Page 110 of Sing For Me

“It’s not a real tour, Son,” Cash says, and Will whirls on him.

“They have a whole schedule,” he spits out. “Isawit, Dad!”

“It’s kid stuff,” Cash insists. “Friends of friends. Birthday parties and—”

“It’s not fucking happening!” Will shouts, so loud that I flinch.

“Calm down so we can talk about this.” It was the wrong thing to say and Cash seems to know it as soon as the words are out of his mouth. “I didn’t mean—”

“Don’t you fucking tell me to calm down,” Will yells. “You let them start a band? They’re actually playing gigs? And none of you thought you should tell me?”

“How could we tell you?” Cash shoots back. “We knew how you were going to react.”

“So you just kept it from me.” Will laughs, the sound so bitter it gives me chills. I’ve never heard him like this before. “After everything that happened you just kept it from me.”

“They’re allowed to follow their own passions, Will,” Lennon says, his voice much more gentle than his brother, but Will reacts as if he slapped him, whirling on the older man.

“You know what? I would almost expect it from them,” he snaps, gesturing across the room. “From my dad and Reed. But you, Lennon? Seriously? You’re going to let this happen?”

“Nothing is happening, Will,” Lennon argues.

“Lyric isfifteen!” he bellows. “Fifteen, Lennon!”

“I’m aware of how old my daughter is,” Lennon says, his voice tight for the first time. Something about his tone seems to calm Will a little because he steps back, breathing heavily. But his hands are still clenched into tight fists.

“Someone want to fill me in?” Wyatt asks and Will shoots him a glare.

“You seriously didn’t know?”

Wyatt holds up his hands. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“They’re letting the kids start a band,” he spits out. “Presley and Nix and Lyric.” He glares at his dad. “AndSilas.”

There’s a beat of silence as understanding fills Wyatt’s face. He doesn’t look angry, like his brother, or cautious, like the parents. Instead he just looks really sad.

“Will—”

“Don’t you tell me it’s not a big deal, Wyatt,” Will barks out. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

“Itisn’ta big deal,” Reed insists. “They mess around in the garage and they’ve played a few shows for their friends.”

Will spins to face him, eyes flashing. “And that’s where it ends, right Reed? You expect me to believe you’re going to be satisfied with that?”

Reed glares at him. “No one is putting pressure on those kids, Will.”

Will lets out another bitter laugh. “I’m so sure.” He runs his hands through his hair, looking almost unhinged. “God, you were all just waiting for this, weren’t you? Waiting to get your hooks into someone. I wouldn’t let you do it to me so you moved on to the younger kids.”

“Will!” Cash barks, clearly pissed. But there’s concern, too, behind his anger. Concern in all of their faces while he rants at them.

“I’m not going to let you do this,” he says, shaking his head back and forth like he can undo whatever it is he thinks is happening. “I’m not going to let you ruin someone else’s life.”

There’s a beat of stunned silence. Finally, Wyatt stands, walking towards his brother, hands held out in front of him. But Will doesn’t wait for whatever Wyatt is going to say. Instead he grabs an abandoned tambourine and throws it at the wall so hard that I jump. It rattles loudly before falling to the floor, leaving a visible dent in the drywall.

There’s a beat of silence, like everyone is too stunned to react. Then Will turns to face me. “Eva,” he says, in a much more measured tone, like it’s taking everything he has to keep his voice even while he speaks to me. “We’re leaving.”

I have no idea what to say. No idea what’s even happening here. It sounds like his brother and cousins started a garage band—the same kind of thing thousands of teens their age do all over the country every single day. Why is he acting like the men in this room have personally betrayed him because of it?

“You’re not taking off like this,” his dad tries and Will turns his glare in that direction. The heat has left his eyes, replaced by something icy that somehow seems much worse.

“I never should have brought her here. I can’t believe I was actually starting to trust you again.”

Cash looks like he wants to throw up. He makes a move towards his son but Will spins on his heel, shooting me a look as cold as the one he just gave his father. “I’ll get our things.”

And then he’s gone, leaving a ringing silence behind him.