Page 84 of Knock Knock

Devon punched me. “Since you think we suck at meddling, we figured we’d flip the script. We’re here to get you something.” But before he could say more, Maddox wrapped his arm around Devon’s throat and squeezed hard.

“We’ll go look for it. Be back.” They dragged each other away, seeming to know where they were going.

Well, guess that left us free to do some shoppin’!

“Nate, I have six bucks in my pocket. Pick anything within bartering distance of six bucks.”

I grabbed his hand, felt the perfect energy from the twinkle lights, and walked with him through all the yards and tables.

The rent was higher here and the lots went for more, and they might have had a swimming pool and a tennis court, but we had a fucking community at our trailer park. This was Garron’s version of the ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ type thing, and no thanks. I’d take our outdoor shower and weedy lawn over the aesthetic of this place. But it still felt good to walk around, hand in hand, looking at shit we couldn’t afford, but dreaming about it anyway. We had a trailer to decorate and make our own, and surely, for six dollars, we’d be able to find something.

“Hey, I recognize that lava lamp.” I pointed to it on the table. “Shit. And the trailer.”

“And the Brittany,” Xavi whispered to me. “Hey, Brittany!”

“It’s Bethany,” she said, looking at our joined hands.

“Oh, yeah. We’re a lil bit gay now,” Xavi said, holding up our hands.

“A whole lot gay. Sorry. Maybe explains why we fucked shit up so bad that night,” I added.

“Thought your brother got hurt.” Bethany raised a brow before waving us off. “No matter. I met someone now.”

A guy who looked like a wrestler stepped up behind her. He had a baby face though, and awww. I wanted to squish his cheeks!

“How much for the lava lamp?” I asked. “And why the hell would you get rid of it?”

“Caused a bit of a smoke show that night you two… well, yeah. Four dollars?” Bethany asked.

Oh my fuck! I’d never had a lava lamp. My buddy used to have one when we were younger, and I swear I looked at that thing for hours while high one time.

“For my besby, anything.” Xavi handed over a fiver and told Bethany to keep the change for her troubles that night. Handing me my new lamp, Xavi’s teeth lit up green and blue from the string lights. “Happy new house!”

“Should I give it to Karen?” I asked, feeling kind of possessive of it. “She’d love a lava lamp for when she moves back to her mom’s house.”

“Look, I said we need to beresponsiblefor the kids, not giving gifts all the time. We’ll get her something else. We already got her the coolest shower.” Xavi wrapped his arms around my shoulders from behind. “Where do you think our dipshit brothers got off to?”

“And what the actual fuck would they be getting for us?”

As soon as I finished saying it, Devon skidded around a corner and Maddox punched someone right in the face. They came at us hard and fast. “Fucking run!” Devon screamed.

Oh, we ran. No idea why. Everyone was running.

“The fuck is going on?” Xavi asked as we booked it back to the truck, dust skipping up behind us. “Who are we running from?”

“Not from. To!” Maddox laughed. “There’s a race. Found out about it at Fight Night.”

“A race for what?” I opened the door and Xavi threw me and my lamp into the back seat of Maddox’s truck. “To where? The hell?”

“To your gift. Fucking step on it, Madd. I’m not losing this.” Devon punched him. “Hurry up!”

Maddox flew through Garron Terrace, his truck way more reliable than mine. He almost hit three chicks and a family of foster kids, but the race was on, and everyone got out of the way. A busted up Jeep tried to cut us off, and a monster truck almost did, but Maddox kept us in the lead.

“I feel so alive and I don’t even know what’s going on!” Xavi whooped. He stuck his head out the window and whooped louder. “I’m gay!” he screamed.

“Nobody cares!” someone screamed back.

“Fucking loser,” Devon scoffed.

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