“You’re shined. You’re so shiny you’re glowing. God, man, you’re beautiful.” He reaches his hands up to my face as we turn into the main performance space. I carefully take his hands and place them back by his sides. Joan and the other stagehands are gone. “Just take a seat, all right?” Win better be late.
Like a cruel joke, the double doors on the other side of the large room slap open, and through them barrels a monster of a man. Tall and meaty, big arms and wide chest. His loose hair hangs over his forehead like a permanent dunce cap, but it’s clear this guy’s no joker. He’s got the look of a man you don’t want to meet. He’s the kind of man who should send you running.
“Cousin!” Howie cheerfully bellows through the space. He slides off the chair I’ve managed to sit him in and opens his arms to embrace this behemoth. But Win doesn’t return the hug. He’s all cold eyes, cold stare, cold shoulder. “You’re high,” Win tells Howie, but keeps his gaze trained on me.
“No worries, Win, I’m coming down.” Howie gives an awkward laugh. He puts his hand behind my shoulder and shoves me forward. “This is Alex Danfrey. The fella I was telling you about, my Lorton cell mate.” Howie reaches up to slap his cousin’s back, misses. “Take a seat, we’ve got a lot to catch up on. Sure there’s time for another shot of shine before we hit the road.”
“There isn’t.” Win shifts. “And it’s just me and you on the ride along.”
I start to get a nauseating, sinking feeling as Howie shoots me a loaded glance. “I don’t understand. I thought you were looking for extra men on the street—”
“Don’t want the liability of a junior Danfrey.” Win shakes his head, but those odd bangs of his don’t budge. “It’s not time to further antagonize D Street—there’s too much at stake.” Just Win’s mention of D Street sends a flash of something heated and hungry through my frame, but I know better than to open my mouth. He looks me up and down, then adds, “Besides, I don’t like the look of him.”
Howie glances at me again, his anxiety weakening the hold of his high. But his nerves don’t have anything on mine. If Win says no, this is it. I’m finished before I even manage to hit the street. “Win, I swear, the boy’s solid—he stood up to a bunch of guinea chumps who were messing with him on the inside. I saw it—I saved him. The two of us, we were like a tornado at Lorton. No one fucked with us after that.”
Win shows no outward signs of being impressed.
“Plus, he’s got sorcery talent—I’ve seen his tricks—and he knows the street side of the business. He was trying to break out on his own before he landed at Lorton.”
“Talent,” Win repeats dubiously. His eyes crawl over me once more, searching for something I’m not sure I have. Honesty? Presence? Loyalty? I try my damnedest to keep my eyes locked on Win’s. I try to show him whatever he’s looking for.
“I’m asking you for a favor, Win,” Howie coaxes, in his softer, more tentative tone—the tone he’d use only at night in our cell, when we were trading whispers about our fears in the dark. It’s a last resort for Howie—I know he doesn’t like showing anyone his softer underbelly—and despite all else, it actually touches me. “Danfrey and I had each other’s backs. I gave him my word I’d look out for him on the other side.”
Win sighs. “How—”
“Come on, cousin.” Howie drops his voice to a low, slurring hum. “Don’t make a liar out of me.”
And then my warmth tips over into itchy, ugly guilt. I remind myself that Howie’s just a two-bit thug who’s only vouching for me because he knows I’ll prove an asset in the future. That he only cares about me because he cares about himself. But right now, watching Howie plead with his cousin to take a chance on me like an eight-year-old making a case for a puppy—it’s kind of hard to do.
Besides, as much as I don’t want to admit it, I’ve actually come to like the bastard.
Win runs his fingers through his bizarre hair, walks away, leaving Howie and me unsure of where we stand. “We don’t have time to talk this to death,” Win calls behind him.
Howie looks at me hopefully.
“Come on,” Win adds. “Might as well bring your girlfriend with you.”
Howie slaps my shoulder excitedly as we trail after his cousin.
“I owe you one,” I say quietly.
“That’s for damn sure.” Howie throws his arm around my shoulders and laughs as we head for the double doors. “You would’ve done the same for me. Like you said, you and me against the world, right?” he says. “Just wait till Win sees what you can do. Up, up, up we go, my friend. Together.”
*