Starting Point (15 page)

“He didn’t steal the money.”

“You don’t believe that, do you?” Kira asked. “Oh please, Matt—”

I cut him off, “He didn’t steal the money from a little old lady, Kira.” Sometimes I really hated knowing what I knew. Years in the Narcotics Division of the LAPD shed light on a very hard, cold reality.

I looked at Kira and sighed. “Kira, babe, Ruby’s a drug mule. He runs drugs for cash.”

Chapter Ten

Kira paled. “He’s what?”

“A drug mule,” I repeated quietly.

“How do you know?”

“The pieces fit,” I explained. “Those two skin-head guys that hang around, how he disappears some nights, the cash. It makes sense.”

Kira opened his mouth, then closed it. Twice. He shook his head. “Fifty bucks is hardly income for that kind of thing.” Then his eyes widened. “Is it? Is it really? He’s risking his life for fifty bucks?”

“Babe, fifty bucks to kids like Ruby may as well be a million dollars. And you know what he did with it?” I asked, still trying to keep my voice down. “He bought his kid sister a pair of shoes and some food.”

Kira turned his head sharply to the wall and took a deep breath. “We have to do something.”

“I am!” I said. “I’m trying to give him a fresh start. An education, a career. It’s all I can do.”

“Hey,” Ruby said, interrupting, and probably wondering if we were arguing, or why we were having a whispered conversation. “I’m ready.”

I gave him a smile. “Cool. Let’s do this. I’ll just grab your paperwork, and we’ll go.” I quickly grabbed his application and called out to Claude. “Come on, squirt. You can come too.”

She jumped up, quickly washed her hot chocolate cup out then dried it while I waited at the door for her. I liked how she still did her jobs, even in a hurry to leave. She put the mug in the cupboard then raced over. She threw the backpack over her shoulder and skipped over to where Kira was waiting with Ruby. “Is you driving us?” she asked, looking up at Kira.

He grinned at her. “I am.”

“You not workin’ today?” she asked.

“Afternoon shift.”

She seemed happy with that explanation and went off with him to the front door. Looking at Ruby, I gave him a pointed nod after Kira and Claude. We followed them out, and walking around the corner to where the car was parked, I wondered if McInnes and James saw us, if they saw us with Ruby and if there would be any ramifications if they did. I scanned the streets, as inconspicuous as I could, but there was no sign of them.

The car trip took all of ten minutes, but there wasn’t a word spoken the whole time. Kira was obviously troubled by my suspicion of how Ruby had come into some cash—the whole situation with these kids bothered him a great deal. With our joined therapy session with Tamara coming up, I knew it’d be something we’d discuss at length.

We arrived at the college and after checking at the administration office, we found Janelle. Kira and Claude waited outside, while Ruby and I went into her office. She looked busy, but was happy to see us.

“I really want to thank you for taking the time to meet with us,” I told her.

“No problem,” she replied quickly. Then she looked at Ruby and directed all questions to him. She basically asked him if he understood what the programme meant and, if he stuck it out, what it could offer him. “We know it’s not easy,” she went on to say. “There will be times when you will want to quit, when it’s too hard, but, Ruby, not many kids get this opportunity.”

“I know,” he answered quietly.

“Matt here has pushed pretty hard to get this for you,” she said.

Ruby shot me a quick look, but then his gaze fell to his hands. “Yeah.”

“Now all the academic stuff will be going through me, but all the physical stuff, the training and the MMA schedules, will be done through the Fight Club,” she said. “You’re not the only one from Matt’s club that’s doing this, but you are the youngest. Younger than what we’d normally allow, but Matt was persistent.”

Ruby looked at me again, and this time I gave him a smile, but spoke aloud for Janelle’s benefit, “He’s now got himself a locker and a few basics, and we’re gonna work on getting him some more gear. It’s more of a work-hard-get-rewards system.”

Janelle seemed impressed. “Sounds good. Ruby, I have put together a starter pack of work for you to go through. You’ll have a week to get it done, come back next week, hand it in and take the next week’s work with you.”

Ruby nodded, but looked a little overwhelmed. “‘Kay.”

“I think you’ll handle it just fine,” she said. “If it’s too hard, we’ll knock it back a gear, or if you find it too easy we can adjust. You’ve got Matt and the other guys who are learning as well, to help you. If you’re really struggling, you need to let us know and not just quit, okay?”

“I’m no quitter,” he said, quietly but defiantly.

I looked at Janelle. “No, he’s not.”

She smiled, more genuinely this time. “So, we’ll see you next week.”

Still looking at his hands, Ruby gave a nod.

“You will,” I spoke on his behalf.

Janelle handed Ruby his schoolwork in a simple plastic sleeve, and as we walked out of the office, Claude was full of questions. “Whatcha got, Rube? Is that homework? Have you got homework, Ruby? Can I help you with it? Can you show me? Maybe I can help you some.”

We started to walk back to our car, and I patted her head. “No you won’t, squirt. Rueben has to do his own work.”

“Are you really gonna make him do schoolwork, Matt?” she asked brightly.

It was hard not to smile at Claude. She was always full of energy. “I sure am. And if you’re not careful, I’ll find you some to do too.”

“Good luck with that,” she said.

I laughed, and even Kira smirked at that. As Claude and Ruby got into the car, I asked Kira quickly, “You okay?”

He nodded, but his smile didn’t quite look right. Again, it was a relatively quiet trip back to the club, aside from Claude looking through Ruby’s papers.

Kira was quiet until we got back to the gym. He held the front doors open and waited for the two kids to go inside. I saw him scout the street, presumably looking for the two men who had paid Ruby, but they weren’t there. I’d already looked.

“You gonna stay here a while?” Claude asked Kira, looking up to him as she walked beside him.

“Yeah,” he answered. “A little while.”

We walked into my office, and I clapped Ruby on the shoulder. “You can keep your folder in your locker,” I told him. “And you can sit in here, any time day or night, and get some work done, okay?”

Rueben nodded. “Thanks, Matt. For this”—he held up the folder—“and for the gloves.”

“You wanna go try ’em on? The gloves?” I asked. “I can run through some sets with you if Arizona’s busy right now.”

Ruby nodded and brightened. “Cool.”

“Wait,” Kira said, before Ruby got out of the door. “Rueben, wait.” Kira seemed a little stuck for words. “Tonight… I’m not sure what your plans are for tonight, but I’ll be picking Matt up just after nine… If you and Claudia want somewhere to stay…just for tonight, you can stay with us.”

Well, this was news to me. I withheld my surprise, so when Ruby’s gaze shot to mine, he’d think it was completely okay. But I’m not sure it was. I wanted these kids to be safe, and I wanted them to have a real chance at life. I just wasn’t sure that was at our house.

Ruby said nothing, but Claude asked, “Is that okay, Matt?”

“Sure it is, squirt,” I told her. “Just for tonight.”

“Will Kira cook again?” Claude asked, with a bright-eyed innocence. “Because he cooks real good.”

“Claude,” Ruby whispered, gently shushing her.

“Anyway,” I said, trying to act like it was no big deal, “you’ve got all day to think about it. I’ll be leaving for an hour or two after lunch, but I’ll be back for afternoon classes. If you’re here when we finish up, then I’ll spring for a burger and a bed. Your choice.”

Ruby pulled Claude by the arm, said another quiet thanks and walked out into the gym room. Kira, who was leaning against one of the tables, ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have asked you first.”

“You don’t need to ask me,” I told him. I stood in front of him and put my hand on his arm.

“We’ll need to find them something more permanent, Matt,” he said. “I know they can’t stay with us long-term, but even just a night or two is better than nothing. Until we find them somewhere they can stay.”

“Last time I mentioned some government-funded housing, they took off and I didn’t see them for two days.”

“I know,” he said with a resigned sigh. “We just have to do something.”

I leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. “You’re a good man.”

“I better get to work, or I’ll be a fired man,” he said, pushing off the table to stand close enough to me that I could feel the warmth of his body. “You’re doing a good job here, Matt,” he said softly. “You got a session with Tamara at one?”

“Yep.”

Kira nodded. “We can talk later tonight, okay? About today, about your session.”

I smiled at him, at his want to keep the communication between us on track. “Of course.”

He looked so…helpless.

“Kira, babe, we’ll sort something out. It might take a day or two. I’ll ask around, and see what I can suss out. There’ll be something that suits.”

He finally nodded and gave me a sad smile. “Okay.”

I spent the morning organizing some advertising and marketing of our community fundraising day. We had permission to close off the street, we had local businesses on board, we had some food stalls, kids’ games and activities, we even had some carnival rides lined up. And there were three other clubs willing to join us for an exhibition tournament. The weeks were closing in on us, but it was slowly coming together.

It took me about an hour going over details with Boss, trying to keep his stress levels down, reassuring him this could work. We’d have kids doing classes out on the street, showing techniques and skills, showing that we had purpose. I had talked to one of the merchandise reps, our biggest supplier of fighting gear, to sponsor some gear for the day. We scored some shirts for our kids to wear so we looked like a team and some to sell.

Our biggest ploy was for the community to see us as valuable. We needed to break down that drug-ring stigma that had plagued this place from when Tressler had run it. I wanted people, parents, teachers, local professionals to see us as an important step for these kids’ futures.

Well, that was my dream anyway.

I then spent a good hour on the treadmill and even managed a sparring session with Arizona. It was good for Ruby to see. He sat with Cody, and Cody vocalized our moves, telling him why we did what we did.

After we’d showered, Arizona sat in my office with me and we ate a late lunch. It was good to catch up with him outside of the ring. He told me all about Lashona’s pregnancy progress, just beaming from the inside as he described the latest scans.

I’d told him about Claude staying on our sofa the other night, and I told him of Kira’s offer earlier that day. He nodded thoughtfully. “It’s a tough one. It’s hard not to become attached…”

“But?” I prompted, knowing he was censoring his comments.

“Just be careful, that’s all. It’s never easy when there’s kids involved.”

I nodded. “Yeah. I know. On one hand, they’re resilient as hell, and on the other hand, they’re as fragile as glass.”

Arizona gave me a slow-spreading smile. “Sound like a dad already.”

I scoffed at that. “Not likely.”

“Got yourself a dog yet?”

“Nah, maybe this weekend, or the next.”

Arizona chuckled. “You watch. Dog’ll be first, then a kid. Just you watch.”

I shook my head. “Man, I don’t think I’m geared for kids.”

“Bullshit,” he replied. “I’ve seen you here with the kids that come in.”

“Yeah, so why would I want more when I’ve got about twenty to look after here?”

Arizona laughed this time, shaking his head like I was missing the obvious. Then Cody called out from the door, “Hey, Matt!”

“Yeah.”

“Cab’s out front.”

“Thanks,” I told him. I held my fist out to Arizona which he bumped with his own. “I’ll be back after two.”

“Have fun.”

I scoffed. I had a feeling this shrink appointment wouldn’t be fun at all.

* * * *

“What’s bothering you, Matt?” Tamara asked.

I sighed, and I let my head fall back. “Kids.”

“The kids at the club?” she clarified. “Claude?”

“And her brother, Rueben.” Then I added, “And how Kira struggles with it.”

“Struggles with what?” she asked.

“With how they live. I think Ruby has got himself in with the wrong crowd, and there’s a pretty good chance he’s doing drug drops for cash,” I said. “I’m really pushing for him to do this scholarship-type course, so he can get his high school diploma, and then maybe an MMA scholarship at college, but he’s so young…”

“How does that make you feel?”

Always with the feelings. Instead of rolling my eyes, I answered her question, “Frustrated. Sorry. Angry, that kids that young have to deal with stuff most adults couldn’t cope with. That they weren’t given a proper chance.”

Tamara was quiet for too long. Her usual way of prompting to fill the silence.

And stupidly, I did. “Kira asked them if they wanted to stay at our place tonight.”

She raised one eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“Of course I am,” I told her. “I don’t know, Tamara. I get the feeling you’re stuck on these kids. Every time I mention them, you get all passive-aggressive…”

“Passive aggressive?”

I sighed. “It’s like you’re judging me or something.”

Tamara was quiet again, though it seemed more thoughtful this time. “I’m not judging you, Matt. I’m trying to get you to question things you wouldn’t normally question. It’s my job to help you question decisions—past and future—analyse those decisions and set about the best course of action—”

I put my hand up, palm forward, to stop her. “I read the manual.”

Tamara smiled and exhaled slowly. I wondered just how much self-control it must have taken for her not to sigh. Or throw something at me.