AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He doesn’t mean did they search the place or leave—I already told him that. He means what did I do to get their attention.
“This girl I’m seeing—she’s got an ex who doesn’t like me much. ”
“You give him a reason? Other than stealing his girl. ”
“I didn’t steal her. They were already broken up. ”
But I did steal her, a little bit. Freshman year, when she was across the hall, I watched her. Tried to get her flustered. I did things to catch her eye, and Nate knew it. He hated me even then.
He has every right to hate me.
“I got into it with him. For talking shit about her. ”
Bo takes a deep drag, eyes narrowed, watching me. Waiting for the rest.
“Twice. Second time was a little worse than the first. ”
I think of Caroline throwing up in my bathroom. The roaring pain in my hand when I connected with his face. His rib cage.
I gesture at the pack of cigarettes in Bo’s shirt pocket. “Can I have one of those?”
He lifts an eyebrow. I don’t smoke, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how. I need the rush right now—the way the nicotine will sharpen up the edges of everything, make me wary, make me smart.
I need to get smart.
He hands me a cigarette, and when I put it in my mouth and cup my hands around the tip, he gives me a light off his Zippo.
“What’s he got over you?” Bo asks.
“I knocked him down a fire escape. Might’ve cracked his ribs. Assault, I guess. Especially if he went to the hospital afterward. ”
“Was there a witness?”
“His friend. And Caroline. ”
He nods.
“I’ve sold to the friend,” I add.
“More than once?”
“Yeah. ”
“So he tipped off the cops. ”
“Probably. I mean, anybody could have, but probably. You think they’ll be back?”
“Yeah. ”
I purse my lips and inhale, grateful for the small, rustling sound of the paper igniting. Grateful to have this tiny curling spark to look at, this tight fullness in my chest as I hold the smoke in my lungs.
It’s good to have somebody to talk to.
“You think I should just stop selling? Lay low for a semester?”
“If you can get by without the money. ”
I hesitate. Take another drag. Grow some balls and admit, “I end up sending most of it to Mom. ”
