by Seven Steps
As in, did they get any of the money?
She shook her head. “No.”
“Alex!” Ms. Tuck called, opening her arms to me. I walked to her and we shared a hug. “They went through everything.” She sniffed, as if she’d been crying. “It’s almost like they were looking for something. Are you all right?”
I snuck a look back at my sister, then looked back at Tuck.
“I’m fine.”
“The important thing is that they didn't take anything. We haven’t lost here.”
“It’ll be okay,” I said. “We’ll get some more locks on the door and maybe get a pit bull or something.”
Ms. Tuck looked at the police surrounding our apartment, then back at me.
“I just don’t feel safe anymore. I’ve lived here for fifty years, and no one has ever broken in. Ever. This is a quiet neighborhood. I know these people. Heck, I’ve worked with some of these people. I know their kids. Their grandkids. Their great grandkids. Who would do something like this?”
I snuck another look at Lindsey.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But we’re going to be all right. I’ll go with Lindsey right now and get some locks. We’ll put them on right now.”
“No. Let me go with you. Heaven knows that I don’t want to be here by myself.”
One of the police pulled himself up next to us.
“Ma’am. Just a few more questions.”
Ms. Tuck nodded, and took my hand, dragging me with her to speak to the same cop. The same one that had just tried to keep Lindsey and me apart.
This was not how I envisioned my evening going. I was already behind on homework and I had a few flirty text messages from Cassia that I needed to answer. Plus, I wanted to check and see where Lindsey had stashed the money. Was it still in the building? Had she deposited it in the bank? How had they not found it?
And, more importantly, who were they in the first place.
After spending my Friday night changing locks, adopting a dog, and looking into home alarm systems, Saturday was a welcomed reprieve.
I spent the better part of the day with the guys from the F.E.W. I had to admit, they were some cool dudes. I thought that they would be all about business and investments and getting ahead but, as it turns out, they were into the same sort of things I was into, like video games, sports and girls. Grant didn’t say much to me the whole day, but everyone else rallied around me, welcoming me wholeheartedly into the fold.
Especially Andrew.
He had a horse farm upstate and was into archery, something I’d always wanted to try but never had the funds to. By the end of the day, I’d made plans to go up to Andrew’s place the following Saturday. I texted Cassia a few times, then spent Sunday with Ms. Tuck and Lindsey, watching television and playing board games in a rare family day. By rare, I meant one where Lindsey was actually around and involved.
On Monday morning, I found myself in front of Andrew’s locker, discussing Sunday’s baseball game. We were both big fans of the New York Blues baseball team.
We were knee deep into negotiating a trade on our fantasy baseball team -of which I’d just become a member- when Cassia came up to me. She wore no makeup today, but she was wearing a dress and heels again. Her blonde hair was up, and her green eyes were on me.
“I’ll catch up with you later, Drew,” I said. I shook his hand and moved around him to stand in front of Cassia.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey,” her smile was a little less certain than it had been before, and I wondered why. “So, I was thinking that maybe we can do something this weekend?”
That proved it. I was the king of bad timing.
“Sorry, I have plans with Andrew on Saturday. He’s taking me to his horse farm upstate and we have an archery lesson.”
“Archery?”
“Yeah. It should be pretty cool.”
She nodded slowly. “Okay. Well, have fun.”
She turned and walked away, keeping her books glued to her chest.
This was bad. Really bad. I’d finally gotten the go ahead with Cassia and now I had broken not one, but two perspective dates with her. I couldn’t let her slip away, especially not since I had done so much to try to get her.
“Uh, Cassia, I almost forgot.”
She didn’t stop walking. In fact, she walked faster.
“What?” She asked shortly.
“I had some dinner reservations tonight at Don Amici. I was hoping you’d come with me. There will be candles and a violin player and checkerboard table cloths.”
She stopped walking and turned to me, her eyes a little brighter.
“Don Amici?”
“Yeah. They have this great lasagna that I know you’ll love. That is, if you want to go.”
She bit her lower lip. I loved when she did that.
I pressed on, making promises I had no idea if I could keep or not. “I have an in with the owner. I can convince them to put The Princess Bride on the televisions by the bar. A little dinner and a movie action.”
Her face loosened a bit, but I could tell she was still pissed about my two missed dates.
“Please, Cass. I really want to spend time with you. But I want to impress your dad too and I can only do that if I spend time with the guys from the F.E.W. His opinion of me is important.” She raised an eyebrow and I quickly added. “Of course, your opinion of me matters more.”
She sighed.
“Please say yes, Cass. Please?”
There was a little wrinkle in her brows and I ached to kiss it away.
“Fine.”
I grinned and handed them her books. I gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
“If the lasagna sucks, I’m leaving,” she said.
“Noted.”
We walked into math class and stepped over the threshold together.
Cassia and I stepping over the threshold.
Yeah. I liked the sound of that.
15
Lindsey: I’m being followed.
Here we go again.
I thought Lindsey and I had gotten past this.
I texted her back, ignoring the good-natured nudges from my fellow F.E.W members during lunch.
Me: You’re not being followed.
Lindsey: What’s going on with you? I know what a tail looks like.
Me: You’re being paranoid.
Lindsey: You’re being naive.
I placed my phone face down on the table and listened to Barry Yasiv talk about wanting to hook up with Debra Winger, a girl from the math club.
“She’s so hot, dude. Like crazy, smart, sexy hot.”
If I were a girl, I’d consider Barry not so hot. He was on the shorter side, with pale skin, curly black hair and braces. But who was I to say that he wasn’t Debra’s type. After all, every pot has a lid, right?
“Dude, not hotter than Stela Nostrand,” Devin Calles said. “Gotta love a brunette.”
“You’re all wrong,” Andrew chimed in. “Jasmine Patel is way cuter than all of those girls.”
“Yeah right,” Grant said. “Isn’t she a little brown for your family?”
And cue the racist.
“Maybe,” Andrew said. “But she’s loaded. And lately, the only color my dad cares about is green. She’ll do.”
“What about you, Grant?” I asked. “Any chick-a-dees waiting in the wings for you?”
He shrugged. “Not so much.”
Andrew spoke up. “Cassia’s dad has been trying to hook up Grant and Cassia for forever. Good thing you came along, or else Grant would have actually had to go out with her.”
“Yeah, oink oink, right?” Grant joked.
My jaw tensed.
“Cool it, dude. Cassia is amazing, and for your information, I’m taking her out on a very important date tonight to make it official. So, just chill out with the jokes.”
Grant’s gaze slid to me, and he put up his hands. “Sorry bro. If you like that porker, then great. I’m just glad she’s done gawking
at me.”
Righteous rage took hold of me.
I lunged across the table, grabbed Grant’s tie, and yanked it hard until he winced.
His protest echoed through the lunchroom. “Hey, man!”
My voice dropped to a growl. “Cassia Johnstone is the most beautiful girl in this school. And if you call her anything else again, I will put you through this table. Do you understand?”
I felt Andrew grab my shoulders, pulling me back from Grant. “Come on, dude, back off.”
I released Grant’s tie and allowed Andrew to push me back into my seat. Adrenaline rode me hard.
Grant shook off the guys around him who asked if he was okay.
“I’m cool,” he barked at them, before glaring at me and storming off.
Andrew slid into the seat next to me.
“What was that for?” He asked. “You could have broken his neck.”
I was seething. “He shouldn’t have said those things about Cassia.”
“Look. Dude. I understand if you have a thing for this chick, or whatever, but Grant is our brother, and we don’t attack our brothers. If you’re going to be one of us, you have to go make peace with him.”
“I’m not making peace with him. He’s a racist and a douchebag.”
“Dude. Those are the rules. There is peace among the F.E.W, and you just broke it. If you don’t go make peace with Grant, you’re out.”
My back teeth clenched. Out of the F.E.W. How was that possible? I’d just gotten in.
I looked around at the guys I’d started to think of as my friends, then place my palms on the table. I didn’t want to apologize to Grant for what he’d said about Cassia, but I didn’t want to be kicked out of the group either.
I pushed off the table and stood up.
“Fine.”
“Good man,” Andrew said, patting me on the back.
I followed Grant out, not really in the mood to say anything to him. I found him pacing the hallway, hands on his hips, tie wrapped around one hand. I stood in the doorway for a minute, trying to figure out what I should say. For some reason, sorry just didn’t seem to cut it.
Especially since I didn’t really mean it.
“Hey,” I took a step forward. “Dude.”
“Its fine,” Grant said, still pacing. “We’re cool.”
“No, it’s not fine. I shouldn’t have attacked you.”
“And I shouldn’t have said that stuff about Cassia being fat. Consider us even.”
“Yeah?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yeah. A little embarrassed, but even.”
He held out his hand, and I shook it.
Maybe this F.E.W brotherhood was more than I thought it was after all. Maybe this was where I belonged.
“Let me take you out tonight, man,” Grant said. “We can go to a bar or something.”
“A bar? I’m only sixteen.”
He waved that away. “I can hook you up with some fake ID’s. Don’t worry about the cost. I’ll take care of everything. Just meet me in front of The Stamford Club at six.”
Six. Great. That would give me plenty of time to get to Cassia by seven.
“Sure. Six.”
“All right, man.” Grant clapped me on the back again. “We’re cool?” he asked.
“Yeah. We’re cool.”
I texted Cassia while waiting in the front of The Stamford Club for Grant.
Me: I can’t wait to see you tonight.
Cassia: Me too.
Her reply was short. Too short.
Was she losing interest in me already? Was she slipping away?
I would not let that happen. Tonight, Cassia was going to have the best date of her life. I’d make sure of it. Then, I’d ask her to be my girlfriend. Officially. If she said yes, then I would be the happiest man alive.
And if she said no… well, let’s just hope she said yes.
Grant showed up at The Stamford Club at five fifty, along with Andrew, and a few of the other guys, ready to, as they said, throw a few back.
We went inside, flashed the bartender our fake ID’s and grabbed a booth.
It was dim in here and smelled like liquor. Most of the lights came from the tricked out bar’s blue LED lights.
We put in our orders, showed the waitress our ID’s again, and ordered a round of beers.
“Guys, I can only stay until quarter to seven.”
Grant’s nose wrinkled. “Why?”
“Because I have a date. Remember? The one I mentioned at lunch?”
The oohhs and catcalls around the table made me squirm in my seat.
“I’m sure that Cassia can wait a few minutes while we drink to brotherhood,” Grant said.
“I don’t know,” I said. “It… it’s just kind of important. So, one drink and then I’m going to head out.”
“Stop worrying,” Grand said. “Do you think I would lure you here to sabotage your very important date with Cassia?” He laughed shortly. “Come on! Do you think I’d do that to our own brother?”
I shrugged. “I guess not.”
“Think of this as a pre-celebration. To the brotherhood!”
The rest of the guys smiled and drummed on the table.
“To brotherhood,” they called.
I guess this was a thing? In any case, I joined along with the drumming.
The first round of beers arrived, and we quickly downed them.
It’d been years since I’d had a beer, but it slid down my throat easily.
“One more round!” Barry called.
The guys cheered and started chanting again.
“One more round.”
And we did do a round.
And another.
I drank until I was no longer Alexander Wells. I was part of the F.E.W. Part of the future. One of the leaders of tomorrow.
I drank until I’d forgotten that there was anything outside of this table, and my brothers.
I drank until I remembered that there was someplace else that I should have been much too long ago.
And then, I drank a little more.
16
My head was spinning long before I took a cab and staggered up the steps. Everything seemed like it was double. Two sets of doors. Two sets of keys. Two Lindsey’s.
She was saying something to me that I couldn’t make out. Her face was flushed and she looked scared.
What was she talking about? Her words sounded garbled, like they were being spoken under water. In fact, everything looked like the inside of a fishbowl. I lost my footing in the kitchen and stumbled to my knees. Then, I was being dragged somewhere. I watched the ceiling move backwards, like I was on some weird conveyer belt. Then, there was pressure beneath my armpits, like I was being picked up.
Everything felt strange. Like it was happening to someone else and I was just standing over myself, watching like some creepy ghost.
I wished I could step outside of myself. I wish I could start my life over. I’d messed everything up. Cassia would never talk to me again after today. The thought broke my heart because I knew it was my fault. I had been handed a chance, and I had messed it up, all because I was trying to impress the F.E.W and her dad.
I should have focused on her.
I should have done so much better.
And now, she was probably out of my life for good, and I wanted to hide under a rock.
I needed another drink.
Cold and hard water sprayed against my skin like a fire hydrant, and I yelled out at the top of my lungs at the shock of it.
That woke me up.
Fighting against the sprays like a drunken boxer, I struggled to get out of what I now knew was the bathtub. I slipped, and nearly took down the shower curtain with me, before throwing myself out of the tub and onto the hard floor. Pain ran through my shoulder and I groaned.
Life sucks.
“What was that for?” I moaned.
“You are a drunk idiot,” Lindsey screamed.
“You’re right on both a
ccounts,” I slurred.
“This is bad. This is so bad. We are screwed!”
I chuckled. “We were born screwed, big sis. This is just life taking a second swing.”
She crouched down and took my face in her hands.
“I’m not kidding. We. Are. Screwed.”
I tried to sit up and immediately dropped back onto the floor with a thump. It wasn’t so bad though. The floor was cool, and comfortable. And sturdy too.
I curled up on the bathroom mat, feeling like I was on a boat in the middle of an ocean, floating away from everything wrong with my life.
Just me and Cassia. Away from it all.
I closed my eyes and quickly feel asleep.
Cold water splashed against my face, waking me up with a jolt.
“What? Who?”
“Time to get up, drunky!”
That voice.
It was Lindsey.
She’d dumped cold water on me. But why? Where was I? What was going on?
Bright lights assaulted my eyes, and I raised my hand to block out the glare.
I looked around, trying to understand my surroundings.
I was sitting in the middle of the bathroom floor.
I smelled like vomit and pee and beer.
Everything around me was wet.
The floor.
My clothes.
Even my brain felt soggy.
“Where is the money?” Lindsey demanded.
“Money?” Everything felt strange and confusing. Like I was standing in a heavy fog.
“Yes, stupid. The money you took. Where is it?”
“What?”
“I went to check the stash. There was over one hundred thousand dollars missing from one of the bags.” She snarled at me. “So that’s where all the fancy clothes came from, huh? You little thief.” She kicked me hard in the calf, and I cried out, grabbing my aching leg.
“I was going to give back the money, but I don’t have all of it. And now they have Tuck.”
“What? Who has Tuck?”
“Who do you think, idiot?”
The fog in my brain began to clear. The pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.