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“I don’t think so.” There was something in his voice that made my insides clench as if expecting a blow.
“Why?”
Titus looked at the ground like he couldn’t meet my eyes. “Noel didn’t come to school today,” he whispered.
“Fuck,” Will barked, making Titus and I jerk in surprise. “We gotta go!”
“No.” I looked around for Heather but she was already moving toward us.
“Fire’s almost out!” Micky yelled back. “Ten more minutes!”
“Can’t wait,” Will yelled back, jogging toward him. “Meet us back at the club.Everyone, understand? Full lockdown.”
The men who’d been moving around the house, running here and there helping where they could suddenly headed for their motorcycles.
“Mom,” Micky yelled.
“I’m calling Emilia now!” she yelled back, pulling out her phone as she reached us.
“I’ll have Nova pick Myla up when she goes to get Bird,” Rumi said from where he was sitting in the grass.
“What’s a lockdown?” I asked Titus quietly.
“Everyone goes to the club,” he explained. “Even the families.”
“But why?”
“To keep us safe.”
The motorcycles fired up, one by one, and within a few minutes, the only people left at the house were Otto’s mom and brothers.
“It’s out,” Otto rasped, shaking his head as he came out the front door. “Thank Christ.”
I dropped Titus’s hand and headed toward him, but he stopped me as I got to the edge of the porch steps.
“It’s a fuckin’ mess in there, sugar,” he warned. “Don’t want you walkin’ around, just in case.”
“Good chance you’ll end up in the basement,” Micky huffed.
“Don’t worry,” Otto said as he met me in the gravel. “We can fix it.”
“Bishop can fix it,” Rumi called tiredly. “But, same shit, really.”
I couldn’t even cry. There was still smoke everywhere, and it stunk, and I had no idea when we’d be able to live in our house again, but I couldn’t focus on any of it. I leaned against Otto and let him support my weight.
“How’s your mouth?” he asked as we moved toward his family.
“It’s fine.”
“You’ve got a hell of a fat lip.”
“Lockdown starts now,” his mom announced when we reached them. “Everyone’s heading straight for the club.”
“You got any idea what’s goin’ on?” Otto asked.
“No clue,” she replied dryly. “Could have something to do with your house nearly burning down?”
“You got a hold of Emilia?” Micky asked.
