Michael stopped and got us breakfast at a drive-through. He drove to a lookout and handed over the bag.
“What are we doing here?” I asked.
“Just a talk,” he said. “Why, you wanna make out?” He got out of the car. He jogged over to the other car parked at the lookout and thumped on the window.
“Screw you!” The man inside yelled.
“Cops are coming. Passed them on the way up. Trying to help.” He walked away with his hands out like kill a guy for trying.
After a moment, the car started and pulled out.
“Sucka.”
We walked toward the wall at the lookout point. The sun edged farther into the sky. I ate.
“So here it is. Advice for you,” Michael said. “Don’t trust her.”
“Who are we talking about?”
Michael’s lips twitched, and he glanced away from me, squinting out over the city. “We’re talking about Cyn, Ice. Little Miss Temptation.” He glared into my eyes, that small smile hovering around his lips. “Temp-ta-tion,” he sang. “Temp-ta-tion, I can’t resist.”
I took another bite.
“She’ll use you. I’ve seen it happen. Use her first. Put her in her place.”
“Whatever.”
“Listen, cut the bull.” Michael caught my eyes with his. “I know. You know I know. So let’s just talk.”
“Then talk.” The food was a lump in my stomach.
“I don’t care, okay? Cyn and I—we’re open.”
I couldn’t tell if it was true or if he had another goal he wanted more than her. “You’re lying. You care.”
“No, that’s you. Not me.”
“That scene in your room. You care.”
“Not about that.”
“She’s your girlfriend. You control her,” I said.
“That’s like controlling the tide, Iceman. You don’t control it. You use it.”
“Okay.” I squinted at the rising sun, hanging low like a stranger at a party.
“You don’t get it. It’s cool. You’ll see.” He threw a rock over the wall.
“Listen, you don’t have to worry about me,” I said. This was maybe the most surreal conversation I’d ever had—reassuring a guy that I was fine after sleeping with his girlfriend. “Just keep the money coming, all right?”
“It’s a business thing.”
“Right.” I shrugged.
“And screwing Cyndra, that’s just perks.”
I kept my mouth shut. If he wanted to convince me he really didn’t care, he’d have to stop laying traps like that.
Michael whistled and shook his hand like he’d just punched something and it hurt.
“Wooo. She’s got you. My girl has gone and got you!” He jumped off the wall and started pacing. “Stay cold, Ice. Don’t let her melt you away.”
I just watched him and didn’t say anything.
Michael got serious. “Listen, I only want to give you the key. The lever that will move her little world. Do what you want with her, but don’t go getting any delusions.”
“You’re trying to protect me?” It was so ridiculous I couldn’t stop a real smile from coming. “I don’t have any delusions, believe me.”
“Yes, you do.”
“All right, Prom King, what am I deluded about?”
“About her. True love. Knight in shining armor. Saving the damsel in distress,” Michael said.
“Saving her from what?”
A faint smile hovered on his lips. “Come on. You know. She took you home, didn’t she? Let you watch the creep show live and in person? Don’t let her play that tired old card.”
My stomach felt like I was in a dropping elevator. I kept my mouth shut and watched as the streetlights in the valley below us started winking out.
He chuckled. “She’s good. Got to give her that.”
“What are you saying?”
“Given your background”—he waved a hand—“you reached certain . . . conclusions.”
My mouth snapped shut so fast my teeth clicked. My eyes dared him to say it.
“She’s got him right where she wants him.”
My jaw ached with the words I held back. Typical abuser justification. Excuses. She-wanted-it rationale.
Michael kept talking. I imagined breaking his nose.
“It’s what she gets off on. Power. It’s how she gets everything she wants. I’m telling you so you can stay in control. You work for me—not her. If you want out, just say so. But don’t expect any freebies, from either of us.”
My head hurt.
“You can’t blame her,” he said. “For setting you up to ‘save’ her. It’s her favorite game.”
I stood—fighting the urge to argue.
“So tell me now. You want to quit?” Michael asked.
My heart pounded, but I was still on the outside.
“Didn’t think so,” he said. He was back in control, and he knew it. “Let’s go.”
We walked back to the car. He opened his door, grinning. “I’m glad we had this little talk, son.”
On the drive down, he drummed the wheel and took the corners so fast I thought we’d go up on two wheels.
“Where to?” he asked.
“The school.”
He didn’t ask why, just took me there and cut the engine once we were in the deserted lot.
“Postponing the inevitable, huh?” he asked.
I was tired of trying to understand him. I stared blankly.
He gestured at my jaw. “You’re in no rush to go home.”
I made an effort not to look away.
“It’s not a mystery, you know,” he said. “Once you start paying attention, it all comes together.”
I shook out a cigarette. “You got my money?”
It was his turn to ignore me. “For example—all the fights. The legend of the ass-kicker. What better way to learn to kick ass than to have yours handed to you at home?”
I blew smoke in the car.
“And punching that teacher. That was for your little girlfriend, but she was trash. So what was that really about?”
I unlocked the door and held out my hand.
“Your sister. Janie, right?”
“Keep her name out of your mouth unless you want it wired shut.” Inside my head there was a buzz-saw whine and the calm that comes before I start throwing fists.