Page 100 of Bad Boy
“On it,” she replies, pulling on disposable gloves and filling some kind of giant syringe-looking thing with hydrogen peroxide. She ambles over to me with an apologetic look on her face.
“I’m really sorry, hun. There’s no way around it, and this is gonna hurt like a bitch.”
I laugh at her bluntness, but it quickly turns to a shout and a curse as she squirts hydrogen peroxide directly into my wound.
Hot stabbing knives. Red hot blades slicing me open. It feels like my skin is melting off as liquid fire is poured inside.
“Fuuuuck,” I groan. Black spots dance across my vision.
Linc is still awake, watching me with tears pooling in his eyes. I close my own tightly and face the ceiling. I can’t see him like that while this agony burns through me. It’s more than I can handle.
“I’m sorry, hun. It had to be done. I figured it’s best to just rip off the Band-Aid.” She soaks up the bloody mess with a white hand towel and presses a large gauze pad to the wound.
“Is that what they teach you in pre-med?Just rip off the Band-Aid?”
Jesus fucking Christ, that hurt.
Before Sasha can answer, Otto comes bursting back into the room. “Sterling’s five minutes out. He was in town doing some work at the VA hospital after football practice, and he’s got what we need. And Remi, I know you’re tired, so I told him what you’ve told me. But he’s going to need answers, too. The full story. Especially if we aren’t taking this to the police.”
* * *
“Remi? Lincoln?”
Coach Buzzkill is here. The quiet reprieve and short nap have ended. I peek one eye open and see Linc snoring softly, mouth wide open, glasses askew. My mouth quirks at his adorableness, even though my side is throbbing. I need a joint or a cigarette, but first, I need my fucking skin glued back together.
“Shh,” Sasha hushes him. “They’re resting, and Lincoln is out cold. Bless his heart. Let him sleep.”
They rustle around in the kitchen area, speaking quietly until Coach and Sasha come back, gently rousing me. Coach informs me of every step of the process as he holds the wound tightly with one hand and applies the glue with the other.
“All done,” he says, snapping the rubber gloves off. “No need to wear a dressing over it, either. I’ll check on it next week. Let me know if you see redness or swelling. But you’ll be okay.”
“I’ll get ya some cookies and juice since you did lose a bit of blood,” Sasha says, ruffling my hair like I’m five years old and just fell off my bike. I let her, appreciating everything she’s done for me tonight. Everything they’ve all done.
“Ok. I need answers. What’s going on, Remi? Talk to us so we can help you,” Coach says.
So I do. I tell them about the threatening texts that started shortly after we moved here. How they’ve been escalating. Even though I’m sure the De Lucas already know, I tell them about getting arrested for a violent offense in Detroit, which is why I can’t involve the police. They would assume the worst of me like everyone always does. All the hard work Mom did to keep that bullshit off my adult record would be for nothing. I’ll go to fucking jail.
And finally, I recap everything that went down tonight, minus fight night in the woods. That has nothing to do with Dad’s goons chasing us, and I’m not going to snitch on myself more than I already have.
Instead, I lie and say we were at a party, and that’s why we were in Asheville eating at Wildflower’s so late.
I don’t leave the homophobic slurs out of my story, either. Even though I hate the pity lurking in their eyes, I’ll take that over hate. All I see is acceptance and worry when I scan the three people in front of me. Another part of the wall crumbles, and I let a few more people in.
“We need to create a plan of attack,” Coach states, sounding matter-of-fact and pragmatic. Very militaristic, now that I can make the connection.
“Agreed. We need to find Logan before he finds us,” Otto says.
“Take out the leader, and the rest will fall away. They’ll have no motivation.” Coach is pacing, one hand on his chin like he’s deep in thought. “I’m just not sure how we find him.”
“For starters, I’m staying with Raina until this all blows over.” Otto turns his gaze on me. “I’m not leaving you, your mom, and Richard alone and vulnerable.”
“Understandable and admirable,” I murmur.
“Look. It’s really late. Lincoln is passed out, and Remi is nearly there. Let’s reconvene in the morning to figure out how to search for Logan. Our first line of defense is Otto staying at the Keller estate. Tonight, the boys are safe sleeping here. And that’s all we can do for right now,” Coach says, stepping in and ending this long night from hell.
Everyone agrees, slipping out of the break room to allow Linc and me to sleep undisturbed. They probably went into Otto’s office to discuss this fucked up situation even more. I know I have to tell Mom and Gramps that Dad is coming for me. Coming for the money. But not tonight.
I’m too tired to care as I let the peace of oblivion steal me away.
