Page 43 of Unexpected Prejudice

“Stop making it sound so dramatic.” He rifled through some drawers, which I guessed belonged to Andrei. “I just need to find something about this guy. Something big.” He flipped through some papers he’d pulled out of a drawer while complaining about them being in Russian. “Him going to prison didn’t seem to bother Miles too much, so I need something else.”

“Well, it was self-defense,” I pointed out. If what Jess said was true, Andrei only defended himself and his mom. I would have killed to keep my mom safe.

“Whose side are you on?” Putting the papers back in the drawer and closing it, he moved to open the closets.

“I’m just saying, isn’t it a bit too much?”

“No, Jordy. It isn’t. This guy is messing with Miles, and I need him out of the picture.”

“Why?”

Stopping what he was doing, Shay-Lee turned to look at me. “He’s my best friend, and I want to keep him safe.” He slammed the closet door with a scowl on his face. “There’s nothing in this place other than dust and bad taste. Let’s go.”

I wanted to continue asking why he was so obsessed with Andrei and maybe even confront Shay-Lee about his feelings for Miles, but decided not to. I was too scared that if I brought it up, he’d get angry, and any chance I might have with him would be as good as gone.

We were almost at the front door when a phone echoed through the house. The ringing came from the kitchen, and before I knew it, Shay-Lee went over there and picked up the call.

“What are you doing?” I whispered as he put it on speaker and gestured to me to keep silent.

“Hello, this is a prepaid call from Annya Bespalov, an inmate at California federal prison. To accept charges, press one. To refuse charges, press two.”

“Shay-Lee,” I hissed, but he’d already pressed one. The phone rang three more times then the call connected.

“Andrei? Andrei? Moya lyubov’, eto mama. Te nakonets otvetili,” a woman spoke. I think it was Russian, but Shay-Lee ended the call with a devious smile before I could get into it.

“What’s with the smile?” I asked, more confused than ever. Did he speak Russian, and I didn’t know?

“I just got what we came for.”

“What do you mean?”

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he walked toward me. “I caught the son of a bitch in his lie.”

I had no idea what was going on and was about to ask him for an explanation when the front door to the house opened. My heart stopped, and I began to panic right before Shay-Lee shoved me to the floor and looked at the couch beside me. Understanding the message, I crawled and hid behind it as Shay-Lee remained in his place.

The footsteps got closer until Shay-Lee spoke.

“Oh, hey.”

“Who are you?” It was a man’s voice.

“I’m a friend of Andrei.” From where I hid, I could only see Shay-Lee, and I watched as he rubbed the back of his neck, acting all shy. “Well, sort off. We’ve been hooking up through the summer, and since school started, he’s ignored all my calls.” The lie came out of his mouth like poetry.

“Oh.” The man still sounded suspicious. “Andrei isn’t here. How did you get in?”

“I’m not a stalker, I swear,” Shay-Lee explained with a charming smile as he pulled a silver key out of his pocket and held it up. “See? I used the key Andrei gave me. We did a lot of sneaking around back in the summer. So, any chance you know why he doesn’t return my calls?”

The man was silent for a bit before he spoke. “I’m sorry to tell you this, man, but Andrei has a boyfriend now.”

“Oh.” Shay-Lee’s brows knitted together while his bottom lip twisted with disappointment. I would have believed he was sad if I hadn’t known he was bluffing. “Well, that explains why he ignored me. That sucks. I really liked him.”

His acting was fucking scary.

“I hear ya, kid.”

“I guess it’s over,” Shay-Lee mumbled quietly. “Would you mind giving him the key back?” I heard a rustle, and I guess the guy took the key from him. “But don’t tell him I came to look after him. It’s a bit embarrassing. Makes me look desperate,” he said awkwardly.

“Sure, don’t worry about it.”