Page 67 of Diamond in the Rough

Maddox tilted his head and looked at Gavin. “When you saw that fire on the screen, you said you’ve seen bigger…”

“Ye-Yeah.”

“What did you mean?”

Gavin glanced at Ernie, and he nodded in encouragement.

“I’ve seen bigger, because I’ve made bigger.”

“Kid’s an arsonist.” Ernie said.

Maddox smiled. “No shit.”

“There’s another disturbing smile. I actually think I prefer your grumpy face.”

Ernie sneered at Keiron. “Shut up, can’t you see the man’s thinking? What is it?”

Maddox licked his lips. “It’s mad…”

“Very fitting for you, then,” Ernie mumbled. “Are you gonna share it with the group?”

Maddox looked at each of them in turn. They weren’t smartly dressed with expensive clothes and shoes, with their hair slicked back and a heartless scowl on their faces. They leaned closer to Maddox, all wide-eyed and intrigued. Gavin wore a T-shirt with a cartoon character, Keiron and Frank’s arms were wound tightly around each other, and Ernie looked hours from death. They were far from perfect, but he didn’t need perfect.

Maddox smirked. “We’re gonna fight fire with fire.”

Chapter 12

“When am I gonna feel normal again?” Jake asked.

Sam loomed over the bed. “You mean, when are you gonna feel like you haven’t been hit by a car.”

“Yeah, that.”

“You do know how lucky you are, right?”

Jake flexed his fingers, barely tight enough to grip the sheet laid over him. His whole body felt weak, and his arms felt too heavy to move. His gown was wet from him spilling his drink of water, and any attempt to climb out of bed made his head spin.

“I’m not feeling very lucky.”

“Well, the doctors fixed your shoulder and strapped up your ribs.”

Jake shook his head, the pillow rustled too loudly, and he winced.

“It’s the head wound that’s the worst,” Sam finished.

“I’ve been in here too long.”

“You’ve only been here ten days, ten days since you behaved like an idiot.”

The curtain was tugged open, and Doctor Zoe stepped into the cubicle. Her dark hair was tied back, and every time she looked at him, he saw the pity in her eyes.

“How are you feeling?”

“I want to go home.”

“Back to that flat? I don’t think so,” Sam said.

Jake shot a pleading look at Zoe. “Please.”

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