Page 10 of Fall onto me

“Nah, not there. Where my parents left.” I don’t want to say too much, not knowing if my phone is being tapped. I need to get a new one, a burner, to communicate with him and Sky.

The other line grows quiet; he knows this isn’t good. Twenty minutes later, I pull up to the banyan. I normally don’t bring anyone here besides Sky, but it’s a safe spot to be around a cop and not have the Keeper’s men on my ass. I ditched my phone at my house, just in case.

Barnes is leaned against the hood of his car, shaking his head when we shake hands. “Why you coming here, man?” His tone is worried; he knows this is where my parents perished together.

I shrug. “Me and my girl come here. It’s kind of our spot.” Like usual, his expression tells all. No one understands why me and Sky come to such a sad place, and I don’t expect them to get it. It just is.

“What’s going on?” he asks.

“I …” I hesitate. Fuck, I hate this. I wanted to make something of myself, not hide in dark corners telling my childhood friend I’m involved with the most notorious crime lord in Miami. “I’m trapped in the harbor.”

The moment the words leave my lips, Barnes skin flushes red. “How?”

“Remember I told you about Skyler? Her father.”

“Yeah.” He nods. “I’m looking into it, but there’s never been any reports of abuse from the home, and you already know any illegal activities are done off the books.” My sole mission in life, is to take down Kent Johnson, Skyler’s dad. She doesn’t know that, of course, but it’s something I’ve been working on.

“Okay.” I nod. “And I told you about everything going on with the Keeper, the debt, that bitch Envy.”

He shakes his head. “What have you gotten into?”

“I didn’t pay the Keeper back,” I admit.

He looks to the ground, knowing he helped to build that stack of money up. Whenever the cops come to our races, he alerts me through a simple text, and we disperse before it gets too crowded. “You made the money,” he says quietly.

“And Envy took it.” I run my hands through my hair, feeling hopeless.

“Why didn’t you file a report? The banks have measures in place for theft.”

I shrug. “She had permission. I thought she was using it for appointments when she faked her pregnancy. We even went down to the department.”

“Fuck, man.” Barnes grovels, trying to piece a solution in his mind. But we both know the only way out of the harbor is in a body bag or behind a set of bars that he will lock. “What’s he making you do?”

“Fuck with some bikes before the race tomorrow.”

He pulls his lip between his teeth and nods. He’s the one who keeps his co-workers off our trail, but only to a certain extent. He knows who’s racing, kids like us.

“I’ll keep you as safe as I can, but Foster there are certain crimes you can’t come back from. This seems tame, it’s vandalism, but it’s better than something far worse.”

My exact thoughts. “I know, man, I know. I refuse to kill for him, he knows this.”

“Alright.” He opens his passenger door and pulls out a walkie talkie from the glove box. “This is a one-way speaker that I’m supposed to give to a partner whenever they assign me one. Only I have the other, and I’ll need it back if they pair me with another officer. If you need me, talk on this. Click this button and say F. I’ll always reply with B.”

“I’ll mostly just be letting you know where I am. In case …”

I don’t finish my sentence, but we both nod. He hesitates, opening his mouth and then closing it.

“What?” I ask.

“It’s just …” He exhales. “I know this isn’t your fault, man, but I can’t risk my job. I do too much good for our neighborhood, and if you get in too deep, I can’t help anymore.”

“I know that.” I don’t want to risk him getting in trouble, which is why I’ll only utilize this source for the bare minimum. The most meaningful thing Barnes has done is raise funds for Sophie’s school.

It’s the same place we went, but back then the school couldn’t afford the basic supplies needed for each new grade, but with his fundraisers, now my little sister and her classmates have access to a laptop in class instead of a broken and tattered textbook. “I won’t let it get that far,” I lie, knowing that my life isn’t truly mine anymore.

Not until I fall, or the Keeper does.

5

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