Page 77 of Risking it All

“This is messed up,” I mumbled.

“You can say that again,” Demarius said. “My mom and dad are on their way. They asked if you had anyone to call.” He peeked at me like he hated asking, but the question was fair.

“I’m okay.” I wasn’t. The walls were closing in and I couldn’t breathe. “Lyra wouldn’t be much help in a situation like this.” Odds were she’d make it worse, or she would be with her mystery boyfriend and wouldn’t answer her phone.

“You need an adult to help you through. Make sure all the right questions are asked.”

My neck tensed with anger, and I rolled it. Demarius was attempting to be helpful, but it was just plain pissing me off.

“What I’m saying,” he continued, “is that my parents offered to navigate this for you, and what I’m also saying is that you should let them help.”

“Fine.” If they wanted to help, let ’em. It wasn’t like I was being arrested this time.

“Probation?” Demarius asked with no judgement.

“Yeah.” I took a drink from the water bottle the police gave me. “I stole five dollars from a car parked in front of the entrance to a police substation.”

“Five dollars? In front of a police substation?”

“You can buy a lot with five dollars.”

“You’re shitting me.”

I wasn’t, and because I considered Demarius a friend, I told him the truth. “My dad is part of a gang, and he went to prison a few years back for dealing. I knew when Dad got out there’d be a lot of heat in my household again. I had a feeling that heat wouldmean pressure for me to join and to become a dealer myself. So I thought, what if I get caught stealing in such a stupid, dumbass situation that even the drug dealers wouldn’t want me working for them?”

“That’s brilliant.”

“It wasn’t. Caused more problems for me than I already had. The gang saw through me and my plotting ways, and now I have a gun to my head forcing me to deal. Without the money for finding Macie’s carjackers, I don’t know how to get my family out of this alive.”

Demarius studied me, then he said, “We’ll figure it out.”

Yeah, I wish we could.

Macie hopped off the back of the ambulance, said something to her mom, and then walked over to us. Demarius and I stood, and I gave Macie a once over, searching for any signs that the bastard hurt her, but I didn’t see anything other than that damned hollow look in her eyes—the one people got when trauma was too much to process. “You okay?”

She gave a shrug. “I think so. How are the two of you?”

“We’re good,” I answered, looking over Macie’s shoulder at the heated gaze her male entourage was giving me.

“Relic is fast,” Demarius said. “I almost didn’t catch him.”

Macie peeked at me. “Are you mad at me for telling?”

Mad? She saved my ass. While I was sure some good lawyer could have gotten me off, I didn’t even have a bad lawyer on retainer. “If I got involved, that could have been a shit show for me.” Because I didn’t want to discuss it anymore, I said, “What’s going on over there?”

“They’re taking Lev to the hospital and social services is involved now.”

“Are they going to send Lev home with his Mom?” Demarius asked.

“I’m only overhearing conversations,” she answered, “but it doesn’t sound like it.”

“Macie,” called the tattoo bouncer man. She looked at him, he gave her a chin lift, and then took off in a custom Mustang from the nineties.

“Who’s that?” And don’t say your dad.

“That’s Isaiah. Ariel’s dad and my dad’s best friend. He’s like an uncle to me.”

I could see him being Ariel’s dad.

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