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Marie paled. She crossed her arms over her stomach. “I just need out.”
“So do I,” Danielle said. “I can help her. I can’t do it from school.”
She doesn’t need you, Nathan thought but didn’t dare say. He pressed his palms against his face and then rubbed. “All right. We’re going to try to get Marie out. Danielle, you’re more difficult.” He picked his phone up off the table and brought it with him. “But we need to talk about this more later. I’ve got something to do tonight, though. I’d rather you didn’t stay here while I’m not here. I have to go change...”
Suddenly the doorbell rang. Odd. If it were one of the guys, they would have walked in. Who else could be ringing the bell?
Nathan looked over at the others, but there wasn’t much chance to check out a camera on his phone without them noticing. The girls slipped into the living room. He went to the front door.
Outside, Jessica was standing with a small laundry basket. She was blushing red, a contrast to her pink glasses. She was still in her private school uniform. “Don’t be mad at me,” she said.
Nathan let a breath burst out of his lips and attempted to smile a little. “Jessica, I’m not mad at you. I just made a mistake. You had every right to tell Kota. I was being dumb.”
Her shoulders loosened as she relaxed and offered the basket to him. “I’m to tell you that this isn’t kicking you out of the house, but my mom wasn’t sure if you’d need any of this. You know, until Kota and you make up. And you tell Sang you’re sorry.”
Nathan held back a groan. The basket was loaded with jeans and shirts and a few other things, some his, some the other guys’ things. But also in the basket was a casserole dish, something that looked freshly baked and still warm.
“Thank you,” Nathan said and took the basket. “You didn’t have to. And I’ll tell Sang and Kota I’m sorry again. When they’re ready to talk to me.”
“My mom said you deserved Kota kicking your butt but also she knew this was your favorite.” She motioned to the dish.
Nathan laughed. Erica had been his other mom for a long time. He couldn’t imagine this was easy for her, either. “Thanks. Barbecue chicken?”
She nodded and then leaned over, looking around Nathan.
Danielle was peeking out from the kitchen. She waved shortly to Jessica. “Hey girl, what’s up?”
Jessica waved back. “Hi.” She didn’t seem surprised by her being there.
Odd. Danielle usually didn’t care for Jessica much. One of the things Nathan didn’t like about Danielle over the years was how she would often ignore her completely or tell her to run off and play to get her to go away.
Jessica continued her wave to Nathan, and an odd expression developed on her face, something happier. “Have fun.” She turned around and walked away, heading across the street to her house.
Nathan shut the door, with the basket in one arm, and turned to Danielle.
Danielle’s eyebrows lifted, and she kept a sly grin.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
Nathan marched around her to his bedroom. “I’ve got to change clothes and leave in a minute. You all should go home soon.”
“Sure,” Danielle said. “Soon.” She walked off toward the living room.
Nathan looked over at his dad’s bedroom door, wondering if they’d been in there, but he was pretty sure they hadn’t. He wondered if he should use his dad as an excuse to keep them away, make up a story about him returning tonight.
But it didn’t help the immediate problem. Getting them out of school...and getting them to tell him about Sang’s mother.
Darker Than Black
Sang
That afternoon, Victor and I went to the security trailer behind Bob’s Diner.
The security trailer was two rooms, separated by a door, with a tiny bathroom between. The smaller room in back held cots, collections of clothing, and supplies. It was more a miniature storage location for when the guys were on the go.
A few of us thought to stay here more long term, but there was too little room for us.
Someone had brought one of the big beanbag chairs from Kota’s house and set it in the corner. I went to it the moment we were inside, rolling around on it, stretching and yawning.
Victor put his bag near the door, then made sure the door was locked. He unbuttoned the front of his shirt and rolled up the sleeves a bit higher on his forearm. “What a day, yeah?”
I made a noise that wasn’t quite a grunt but close. “Can I ask you something?”
“Always.”
My head had been partially sideways and upside down on the bag. I picked it up, the blood rushing out and making me a bit dizzy. “How long do you think Karen might have been stealing stuff from lockers? And was she always doing it for Hendricks?”
Victor finished fiddling with the sleeves and sat down next to me on the bag, causing me to roll into him. He put an arm around my shoulder, reclining and putting his head back. “Remember when you were in trouble because someone stole stuff out of girls’ lockers?”
I couldn’t forget. The girls had been herded into the showers, and I was cornered by Mr. McCoy, before he went rogue. “I was wondering the same thing.”
“If she did it,” Victor said.
“And if Hendricks...or McCoy put her up to it?”
“I don’t know if there’s a way to find out unless she tells us. I don’t know if she’d be willing.”
It had bugged me since earlier today. Karen wasn’t the only one taking odd orders from Hendricks. We knew this. The problem was, I knew she wasn’t on his side. She couldn’t have been volunteering. She’d helped me out before when it came to Hendricks.
I scratched absently at my leg, exposed a bit more with the way we were sitting. The space was a bit cold, but the seat with Victor was warming up.
“How much time do I have?” I asked.
Victor leaned into me to pull his cell phone out and check the time. “A couple of hours. Although I recommend eating something and taking a good nap. We don’t know how long this is going to take tonight and you might be up late.”
I considered it, but I wasn’t really sleepy.
With his arm around my shoulders, he leaned closer. He sniffed once. “That’s the bath bombs?”
“Can you still smell it?” I asked. When I lifted my arm to my nose, I smelled it too. Sugar and sweet fruit flavors. I realized then I’d been smelling it all day. I hadn’t noticed because I got used to it.
“I think I like that one. Which one did you use?”
“Three of them? Thank you, by the way. I forgot to say that earlier.”
He chuckled with his face close to my shoulder. He kissed it once. “Maybe next time we’ll get to enjoy it together instead of Luke and Gabriel.”
My cheeks heated and I sighed. “I tried to get them to hold off.”
“They weren’t going to. That’s why I bought so many. If they found a single basket or two, they would have opened them all unless they knew they were for someone else completely.”
“What’s yours is mine, right?” I giggled. It was sort of how their group worked. I was still getting used to the concept. But then, I constantly borrowed clothing, books, blankets, beds...nearly everything. Asking ahead didn’t always work, because they could be unreachable. Knowing I could just borrow or use and it was okay made it much easier.
He lifted his head, the fire in his eyes lighting up to a full blaze. “Absolutely,” he said, his voice huskier than before. “Everything I’ve got. Want anything?”
I smiled at this, a bit warmer. The tone of the conversation changed. “I don’t need anything.”
He started rubbing my shoulder, and then massaged a bit. “It’s a shame I wasn’t there last night.”
“It was a little weird to be there without you.”
He beamed at this, leaning over to kiss at my shoulder again gently. “Maybe...soon I won’t be so far away.”
I swallo
wed and then turned over, shifting so I was more on my side, looking at him. He shifted around as well, letting me prop my head up on his arm, but turning so we were stomach to stomach.
I put a hand on his side to stabilize while I was shifting around but then left it there. It was odd how with some of them, I got used to some things, touching and leaning into them. Sometimes, like now, it had been a while since I’d been around Victor like this, and I was feeling a bit shy. Not as bad as like when we were first getting to know each other, but still I was blushing and hesitating.
“I know you want out,” I said softly.
The fire eyes lit up. “I want to be with you,” he said.
“If there’s a house for us...”
“We’ll find one.”
“But...I mean you know the others will want to go. Luke and the rest...”
He pressed his lips together and nodded slowly. “I think it will be okay. If I want to see you, you’re down the hall. Or at least not an hour away.”
