Brian couldn’t believe he was arguing with Hailey. Even when she yelled at him, he loved watching her. Angry about Trevor’s attempt to rehabilitate Polly, Hailey stamped her feet in frustration.
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But Brian had no power over Trevor. “He’s twenty-four years old. He made a mistake at the arts festival, which he admits. How could he possibly have known it would explode into Trevor-mania?”
“He knew, Brian.” Her voice was not loud or harsh, but cutting nonetheless. “Trevor knows everything. He goes into his ‘light’ or whatever and spies on people.”
“Hailey, sweetheart. He doesn’t spy on people.”
“He saw your father choking on a pretzel and Polly eating leaves inside a tree. That’s a step up from seeing whether a girl wants to have sex with him.”
“Are you worried about him watching us in the shower together?” Hailey shoved him then, but not hard.
“Very funny.” She stepped back and touched her face. “I’m afraid of Polly. Angelina said that Polly used to go weeks without talking. Now she’s slashing people’s tires.”
“Polly does that?” This was news to Brian.
“That’s how nuts she is,” Hailey said. “Sometime last night she slashed Ya-Ya’s tires. I drove Ya-Ya to work. Meanwhile, Trevor vows it’ll never happen again. He’ll settle Polly. Well, come on now. What happens when the all-seeing Trevor needs to rest?”
“Practically every day I tell him he has better things to do than try to save Polly. I think he’s serious about studying at Chapel Hill. Which means in a few months, Polly will have to leave.”
“Think how much damage she could do in a few months, Brian. If Angelina didn’t adore Trevor, I mean really adore him, she’d never put up with this shit.” Hailey slammed the door behind her.
This was Brian and Hailey’s first fight. Did she believe Brian could tell Trevor what to do and he’d do it? Where on earth did she get that impression? When Trevor first returned from Jamaica, for a few days, Brian would say things like: Don’t smoke in the car. To no avail. She was right about Angelina, though.
Brian recalled seeing Trevor, who hadn’t even met Angelina before, smoking a spliff with her first thing in the morning. Trevor had pushed Angelina’s hair aside to whisper something and draped his arm around her. And that was it. Brian knew then, that Trevor was nestled under Angelina’s wing forever.
To please Trevor, Angelina had started the arts college, rebuilt the cabins, sold land, sold ganja, and sold a restaurant. Angelina did it for Trevor who did it for Brian.
Now, however, Angelina really was protecting Trevor. She had employed someone to stand at the Consortium’s locked gates, allowing only members and people with appointments inside.
And even though Angelina no longer spoke to her beloved friend Chief Babylon, he had assured Kaya that Officer Parker would be patrolling the nearby highway. It had to be Officer Parker because Officer Ingersoll hated Trevor the way most people loved him.
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