Right now sitting here with my parents, was deceptive, a lull in what was otherwise a chaotic life.
The problem was, I liked the lull. It was comforting. Safe. I wanted to stay in one place.
But I knew it was temporary, that something bad waited just around the corner. It always did.
"Watch the card," he said. "This life isn't something you choose to do. It's something you're born into. You're a lucky kid. All these other people going about their lives? The marks? You're smarter than they are. You're learning how the world works. You con or get conned, you understand that?"
The problem was, I didn’t want to see it that way, as us versus them. Even then, I wanted to belong. Being on the outskirts hated by everyone, was no life. That was what I understood.
He tapped the table, his finger near the cards. "Now," he said. "Where's the Queen?"
Silas' Mustang wasn't exactly hard to follow - a bright blue car like that stood out like a sore thumb, especially as we wound through the roads in the shitty little neighborhood.
"You're distracted again," Iver said. "I can only assume that you're preoccupied with thoughts of one of the men in the car. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I’m afraid I'll have to point out that this little detour will need to stop, because we must meet with Coker."
Coker.
Damn it, I thought. Get your head in the game, Tempest.
I was acting like some love struck teenager, following Silas down the road. Stalking him. It was madness.
What the hell was I going to do, even if I found out where Silas was staying? It was stupid, and I was smarter than that.
"Now," Iver said. "Spill the story."
"There's nothing to tell," I said, watching as Silas turned down a street. I had to practically force myself to keep the steering wheel straight, to avoid veering down the road and following him. From my peripheral vision, I saw the blur of the blue car fade into the distance, and I exhaled. "He's just a ghost from the past, is all."
Iver harrumphed. "That boy didn't look like a ghost to me. Judging by the expression on your face when you saw him, I'd say he's very much a part of your present."
I didn't answer. The last thing I needed right now was for Silas to be part of my present. He was past tense, and that's how it was going to stay. I'd left him behind in West Bend.
Silas and I were ancient history.
Trigg hung up the phone. "Abel is out of the hospital," he said. "He was discharged last night. He's good to go."
"That's a relief," I said. Just the thought of what that shitbird Coker had done to Abel, and to three of us now, was killing me.
"We're going out for beers," Trigg said. "It'll be a celebration. Abel's going to meet us."
"Yeah," I said. "It's a fucking celebration, Abel getting put in the hospital because of that asshole."
"All right, pessimist," Trigg said. "Or how about we'll celebrate the fact that he's going to be fine, and you can stew and be pissed off and figure out how to kill Coker."
I grunted. "That sounds better."
Please just tell me you’re not going to shoot the guy when you see him. Not in broad daylight anyway.” Trigg reached into the backpack he'd stuffed on the floor of the car, and opened a bag of potato chips.
"Come on, man," I said. "Not in my brother's car. You're going to be the one getting shot in broad daylight if you get crumbs all over the place."
Trigg ignored me, popping a chip into his mouth and chewing loudly, then wiping the corners of his mouth while continuing to eat. "I'm starving, man," he said. "I have to eat."
“Anyway, did I shoot him when I saw him last, mom?” I asked.
Trigg narrowed his eyes. “No,” he said. “But that was at the fight.”
“So?” I asked absently. The fight. All I could remember about the fight was Tempest, standing there beside Coker. Looking like sin in that outfit she was wearing, the skirt that hugged her curvy ass.
"You were distracted," he said. "And besides, witnesses."
“Are you saying he doesn’t deserve to get shot?” I asked. “After what the hell he did to me? To Johnny? Now with the hit and run, the way he messed up Abel?”
“That's not what I'm saying at all, and you know it,” Trigg said. “Coker deserves worse than getting shot. Screwing with fighters the way he’s done? I’m just saying, don’t do something in broad daylight, that’s all.”
“I’m not a dumbass.".
“I didn’t say you were a dumbass, Dumbass,” he said. “I just want to know what the hell’s going through your head.”
“Shut up and eat your chips, Trigg,” I said. “I didn’t invite you along so we could talk about our feelings. Coker is a goddamned safety hazard. End of story.”
“So was Jade,” he said.
I laughed, the sound bitter. I hadn't heard that name in a while.