Page 26

“You think she wanted to be a prostitute?” I ask as a car rolls up next to her a block down. No way. Girls don’t go to school dreaming about having sex for money, but shit happens.
Oscar bites his lip. He bends to retrieve the broken cookie jar. “You’re still taking the online classes, right?”
I bend next to him as he unwraps his leather jacket to find jagged pieces. I frown at the mess. This was the first thing that made it feel like we were actually going to have a holiday. Now, it’s gone. “I need to catch up on some assignments,” I tell him, realizing it’s been a bit since I logged into the system. I’ve been preoccupied.
Oscar wraps the jar back up and holds it close to him as he stands. “You should finish online. It’s probably better than Rawley Heights High, but if you want to, we can all go back to school after Christmas break.”
That, right there, is how I know Oscar hasn’t given up yet. He’ll head back to school after the break. Even though the football season is over, he’ll still chase that diploma and the opportunities it gives.
Oscar swings his leg over the bike and helps me onto it. “What now?” I ask.
“Back to my place? I’ll text Magnum and Brawler that we’ll be there.”
I nod, taking the broken Santa and situating it between us again as Oscar sends the text. When we get there, I’ll have to add everyone’s phone numbers into my new phone again. Once we get out of the Heights, it’ll be nice not to have to do that again. Although, I’ve been spoiled so far. Oscar’s been putting my contacts in for me.
He puts his phone away, and we take off again. We drive to the other side of town where we stop near the familiar corner store underneath Oscar’s apartment. I get off with the Santa cookie jar and wait for Oscar to put the bike and helmet away in his small garage before we climb the steps to his place.
He’s cleaned it a little more since the last time I was here. He must have done it last night or early this morning. On the kitchen bar, I take out all the shards that remain of the Santa and frown down at them. At least they’re not in tiny pieces, but still. “Well, this sucks.”
“Sorry,” Oscar offers, wrapping his arms around me from behind.
Footsteps sound on the steps leading to the apartment, and Oscar moves to the door to open it.
Magnum emerges first, Brawler trailing. As soon as I notice Brawler’s blood-splattered face, I move toward him. “What the fuck? Are you okay?” I check him for injuries, but it becomes abundantly clear the red smattering his face isn’t Brawler’s blood.
“Can I use your shower?” Brawler asks Oscar while pushing my hands away.
Oscar nods, gesturing toward the bathroom.
“Wait, what happened?” I ask.
Brawler’s lips thin. “K ordered an initiation task.”
11
Igasp.
Brawler turns away. The back of his shirt is even stained with droplets of blood, and I don’t even want to know how that happened. He moves to the bathroom while I stand there in a haze for a few moments. I never wanted this for Brawler. He joined to help me, but shit like this is going to whittle him away. I move my gaze to Magnum. “What did he have to do?”
Magnum shifts his stare away. “I’m not going to answer that. He can tell you if he wants you to know.” He stares me down. “It’s not my place to say anything.”
Oscar bounces his gaze between the two of us, but when I turn to look at him, he immediately looks away from me too. It doesn’t escape me that Mag probably knew Brawler was going to have to do something like that this morning but didn’t inform me of that. “You didn’t tell me.”
“Brawler wouldn’t have wanted you there.”
I take a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He’s right. I fucking hate that he’s right. Actually, I fucking hate that Brawler had to do whatever he had to do. I hate the whole situation. Little by little, what’s happening is taking bite-sized pieces out of me. Johnny’s gone. Brawler is stuck in the one place I never wanted him. Oscar’s mom is missing. And Magnum? He’s taking everything on his shoulders, including all our baggage.
I move to the bathroom. Regardless of what happened, Brawler will need me now. He’s still in the shower when I close the door behind me. He must hear me come in, but he doesn’t say anything. I sit on the closed toilet seat, waiting for him to emerge from the spray. When he does, I hand him a towel and wait for him to wrap himself up in it before putting my arms around him and holding him to me.
With the amount of blood that was on his face, he must have hurt someone bad. That’s on Brawler’s shoulders now. The only thing I can do is comfort him in this shitty world we live in. “I love you.”
He swallows. “I love you, too.”
The door opens, and a stack of clothes lands just inside before the door closes again, leaving us alone. I step back, watching the droplets of water cascade down Brawler’s impressive chest. “Do you want to talk about it?”
He leans over, gathering the clothes Oscar left him. He unfolds the sweatpants, stretching the waistband out to make sure they’ll fit him. He pulls them on and lets the towel drop around his ankles. “I don’t know what there is to say.” He pulls the shirt on next. The material is so tight around his biceps, he’s practically bulging out of them. “K sent us to talk to some of the guys’ families that must have sided with Gregory because they were found dead at the scene.”
“Magnum told me that part this morning.”