I knew what the question meant. She wanted to talk about the Reap, Anderson, Uncle Jakey. All of that bullshit mess. But I wasn’t interested in that. At all.
I kissed the tip of her nose. “We go get you some blood work.”
“I’m afraid of needles, King.”
“I’ll be right there to hold your hand.”
And I was.
I made Linds look at me while blood was drawn from her left arm. She squeezed my hand tight and was shaking. I couldn’t help myself as I smiled. Somehow, it all felt so right. She and I together. She being pregnant with my child. Like our destiny was finally coming to life.
When we were finished with all doctors and lab stuff, I took her for a ride through the old part of town. The south side where we had grown up. Where two blocks separated those who were dirt poor to those who were living in the upper middle class. I cruised down my old street and saw my old house. It was the same pale blue color with ugly reddish shutters. The same flat slab of concrete as a porch where I stood and watched Linds walk away after the first time it really hit me that I was in love with her.
The road came to an end with a stop sign. I turned left and went down to the library two blocks away. It was now shut down, once for sale, now being used as some kind of makeshift religious center and place for alcoholics to get together and talk. I hooked another left and was on a winding road that took me to the upper middle class development. Where the houses mostly looked the same.
I took Linds to her old house.
I thought about the two times I was in that house. The first was for a minute until her Aunt Jane and Jim came home really early. I had to bolt out the back door and run like hell. The second time I was in the house was the night Jim attacked them both. That night I got to take Linds out of that house.
I slowed but didn’t stop as we went by the house.
I felt Linds’s grip on me change. She held tighter. The house would forever haunt her. Just more proof that no matter what I couldn’t end up back inside prison.
So I took her back to her apartment and tried to come up with a plan. If I bailed on the Reap and my brothers, they’d hunt me and Linds down. I couldn’t do that to Knox and Slam though. They were my brothers. True brothers.
Linds went to take a shower and I twisted the cap off a beer.
A minute later, I was halfway walking to the bathroom to join Linds in the shower to celebrate our good news.
That’s when the phone rang.
Uncle Jakey was calling me.
It was time for action.
36
(Lindsey) *THEN*
THE RAIN CAME from out of nowhere. There was a bunch of us standing on King’s front porch. A few of his friends, a few of mine. The sole purpose was so that me and King could face each other. There had been too many rumors and lingering feelings swirling around. I wanted to hear it from his mouth before anything else happened.
It was all dumb high school shit though.
Do you like me? Do you like me, like me? Do I like you? Do I like you, like you?
A crack of thunder rang out in the distance.
The wind started to pick up.
King was with Knox, Slam, and Matteo. They all parted away and King stepped forward. I was right near the steps of the porch. My two friends - Amy and Becca - were calling for me, saying they had to get home before they got grounded. We weren’t allowed to be in the rain. I wasn’t even allowed out of the house. Aunt Jane fought with Jim to let me spend the afternoon at Amy’s house.
“Hey,” King said.
“Hey,” I said.
“I wish you could stay.”
“I can’t. I’m going to get into trouble.”
“I like trouble.”
“I know you do. What else do you like?”
King smirked. “You keep hearing shit, huh?”
“That’s why I’m here. I want to know the truth.”
King grabbed for my hand. “You know I like you, Linds. I like you a lot. Can I give you a call later?”
“Of course,” I said. “Do you have my number?”
He shook his head.
I gave King my phone number. I instantly started to figure out how to tell Aunt Jane that I needed her help so when King called I could actually talk to him.
King kept holding my hand and then reached with his other hand to his wrist. He rolled some black bracelet thing over to my wrist.
“You keep this,” he said to me.
I blushed, feeling stuff in my body I never felt before.
Jim would find the bracelet and throw it into the fireplace.
If the moment couldn’t get any better, King kissed me. He pressed his lips to mine. It wasn’t my first kiss but it was the best kiss right up to that moment.
I backed up and ran down the porch steps and into the rain. I was soaked within seconds. I looked back as I ran with Amy and Becca. King stood on the porch, his arms crossed.
He was so cute.
He kissed good.
He made me feel things.
He would forever change my life.
37
*NOW*
(LINDSEY)