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My neighbor, Derrick, once told me they’d done that when they were much younger. “What happened to him?”
“He married Pam. I thought for sure when he married again he’d stop being an ass, but then one night he was out drunk driving again. Then he was a pancake.”
His hand lifted from mine and he touched solemnly at the three black earrings in his ear.
I gingerly reached out, touching the crest of his ear where the black rings started. I’d always wondered why he changed the crystals, but the black rings always remained. Three, one for each family member who died. “How old was your brother?”
“Almost one,” he said. He took my hand, squeezed it and then brought it to his lips, kissing the knuckle. “I’d barely gotten to know him. Then he was gone. I was alone for a long time, until the Academy. Now I’ve got a new family. And I mean, there’s Pam. She tried taking care of me, but she got a bad deal out of this. A lot of debt and a stepson who misbehaved a lot. I end up taking care of her these days. She works some, but she prefers to drink and get men to buy her drinks.”
What would it be like to get married to someone like Gabriel’s father? And then a year later become a widow and the last one to care for Gabriel? “She tried,” I said. “That’s a good thing, right?”
“Yeah,” he said. He perked up a bit, smiled. “Okay, I’ve told you a bunch of shit. That all you want to know?”
There were so many questions. I wanted to ask about the Academy, about what other secrets he had. The more I learned, the more I realized I didn’t know. The other boys had been together for years, and probably knew a lot of this; I was trying to catch up.
Gabriel was quiet for a long moment. He took up my hand again, and then brought it to his lips. He kissed my palm. “I never thought you’d come here.”
I stared at him quietly for a moment. Mr. Blackbourne said to trust the boys and to get to know them. I wanted to try. “Why not?”
“It’s not exactly...I mean it isn’t like Victor’s house. Hell, it’s not even like Kota’s or Silas’s.”
“I like your room.”
He smirked and shook his head. “You like anything.”
I scoffed. “No I don’t.”
He rolled his eyes and then his body jerked as he pulled out his vibrating phone. “Fuck me, they said I’d be off today.”
“Who is it?” I asked.
“Kota,” he said. He stood up. “Hang on a second? I’ve got to...” He nodded toward the bedroom door.
My heart dropped in my chest. He needed to talk about something to do with the Academy. It reminded me that even as far as I’d come within the group, I still wasn’t really a part of it. There were secrets that floated around us, and they couldn’t tell me everything. I started to get up. “You want me to leave?” I asked.
He twisted his lips and then shook his head. He walked toward the door. “Don’t worry. I’ll just be in the bathroom for a minute. Don’t move.”
Gabriel left. I listened as another door opened down the hallway. He closed that door and then talked. Through the thin walls of the trailer, I could hear his voice, but not what he said.
I sighed and then flopped back onto the floor. I tugged my own phone out of my bra for something to play with while he was gone.
I smoothed my thumb over the surface of the pink iPhone in my hand. Somehow, the movement brought my focus back. Mr. Blackbourne had brought me here for a reason. After our conversation earlier, it’d be a shame if Gabriel got called away and I hadn’t yet mentioned what I was thinking. I just thought I’d have all day to get around to it. Since it was still early, I assumed I’d have plenty of time.
It didn’t help that I kept putting it off.
Why would Kota be calling? Wasn’t he busy with the kids we found earlier?
I turned on my phone, checking the screen. It was still open to the conversation with Mr. Blackbourne, a reminder of what I needed to do. Somehow, it felt like I could make up for my refusal to do what he wanted by doing what we agreed on as quickly as possible. If Gabriel wasn’t already on my side, I wanted to win his approval before I spoke to Mr. Blackbourne again.
When I checked the general text inbox, two more messages had come in while I was with Gabriel. I hadn’t felt the vibration. Maybe it was while I was playing with Gabriel out in the living room.
Silas: Miss you.
Nathan: Coming back tonight? Do I need to pick you up?
I wasn’t sure how to respond to either. Telling Silas I missed him too felt like an invitation for him to come get me. I didn’t know the answer to Nathan’s questions, either. I suppose I had to go back at some point, though. My school books and school clothes were at home, and there was school tomorrow. Would it be inconvenient if I asked to stay the night?
And what if Gabriel needed to go now? I didn’t want to be here alone. Instead of responding, I listened to Gabriel’s voice through the wall. I studied the mural, waiting for him to come back. I was sad to think I’d have to cut my visit with Gabriel short due to an emergency.
Suddenly, Gabriel’s voice was louder and he pushed open his bedroom door, still with the phone to his ear, and spoke to me.
“We’ve got to go, Sang,” he said. His crystal eyes were wide. His lips tight.
Fear prickled my spine. Something wasn’t right. I jumped up quickly, tucking my phone back into my bra. “Where? What’s happened?”
Gabriel walked across the room, stuffed his feet into a pair of boots sitting by the bed and then turned toward me, pushing me toward the door. He talked into the phone. “I’ve got her. Heading toward the road.”
The road. Someone’s on the way to pick us up? I bit back my questions for now, wanting to just go along. Kota’s voice was filled with alarm as he continue to talk to Gabriel, but I couldn’t make out his words.
Yes, something was wrong. We had to run.
Gabriel grabbed his wallet off the dresser and then led the way out the bedroom door. I found my sandals and put them on. He picked up the shirt he’d stripped off earlier, and shoved an arm through a sleeve as I went to the front door.
“Where are you going?” Pam shouted from somewhere deeper in the trailer.
“Out!” Gabriel shouted back. “Have to go to the school!”
I stared nervously toward the back from where Pam had shouted. She was a parent. Would she come out and demand to know where he was going? Give him a curfew? Ask why he had to be at the school on a Sunday afternoon?
She said nothing further, though. Gabriel hurried me through the front door. I went down the steps as he closed up behind us.
Outside, there wasn’t a car. Was Kota on the way?
Gabriel ran down the steps, grabbed my hand and started moving away from the driveway, around the trailer through the yard, toward the woods near his window.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I followed. I was walking through the high grass in the neighbor’s lawn and imagined creepy-crawly bugs as I waded through in my sandals.
Gabriel tugged again at my hand. “Just move your pretty ass, will you?”
I pressed my lips together and followed him.
My eyes blurred from the change of the warm house to the cooler air outside. He found a trail through the woods and cut through the trees to get to it. I scrambled behind him to keep up. Everything around me was a blur of brown trees and fallen leaves as I hurried.
Once we were well along the path and the trees masked our location from any of the trailers and the road, Gabriel slowed down. My cheeks were warm, while the rest of my face was freezing and my nose felt like it was going to drip. I sniffed and pushed a hand to my face to try to warm it. My heart was beating hard. I checked out the path behind us.
Gabriel still had his phone in his hand, occasionally having to use that arm to push branches out of the way. He pressed the phone to his ear and talked into it. “Okay, we’re out of sight. Headed to the back road. I didn’t see anyone. Okay. Okay. Okaaaay.” He hung up, and then blew out a heavy
breath.
“What is it?” I asked, squeezing his hand.
“Kota says Mr. McCoy was tracked nearby, headed toward my house,” he said, frowning. He shoved the phone into his back pocket and then tugged me again along the path. “Luke’s on the way to pick us up. We’ve got someone following Mr. McCoy to try to find out why he’s looking to check me out.”
My throat closed up. McCoy. What did he want with Gabriel? Or was he after me? Did he know I was there? I checked behind us, seeking out his bristled-mustached face as if he’d appear at any moment.
Gabriel turned to me. His hair that he’d combed hung over his face, the blond locks and a bit of the russet swept together. His cheeks were pink. His crystal eyes were wide and wild, but as he looked at me, they softened. He stopped walking and faced me, pulling me in until he could hold my cheeks in his hands.
“He’s not going to get you,” he said quietly. “You’re my Trouble. Remember? He’ll have to get through me first. And he never will.”
