“I don’t care. You can’t stay,” Peter said as he handed his brother a hot cup of coffee.

When he saw the news alert on his phone yesterday afternoon Peter knew either Percy or Pearl would be appearing at his front door with an outrageous story. His triplet siblings were always pieces of work. Thank God he’d convinced Lucy to take the girls and hide out at her mother’s place. Peter didn’t want his old family’s shit spilling over into his new life. The Piggs were garbage.

Speaking of shit, Percy looked horrible but nothing permanently disfiguring. Both eyes blackened, split lip, bruises along his chiseled jaw line, the handsome triplet was a right mess. Arms crossed, Peter watched his brother drink his coffee with shaky hands.

Before dawn, Percy had broken into Peter’s house’s basement through the emergency access window. Peter had been waiting in the kitchen with a pitchfork, a pair of brass knuckles, and a carafe of black coffee. The news alert said celebrity DJ/club promoter P Squared, Percival Pigg, was missing, presumed kidnapped. Percy’s Ferrari was found abandoned in a Walmart parking lot. The shopping center surveillance showed a dramatic scene of the D list celeb being snatched from his vehicle and dragged into a white van by two masked figures.

“Saw the footage of your capture. Sloppy work. Black ski masks and white vans what is this an after school special? Who did your contract? Looked like those meth head Tweedle brothers. Everyone who knows you knows you don’t shop at Walmart. You chose that location in broad daylight for the lot cameras. Pros snatch at night or early morning at a private residence. That kidnapping was pure theatre for the public,” Peter said.

“Petey, please I’m desperate. I had to fake my disappearance to throw Lupine Black off my trail,” Percy said. “I’m terrified. Help me escape. You have connections and I just need a couple of bucks.”

Percy held his jaw as if it hurt to talk. Still holding the six foot pitchfork, Peter poured himself another cup of coffee.

“But you know Lupine and his thugs will not stop hunting you because of whatever stupid caper you got yourself in with the WolfPack. If your fiction didn’t fool me. It will not fool him. Of course, you thought it was a good idea to bring your problem to where my babies sleep,” Peter said, his voice icy.

“They have Pearly, bro. The Pack tried to snatch her from her apartment. She escaped to my condo. Then they came for us both. I got away but Lupine caught her. I couldn’t go back for any of my things. I’m strapped. You know what Lupine will do to me—I mean do to Pearly. We need you,” Percy pleaded.

Pearl called herself a model influencer, but she was just an aimless party girl. She was Pop’s favorite. Pearl was the ultimate summer grasshopper, a spoiled child in a woman’s body who never planned for the future or accepted consequences. Pearl was no camel in distress; she was an agent of chaos.

As teens, the three of them used to boost cars to be chopped and sold through their family’s auto repair shops. They used their aunt’s tow truck to steal in plain sight. The triplets were inseparable until Pearl and Percy left him holding the rap alone for $20,000 in catalytic converters.

Peter went to juvie and from there he went straight. He got a job in construction and worked his way up to general contractor. Marrying Lucy and having kids Peter learned what a real family was all about. Peter turned his back on the chop shops and the fencing and the whole lot of them. He refused to be sucked in again. His siblings went the way of all Piggs.

“What are you slinging for Lupine auto parts? Drugs. Tell me Percy or I will mess up your pretty face permanently. And not just a couple of whacks with a rolled up magazine.”

Putting on the brass knuckles, Peter stared into Percy’s soul. Percy looked sheepish.

“Girls, strippers. Moving them in and out clubs up the coast to Alaska and back. A few escaped I guess and there is a grand jury. Pearl and I wanted to stop him. We were going to testify.”

Peter flung his coffee at his brother’s chest. Jumping back, Percy screamed and overturned the table.

“Get out!” Peter roared. “You’re saving your skin. I

The brothers wrestled in the kitchen. Peter threw Percy towards the basement door. He slammed Percy into the door over and over. Peter stepped back before he killed his brother. His hands were shaking.

Bleeding Percy headed down the steps to exit through the window before the neighborhood woke up. Percy yelled back up to his brother in the kitchen.

“Okay, Petey, don’t help me. I will disappear without your dough. I just hope Lupine doesn’t come after you and that beautiful family of yours to get to me. Bet they’re staying in at old Mother Hubbard, right? Keep on the look out for that big bad wolf.”