Page 3 of Broken Promises

She sat up, eyeing me with amusement. “If you ever want to watch people beat on each other or have a fight yourself, come to the Shed on fight nights. You can win good money sometimes too, and if anyone pulled a weapon, they’d be dealt with.”

“I try to avoid crew activities. I know how easy it is to get wrapped up in them,” I sighed, and she shrugged.

“I won’t force you, but you’re welcome whenever there’s fights.”

She got to her feet and stretched, and I did the same as I flicked the cigarette butt onto the roof to squash with my shoe, knowing she wanted to leave.

We didn’t talk as we walked back through the school and headed towards her car, where two kids in hoodies were looking it over. One of them reached out to try the handle, and Beckett shot at the ground by their feet, scaring the shit out of them.

“No touchy,” she scolded as she approached, shoving the hood off one of them and giving the boy a once over. “How old are you? Twelve? Go home.”

I recognized him as Gregory Butler, who lived on my street, and the little shit relaxed when he noticed me.

“Raven?” he asked, his friend calming a little too.

“Greg. Probably don’t try to jack cars without knowing the owner. Especially nice ones,” I warned, his friend going rigid as he pulled his hood off and recognized Beckett.

“Dude—”

“Will their parents notice them missing if I take them for a ride in the trunk?” Beckett asked in a bored tone, sizing them up. I chuckled, moving around to the passenger side.

“Yeah, probably. Then again, Greg has a lot of siblings. Maybe his ma wouldn’t notice one missing.”

I was joking, obviously, but the poor kid didn’t know that.

“I won’t touch it again!” he panicked. “Sorry! Mom forgot to pay the rent last month and now she’s behind, so I just wanted to try and make some money for food. I gave my sisters my lunch the last two days because we don’t have enough.”

My heart hurt for him, it was like looking at a little Reid all over again. I was surprised when Beckett opened her wallet and pulled out some bills.

“How many siblings do you have?” she asked, and he eyed her with suspicion.

“I have four brothers and four sisters. My two older brothers are in juvie, and my older sister isn’t home unless she’s coming down from something. My sister’s baby lives with us too, and my brother’s kid.”

The boy’s eyes widened as Beckett held out the money, her voice firm. “This is for food and things like diapers. Don’t use it on anything else.” Then she turned to the other kid, giving hima look. “Why are you out trying to steal cars? Just helping your friend?”

“My sister’s sick and needs medicine. Dad won’t buy it,” he mumbled awkwardly, flicking his eyes to me. “He’s too busy drinking at Raven’s house to come home and look after her.”

“What do you mean she’s sick?” I asked, his voice cracking as he replied.

“She’s really hot and keeps crying.”

“How old is she? Where is she right now?”

The kid winced, guilt on his face. “She’s almost one. She’s at home, I had to leave her there so I could try to make some money to help her.”

The look Beckett gave me told me we weren’t going to bed any time soon.

“I’ll head back to Ashburn for some medicine. Are you okay staying with the boys? Text me the address?”

I nodded, stepping back from the car. “I can do that. I’ll walk the boys home. They won’t get in your car, I know that much.”

Gregory took a step back too, proving my point. Kids around here knew better than to get into cars. It was how people went missing.

Once Beckett left, Gregory’s friend frowned at me. “Why are you helping?”

“I’m not really doing much, it’s all Beckett.”

Gregory stared at the money in his hands, hesitating before handing some over to his friend and breaking my heart again.

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