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“Get on. Let’s go.”
Conner climbs on behind me. It’s nowhere near as enjoyable as having Remi’s thighs around me, but there’s not a lot I can do about that right now.
I gun the engine and we fly toward our old hometown. Trepidation fills me as I think about Donny and what his intentions are, but my focus needs to be our brother right now. I’ll deal with Donny later.
“Where first?” I ask Conner when we come to a stop at a junction.
“The clearing? The park? The field?”
“Fucking hell, Cole.” He could be fucking anywhere.
Since the park is the closest, I head there first. The last remaining decent park in the Heights, never destroyed by the residents of this shithole. It’s the one place I remember coming as a kid and actually letting go and having fun.
Conner is off the back almost before I bring the bike to a stop. He jogs over the small hill that hides the park from us and comes to a stop. His shoulders drop in disappointment. I don’t even bother getting off the bike, because I know what he’s going to say.
“Next,” he says, walking back over to me.
“Okay, Heights High to check the field?”
“Yep. Let’s do it.”
I make the short journey to our old school. The place is just as run-down and depressing as the last time I was here… which was quite a while ago, seeing as I rarely turned up.
Leaving my bike in the parking lot, we make our way toward the football field. Pulling my smokes from my pocket, I offer one to Conner, who immediately pulls one out and places it between his lips, waiting for me to pass a lighter. He doesn’t usually accept my offer and generally sticks to weed, but today seems to be the exception.
The place is deserted, the field is empty, and the bleachers abandoned.
“Fucking hell,” Conner grunts, spinning on the spot, hoping to catch a glimpse of Cole. “Where are you, motherfucker?”
“We’ll find him.”
Conner turns on me, his eyes sad and defeated. “You didn’t see him, Ace. I’ve never seen him like that. Ever. It was like he was possessed or something. This black cloud descended and he just lost it.”
I swallow nervously. This was exactly what I was hoping to avoid, but it seems my attempt to figure out how to tell-all and stop it from happening failed at the first hurdle.
“We’ll get him. He’ll be fine. Let’s go to the clearing. If he’s not there then maybe we can get some of the others to help, or they might have already seen him.”
Our journey across town takes longer than I’d like. Conner is a ball of nervous energy behind me. Both of his legs bounce with anticipation, not helping me focus at all.
As we pull up to our old trailer park we’re both on the lookout for his car, but as we make our way through, it’s nowhere to be seen. Out of habit, I park outside our old trailer and we both climb off the bike.
I’m hit with memories of my last time here. Of Kelsey—a shudder of regret runs down my spine there—and of that fucker, Bruce. I can only hope this trip ends a little differently.
“What are you waiting for?” Conner calls over his shoulder when he notices that I’m frozen, looking at our old trailer.
“Nothing. I’m coming.” I shove down the bad memories.
A few people acknowledge us as we make our way out to the clearing, but thankfully no one stops us. We don’t belong here anymore, and the looks on a few faces as we pass make that very clear.
Conner doesn’t seem to notice as he marches toward the break in the trees to where we all used to hang out.
There are a few people sitting around, smoking and drinking, but none of them is Cole. I stand back as Conner walks up to our old neighbors and asks if they’ve seen them, but I don’t need to hear their answers. The slight shakes of their heads and the defeat in Conner’s stance tells me everything.
“No one has seen him. No one knows anything,” he says on a sigh when he rejoins me. “Where else would he have gone?”
Shaking my head, I try to come up with any sensible answer to that question as we make our way back to my bike.
“I never thought this place was so bad, but coming back here now… It really is a shithole,” Conner muses as we pass each dilapidated trailer.
