“So why get us involved now?”

He was scared he was going to lose it and start bawling in front of them. “Because it got too hard. And I knew I needed help.”

Alex slowly nodded. “So, it’s like you stopped yourself from doing something really stupid, like when you ran away?”

“Bit hard to run away when you guys are in a different state,” Micah said, trying to alleviate the tension in the room a little even though his humour usually backfired. “But, yeah. I ran away last year because I couldn’t deal. And right now, I’m not dealing. So I’m coming to you guys.”

Joanne looked at Rick, some silent exchange occurring between them Micah couldn’t figure out, and then looked back at him. “Thank you for telling us. But your dad and I need to have a talk now about what we can do to help you.”

“Shouldn’t I be in on this conversation?”

“You’ve kept us out of the loop, allow us one hour to do the same.” She flinched at how hard she sounded, and laid her hand upon his arm. “I’m sorry. We’re just worried. So, please, let us talk to each other and then we’ll come in and see you.”

Micah nodded. “I guess I’ll go and pack.”

“I’ll help you,” Alex said.

In Micah’s room they could hear the hushed voices of their parents as they discussed yet another bomb Micah had dropped on them. Alex closed the door so they became even more muted.

“I’m sorry that I’m doing this to you again,” Micah said.

“No, I’m glad.”

“Really? Shit, you’re a glutton for punishment.”

“I mean, I’m glad because you’re telling us you’re in trouble this time.”

“I wouldn’t say I’m in trouble,” Micah said, and paused. “Okay, I guess I’m in some form of trouble.”

“It’s an improvement on last year, at least.”

Micah wondered if Alex would feel the same had he known about the antiviral drugs hidden in Micah’s new bag. Micah carefully folded the bag in two and stuck it inside his suitcase.

“You packed light,” Alex said.

“Not light enough,” Micah said, but he didn’t explain what he meant.




MICAH STARED at his parents. “You can’t be serious.”

“It’s an option,” Rick said.

“One we’re thinking very seriously about,” Joanne added.

“But what about Alex?” Micah asked. “He has to be let in on this decision, right?”

“We’ll talk to him about it.”

“I can’t let you guys do this.”

“We don’t know if we’re doing it yet. There are a lot of things we need to discuss, and there isn’t enough time because we’re already running late for the airport.” Joanne stood back and observed him for a moment, before hugging him mercilessly. “Just please don’t say anything to Alex yet. He has to hear it from us.”

“You promise me, if he doesn’t want to do it, you don’t force him. There are other ways to help me. In fact, I’m going to talk to Sam once I’m back in Perth. Once he knows, he’ll help me. We don’t have to go to such extremes.”

“Micah,” Rick said, coming over and hugging him as well. Micah was crushed between both of his parents, but it was a good crush rather than an overbearing one. “We promised you that we would help you with anything, as long as you came to us. We don’t want a repeat of last year where you were in so much trouble you ran away.”

“That’s not going to happen. It’s why I told you.”