“Ben, I’ll call you when I have something to report. I promise.”
“Thanks, Sam. Thanks for . . .” Ben didn’t finish.
Shanks said, “You’re one of a kind, Ben. Don’t ever change. You just got to find work that makes the best of your . . . unique personality.”
“I think that’s a compliment.”
“It is.” Shanks looked at the building, covered with tags and splotches of paint. “I’ve got to get back to the station house. Feel free to drop in anytime. And I’m sure you’ll take me up on that one.”
“Most likely I will.”
After Sam left, Ben kept painting. Almost all the desecration had been covered up, but there were a few tags left at the top of the building. Ben stared at a tag, squinting into the sun, his forehead suddenly furrowing.
It was like a figure-ground puzzle. Once he had seen it, it was amazing that he had missed it in the first place.
The tags weren’t bull’s-eyes. The tags were initials.
It was as clear as a bell: an M on top of a G.
Chapter 13
When Ro opened the door, Ben didn’t bother to hide his anger. He was seething, but it wasn’t directed at her.
He stepped over the threshold. “I need to see Griffen.”
“He’s in his room—”
“Thanks.” Ben moved past her and knocked on Griffen’s door. When the boy opened up, Ben walked inside and closed the door in Ro’s face. He locked the door. The kid was fair-complexioned. Anything embarrassing set him off. This time the blush spread across his cheeks like a runaway paint spill.
“What’s up?” Griffen said.
Without answering, Ben started searching through the kid’s closet. Griffen tried to muster up anger. But it came across as something else. He was wide-eyed . . . scared. “What are you doing?”
“Looking for spray-paint cans.” Ben started moving coats to the side to get to some hidden shelving. “If I’m wrong, a thousand apologies. Okay if I hunt around?”
“No, it’s not okay. Get out.”
The kid wasn’t even smart enough to throw away the cans he didn’t use. Ben held up one of them and turned on him. “I just spent one of my few free mornings painting a national landmark that some asshole had the temerity to tag. And that pissed me off.”
Griffen batted the can away from Ben. “Get the fuck out of here!”
“Aren’t you a hotshot? Doing stuff in the dead of night where no one can see you. You want to be a criminal, at least have the balls to do it in daylight.”
“You’re talking to me about balls? You’re a fucking wimp who can’t even keep a girlfriend. Get the fuck out of my life!”
“Fine, Griff. This wimp will be happy to get the fuck out of your life when you man up and tell the police what you did. Because if you don’t, this wimp is going to haul your ass down to the police.”
Griffen charged at him. Ben easily deflected the snorting little bull and took him down in a headlock. He said, “Now that was stupid!”
“Let go of me!” Griffen screamed while writhing in his grip. “Let go of me!”
Ro was knocking hard on the door. “What’s going on!”
“Nothing,” Ben said. “We’re fine.”
Ro started banging. “Let me in! Ben, open the door!” When neither of them moved to help her out, she said, “If you don’t open the door right now, I’m going to call the police.”
Ben shouted out, “So call the police! That’s what we both want, right, Griff?”
Griff shouted out. “Go away, Ro!”
“Griffen!” She banged again. “Open up!”
“Go away and leave me the fuck alone, Ro. I hate you!”
The knocking stopped. Ben still had him in a hold. The kid was clawing his arm. He was drawing blood. “Want to know how to get out of it?”
“Let go of me!” Griffen’s eyes were wet. “You’re choking me.”
“If you’re able to talk, you’re not choking. And stop pawing me. It hurts!” Griff was still struggling. “Will you relax? This wimp is going to teach you something!” Ben shifted the boy’s position until he had him in a side headlock. “It’s a different move if it’s from behind and that involves poking my eyes. I don’t trust you right now!”
“Fuck off!”
“I’ll teach you how to get out of this hold if you promise you won’t take my head off.” The boy was still struggling. “Relax, Griff. I’m not going to let go. Right now, I’m still stronger than you.”
“You’re a fucking bully.”
“And you’re a coward! That’s what taggers are. They’re cowards!”
Griffen went silent. Ben saw the moisture in the boy’s eyes but he kept on going. “You spray-painted a registered American Treasure. Now you’ve got a choice, Griff. You can learn something or you can go to the police. And, buddy, this wimp has no problem taking you down.”
Finally, Griff stopped struggling. It was probably the first time the kid had ever been in hand-to-hand combat. They made them soft in the burbs.
Ben said, “Okay. This is what you do. Are you listening?” When he didn’t get an answer, he repeated, “Are you listening?”
“Yes, I’m fucking listening.”
“Will you please cool it with the profanity? It’s lost its potency.”
Ro was back at the door. “What’s going on?” She knocked harder. “I’m going to call the police.”
Griffen said, “Just go away, Ro. We’re fine!”
“Open the door!”
Ben let Griff go and opened the door. “See? He’s still alive.”
Ro was in tears. “What happened?”
“Nothing!” Griff slammed the door in her face.
“That wasn’t nice.”
“I hate her,” the kid muttered.
“She’s your only sibling. Stop talking like that.”
“She ruined everything!”
Ben shrugged. “She’s your sister and she’ll be in your life long after I’ve left it. She’s family and I’m not.”
“Haley hates me.”
“I figured she must be giving you a hard time. When we talked last night, your name didn’t come up.” When Griffen didn’t answer, Ben said, “I’ll talk to her.”
“Don’t.”
“You’re right. I don’t have to fight your battles. But she doesn’t need to fight mine either.” No one spoke. Ben finally said, “How about if I take you and Haley and Lilly out to dinner tonight? We can even include Ezra, although I don’t know how much Lilly likes being fixed up with him.”
“Ezra really likes her.” Griff sat on the bed. “He’s pissed at me too.”
“Why?”
“Because now that Haley isn’t talking to me, everything just kinda fell apart.”
“There are other girls in the school, you know. You’re a good-looking guy.”
Griffen shrugged. “I know.”
“I’m one to talk about a love life. Stand up.” When he did, Ben grabbed him in a headlock. “You ready to learn something?” When Griffen didn’t answer, he said, “You hurt me, you’re dead.”
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Okay.” Ben secured his balance. “First off, twist your body to the side so that your chin is in my ribs. That’ll clear your jugular and you’re less likely to pass out from the pressure, okay?”
“How?”
“Just twist your body and the head will follow.”