Then his head turned and even in the shadowed light I knew he was looking at me. I knew it because I felt his eyes burning into me.
“Get up,” he ordered.
I did as I was told, frankly too scared to do otherwise (he was holding a gun and he seemed a bit pissed off and he’d made a grown man levitate, even I wasn’t fool enough to spit in the eye of that kind of tiger). Then I turned and helped Roam get up.
Crowe pul ed a phone out of his back pocket, flipped it opened one handed and hit a button.
I breathed heavily, staring at him.
“You… are… the… man,” Roam whispered. He was staring at Crowe too, eyes wide with wonder.
“Jack? I got a pick up,” Crowe said into the phone.
“Speer bike path, South side, close to Broadway,” he hesitated, listening, then went on briefly. “Yeah. Out.” Then he flipped the phone shut and looked at me again.
“You wanna tel me what the fuck’s goin’ on?” he asked me, his voice stil pissed off.
I didn’t, real y, so I didn’t say anything.
“How’d you do that?” Roam asked, cutting into Crowe’s short, one-sided conversation with me.
I looked at Roam. He was stil staring at Crowe like he was a god among men. Then I remembered to be angry at him and turned to face him.
“What did you think you were doing?” I shouted.
Roam’s eyes came to me. “Law –”
“Don’t ‘Law’ me. I should knock some sense into you.
You could have got hurt, pelting drug dealers with rocks.
Are you nuts?” I yel ed.
Are you nuts?” I yel ed.
“You do it,” Roam said, assuming a teenage boy’s pissed-off-yet-pouty stance of jutting lip and slightly leaning body.
“I do not pelt drug dealers with rocks. That’s a fool thing to do. Honestly, Roam, what am I gonna do with you?”
“You’re Law?” Shard said, butting into my tirade and looking up at me.
I caught his look and, even shadowed, it made me shiver.
“Quiet,” Crowe told Shard but Shard kept staring at me like he was memorizing me. I knew this wasn’t good and that shiver turned into a quiver.
“Eyes to the ground,” Crowe ordered Shard and when Shard hesitated, Crowe’s hand snaked out, shoving the back of Shard’s head so he faced down.
I felt the disquiet of fear crawling along my skin but I pushed it away and turned back to Roam.
“We’re not done. Go find my stun gun, I dropped it. I’m taking you back to the Shelter tonight, tomorrow, we’l talk.”
“Seriously, Law, I was only tryin’ –” Roam started but I interrupted him.
“Stun gun. Now. Talk. Tomorrow. Go,” I snapped.
He grumbled something about “fuckin’ bossy white bitches” and stomped away.
I stared daggers at his back.
“What’d I say about cal ing me a bitch?” I yel ed at his back.
“Law,” Crowe cut in.
My head rounded to him and, I’m afraid to say, I’d had My head rounded to him and, I’m afraid to say, I’d had about al I could take.
“Not now. I’ve had a bad day. I have to get these kids to bed and then I’m gonna go home and have a bubble bath.
Then I’m gonna sleep like the dead. I have to be ready for tomorrow because tomorrow, I’m going to kick some black-teenage-kid ass.”
Crowe didn’t say anything. Then again, what could you say?
I looked down at Shard then back at Crowe.
“You have this covered?” I asked, like I’d been helpful in some way taking down Shard.
“I’m thinkin’, yeah,” Crowe told me.
“Good. Great. Marvelous. Have a fabulous evening.” Then I stormed up to the bike path where Roam was waiting for me. He held out my stun gun and I snatched it out of his hand.
“Let’s get to Hazel. Move. Sniff is probably scared shitless. I don’t even know what to say. You get out your phone and cal your friend. Tel him you’re okay…” And the whole way down the bike path, even while Roam was on the phone with Sniff, I reamed him.
And most of the way, even though I didn’t know it, Vance heard me.
Chapter Three
The Interrogation
I took the boys to King’s and got them to their beds.
King’s had six bedrooms, each with three sets of bunk beds, three rooms for boys, three rooms for girls. Not many of the kids spent the night there, usual y they came during the day to hang, play pool, eat, and, if we were lucky, talk to the social workers or work with the tutors.
I talked Park, Roam and Sniff into staying most nights there. They’d had permanent beds for months. Roam on the top of the last bunk by the window, Sniff in the bunk under him.
Park had slept on the top bunk in the bed next to Roam.
Even though it’d been months, no kid had slept there since Park mainly because Roam frowned on this.
As they settled, I stood beside their beds and looked at Roam. He was on his back, hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling and ignoring me.
I knew he was angry. Not only had Sniff ratted him out and I cut into his action but I’d embarrassed him in front of macho man Vance Crowe.
“Be mad at me, Roam,” I said softly, “but don’t be mad at Sniff. He did the right thing.”