Wild Aces (37 page)

“Yeah, yeah. College. Your goal. Right.”

“Maybe I could help you deal down at the boardwalk,” she said, then she looked over at Billy. “Or maybe I could help you hustle on the streets—”

“Not gonna happen, Kyle,” I said.

I grabbed the money off the floor and shoved it back into my pocket. I usually took around twenty from whatever I earned each night and used it to buy food and saved the rest. But tonight, I was going to spend all of it.

“Come on, guys,” I said.

“Where we going?” Billy asked. “I’ve been running all night and my feet hurt. You better not be taking us too far.”

“It’s not far.”

“Should I grab a sweater or something?”

A softness in Kyle’s voice made me stop in the doorway and turn around to face her. She only had a T-shirt on underneath her coat. I knew the shirt; I’d bought it for her. Her jacket really wasn’t thick enough to keep her warm, so I grabbed a sweatshirt from my closet and handed it to her. “This is warmer than the sweater you have at home.”

She put it on, then wrapped her jacket over it. Before she looked up, she lifted the collar of the sweatshirt and tucked half her face inside it. “It smells like you.”

“I wear it a lot. It’s my favorite one.”

“I know.”

“Are we gonna talk about your stank all night or are we gonna get going?”

I rolled my eyes at Billy. “Yeah. Come on.”

“Where are we going, Garin?” Kyle asked.

She walked just a little bit behind me, following me down the stairs and out the front door and Billy was behind her. His apartment was right next door and Kyle’s was three doors down. We passed both of their places on our way out of The Heart. That was what everyone called our neighborhood—four streets that made a giant square with over two hundred apartments inside. It sounded like a nice place, named after an organ that gave us all life. Funny thing was, The Heart sucked the fucking life right out of everyone who lived there.

That was why we had to get out.

“I’m taking you guys to the diner ’cause we could all use something to eat. Then we’re going to a place where we can have some fun.”

I needed to call Mario from the diner and see if it was okay to bring Billy and Kyle to his house tonight. He let me use his indoor pool and the arcade that was in his basement whenever I wanted, but I needed permission to bring them. And I also needed to have a talk with Billy. I’d never brought him to Mario’s because I was afraid he’d steal something. I needed Billy to promise that he wouldn’t. Billy wouldn’t break a promise—not to me.

“I’m down for some fun,” Billy said.

I waited for Kyle to agree. When she still didn’t say anything, I turned around and waited for her to catch up, “What about you?”

She was shivering, but her smile was so big. “Of course I’m up for it.”

“Good.” I had to get her out of this cold. “You sure you can’t run?” I asked Billy.

“Ahhh, fuck. I can always run if I have to.”

I grabbed Kyle’s hand and we took off.

“Then start running,” I yelled at him over my shoulder.

Kyle stopped shaking once we got to the diner and I could tell she was nice and full after her bacon cheeseburger. And I knew she had a hell of a time at Mario’s arcade because she didn’t stop grinning and laughing the whole night. Mario even let us make eggs for breakfast and gave us a ride to school.

Kyle fell asleep on my shoulder during the drive. I didn’t want to wake her when he pulled up to the front of the building. But I liked the way her eyes looked when she slowly opened them and how she used her small fingers to rub the corners.

Shit
.

There weren’t many days like that one—all of us together, sober, earning on the streets and celebrating with the profits. Those really were the days. Because the ones that followed, weren’t so great at all. They were tragic. They were devastating.

And they were really fucking dark…