Fake: Book One of the Crossroads Series

by Lori Saltis

  “I’m not a battered woman.” She slams her hands on the counter. I guess I hit a nerve. “Besides, those shelters are full to bursting and we’re not U.S. citizens. You think they’ll throw open the doors for us? I’ve had all I can take from you, Penny. Shut it.”

  I’m so tempted to walk out that door, but I can’t leave Kai behind. I cross my arms tight to hold back my anger.

  She turns to Kai. “Son, you can have the cabover. Penny and I will share the bedroom. Now, let’s get unpacked.”

  It takes about an hour to sort through and put away our clothes. It’s a typical caravan, meaning every available nook and cranny had some sort of drawer or cabinet. I bring in my sewing machine last, cradling it in my arms. When will I be able to sew again? I can’t afford to buy fabric or even thrift store rags. Maybe I can get a job and use what’s left after expenses.

  Kai climbs the ladder to the space above the cab, rolls in, and yanks the curtains shut. A moment later, he pops out. “Someone’s coming.”

  I go to the front of the cab and peer out the windshield. A huge black SUV with tinted windows bumps along the gravel road toward us.

  “That must be Kingfisher.” Bridie says this as if she’s expecting him.

  The last thing I want to do is go out and thank him. Bridie offers no choice. She opens the door and points out. My brother and I exchange wary glances before following our mother.

  Kingfisher stands with his legs spread wide. He nods at each of us, like a screw counting inmates. “How are we doing here? All settled in?”

  “We just arrived. I can’t thank you enough for all your help.” Bridie sounds breathless. Helpless. I want to scream.

  “Think nothing of it. Having your lovely presence here is thanks enough. Perhaps you can join me for a drink tonight.” The passenger door of the SUV opens. Kingfisher’s smile disappears and he hollers, “Not yet, boy.”

  I gasp as Lennon climbs out, wearing a military pea coat instead of the camouflage hoodie. How can it be him? But it has to be with those silly glasses. “What are you doing here?”

  He takes a step back and gapes at me.

  “My goodness. Is that Lennon?” asks Bridie.

  Kingfisher’s frown deepens. “You know this boy?”

  “I should say so. He’s our hero.”

  He glances at Lennon with skeptical eyes. “Hero?”

  “Some horrible boys at Penny’s high school…” Bridie pauses and coughs. “Excuse me. Some horrible boys were bullying Penny. Lennon caught them at it and gave them a thrashing.”

  Kingfisher’s stance widens. His voice lowers. “What do you mean, bullying?”

  “You know, teasing her because of her accent, calling her names because she’s foreign, that sort of thing.”

  “Told you not to put your kids in them Bleater schools. Waste of time.”

  Bridie turns to Lennon. “What are you doing here, darling?”

  Kingfisher answers. “Seems the boy got himself into some trouble and John Walks Long asked me to plant him.”

  We all stare at Lennon, who remains silent and wary.

  Bridie gives a dramatic gasp. “Is it those boys? Did they go to the police?” She’s got a plan. I look at Lennon, willing him to understand.

  He blinks. “Um, I’m not supposed to say.”

  “You don’t have to. I’m beyond grateful that you came to our Penny’s aid. We are beholden to you. The only way we can pay you back is to offer you shelter, here, with us.”

  I can almost forgive Bridie everything for that. Despite wanting to yelp for joy, I cast demure eyes at the ground.

  “I don’t know about that,” says Kingfisher slowly. “Ain’t proper, the girl’s boyfriend staying with you.”

  Bridie waves a hand. “Oh dear, no. He isn’t Penny’s boyfriend. We know him through John Walks Long. We are obliged to him for defending her, especially since he now has to hide. It’s a matter of honor. I’m sure you understand.”

  I bite my lip to keep from smiling. She can’t use Charm on a fellow Strowler, but the strict code of the Glory Road is almost as good a weapon. Kingfisher knows it, too. I can see it in his shark eyes as he concedes defeat. “Just for a few days, until the coast is clear.”

  “He can stay with us as long as he needs.” Bridie slides her arm across Lennon’s shoulders. “Come along, darling.”

  “Hey, what about that drink?” Kingfisher calls out.

  Bridie glances back without stopping. “Not tonight. I’ve got children to take care of. Tell Doreen I’ll be glad to have a drink with the two of you another time.”

  His eyes narrow into slits.

  We follow our mother and Lennon into the caravan. Bridie gives Kingfisher a cheery little wave before closing and locking the door. Kai clambers up the ladder to the cabover.

  I want to hug Lennon and dance for joy. This horrible day has finally gotten a little better. “You don’t know how happy I am to see you.” That shy smile comes to his face and he ducks his head. “What happened? Why are you in trouble? Is it the gardaí?”

  His brow crinkles. “The what?”

  “Gardaí. The police.”

  “Oh. No. Something else.”

  “He’s gone,” Kai called out.

  Bridie exhales. “Good.” She turned to Lennon. “I hope you don’t mind the couch.”

  “It’s great.” He pauses. “It’s way better than sleeping outside.”

  Her face scrunches with sympathy. “Why don’t you settle in, though you don’t have much, do you?”

  Lennon holds up his backpack. “Just some clothes and my notebook and, um, some chalk.”

  “Chalk?” I ask. What does he need chalk for?

  He shrugs.

  “I’m sorry I had to downplay your heroism in front of Kingfisher,” says Bridie. “If he knew what really happened, he’d send someone to do serious damage to those boys. Personally, I’d like to string them up by their manky bollucks.”

  Lennon’s eyes widen. I don’t think he needs a translation.

  “But they’re Bleaters and they’ll call the gardaí, who’ll come after the two of you.” Her arms open wide. Lennon’s face reddens with her embrace. “I can’t thank you enough.”

  He clears his throat and stammers that it was nothing.

  “Nothing? It was everything…” Her voice trails off as she reaches for her phone. It vibrates in her hand as she stares at the screen. She gnaws her lip and shoves it back in her pocket. Her voice comes out faint and distracted. “We’ve nothing to eat. I’m going to the grocery store. Settle in while I’m gone.” She grabs her purse and hurries out the door.

  “Mum?” I run after her.

  Bridie won’t look at me. She gets in the car and drives off without another word. The boys join me outside. Kai stares at the lingering dust.

  “It’s okay,” I say softly.

  “No, it’s not,” he snaps. He stomps back into the caravan and slams the door shut.

  “What happened?” Lennon asks cautiously.

  My sigh hurts my chest. “I guess Bridie got some sort of message, probably from either Bill or Kingfisher.”

  “You okay?”

  “No. Want to take a walk?”

  “Sure.”

  We stroll past the empty caravans and head into a small forest of leafy trees that surround the Nest. Birds hop and twitter among the branches. Dry twigs snap beneath our feet. It feels like another world. Lennon looks half-owl, half-boy with his solemn face, round glasses and shaggy, black-blond hair.

  “What’s with the chalk?” I ask.

  “I draw pictures, you know, chalk art, to get spange – spare change.”

  “That’s something we have in common, working for spare change.”

  One of his almost-smiles lifts his lips. “Yeah.”

  “I draw, too. Mostly ideas for clothes I want to sew.”

  “Like, a fashion designer?”

  “Yeah.” I swallow the ache in my throat.

  After passing through
the trees, we reach a rocky beach that overlooks the bay. An oily smell from the container yards wafts across the cove. We stop at the farthest point, just short of the waves lapping against the shore.

  “What’s with your mom and Kingfisher?”

  The sun glares off his glasses, hiding his eyes, making it easier to say what I’m feeling. “It’s weird. Bridie’s the kind of person who hates asking for help, but always manages to put herself in the position of being dependent. Kingfisher wants her. She thinks she can handle the situation; hold him off. She can’t. He’s going to force her…” I look away. The words choke out. “Force her to become his convenience.”

  Lennon doesn’t ask what that means, either. A few moments pass and I wonder if he’s having second thoughts about staying with us. Then he reaches out and gives my hand a quick squeeze. “That won’t happen, not while I’m around.” He pauses. “Thing is, I’m being chased. I don’t know how long I can stay. If they catch up with me, I’m going to have to run.”

  “Who are they?” I ask without thinking.

  He surprises me by answering without hesitation. “My parents were murdered. The people who killed them are after me.”

  I’m not surprised. There are lots of orphans on the Crossroads. Still, my heart aches for him. No wonder he’s always on edge. “Do they want to kill you, too?”

  “No. My parent were…” His brow wrinkles, like he’s searching for the right word. “Wealthy. The killers are my relatives. They want to get custody of me so they can control my parents’ money.”

  That’s different. Most people on the Crossroads die in some kind of fight or working a dangerous sham. He can’t be with the Two Dragon Clan. He would have turned to them for help, not the Beggar Clan. There are plenty of Crossroads tribes out there. He must belong to one of the smaller, less powerful ones. I wish he’d say more. Maybe he’ll open up if I share, too.

  “I know how you feel.” I breathe through a tight chest. “My father and Kai’s father, they were murdered, too. That’s how we wound up here.” I pick up a rock and skim it across the water. It skips three times before sinking.

  Lennon picks up a rock. “I’m sorry about your dads.”

  “I’m sorry about your parents.”

  “I can’t talk about them.” He flings the rock across the water.

  “I know.” I sit cross-legged on the warm sand and toss another stone. This one sinks without skipping. He hunkers down beside me. “Can you take off those glasses so I can talk to you?”

  His shoulders hunch. Then he slides the glasses into his pocket. “You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.”

  “No. I mean, I want to. It’s hard to know where to begin.” I stare at a rock formation out in the bay, craggy and eroded, too small for an island. How long before the wind and water wear it away? “My parents, Gerry and Bridie, they didn’t like the conventional Strowler life. They left Ireland and moved to London to walk the Wayward Way. During the day, Gerry worked shams and Bridie told fortunes. At night, they’d either busk on the streets or perform in pubs. By the time they ran into Matthew, they’d already had me. And Gerry had confessed to Bridie that he was gay. Bridie and Matthew fell in love, so she divorced Gerry and married him, but Gerry continued living with them, all of us in the same caravan. It caused a big scandal for the Glory Road people, but no one on the Wayward Way cared.”

  I hug my knees. “Gerry and Matthew didn’t just sham Bleaters. They also did side jobs for Sharpers, Crossroads people, usually those on the Glory Road who don’t want to get their hands dirty. One day, they were offered a lot of money to retrieve stolen property. I don’t know what and Bridie claims she doesn’t know, either. Something went wrong, and they were shot and killed. Since it was on the Crossroads, it was kept quiet, no police involved, and since Gerry and Matthew were outcasts, their clans didn’t seek revenge.”

  I pick up another rock, slick and fuzzy with oil and moss. I drop it and rub my fingers on the sand. “That day, when they died, I felt like I’d lost everything. Then, when we left Ireland, I lost my identity. I didn’t think I had anything more to lose, but I was wrong. Now, we’re homeless.”

  Lennon listens with his head cocked and his brown eyes warm with concern. “Can your mom get a job?”

  “She doesn’t have a green card.” I grab a fistful of sand. “Which is weird. She should have one by now. I’m pretty sure Bill’s hiding it from her.”

  “What a tool.”

  “Yeah.” I release the sand slowly so it makes a little pile.

  Lennon picks up the mossy rock. This time his throw is half-hearted, barely making it into the water. “I know how you feel. I’ve lost everything. Everything. There’s nothing left.”

  I reach over and squeeze his hand. He squeezes back. Neither of us let go.

  Footsteps crunch behind us. Our hands drop away. I swivel around and see Kai ambling toward us. Lennon slides his glasses on as if by habit.

  “Is Bridie back?” I ask.

  “Nope.” Kai plops down on the sand beside me and takes out his phone. “I’m gonna call my grandparents anyway. It doesn’t hurt to ask.”

  That’s where he’s wrong. It can hurt a lot to ask for help from people you love, who you think love you back, only to be told to bugger off. I hope he’s not about to learn this the hard way.

  After a few moments, he takes the phone from his ear and scowls at it.

  “What’s wrong? They didn’t answer? It’s kind of late there, you know.”

  “No. The call’s not going through.”

  “We’re probably in a dead zone,” says Lennon. “Let’s go back to the camp.”

  When we reach the row of empty caravans, Kai tries again. “It’s totally dead.”

  “Can you get online?” I ask.

  “Nope.” He taps the screen a few times. “I can still play Tetris.”

  “Good to know.” Did Kingfisher put us in a part of the Nest that has no Internet or phone access? I shiver. In the distance, Bridie’s car comes rolling down the gravel road. “Let’s help Mum with the groceries. Then we’ll try another part of the Nest.”

  Bridie climbs out of the car and leans against the door as we gather around her. “I’ve got some bad news and some good news.” She takes a deep breath, not looking any of us in the eye. “Good news first. While I was at the grocery, I met a lady named Lily Lark, whose family has been nested here for a while. She works as a maid, cleaning apartments around the city and she needs a new partner. We’re paid in cash and there’s no paperwork involved. It’s not exactly legal, so the wages are low, but it’s money coming in.” She manages a smile that quickly fades.

  I lick my dry lips. “The bad news?”

  “Just before I left, I got a very nasty text message from Bill. He said he’s cutting off my credit card and our phones. He works fast. When I tried to pay for the groceries, my card wasn’t accepted. Luckily, I had enough money in my bank account to cover everything. As for the phone…” Bridie reaches into her purse. I exchange looks with Kai and Lennon as she stares at her screen. “All right, then, no phones. Let’s concentrate on keeping a roof over our heads and food on the table.” Still not looking at any of us, she walks around the car and pops the boot. “Let’s get these groceries unloaded.”

  I force my feet to move. My arms tremble as I grab a bag, though I barely notice its weight. No way to ask anyone to help us. We’re exactly where Kingfisher wants us: trapped.

  Chapter 24

  Lennon

  Two weeks have passed and still no sign of Tony. I know he hasn’t given up, that he must be searching every square inch of the city and beyond. Does he even know about this place, or about Strowlers?

  I’ve learned a lot about them. They’re migratory, which makes a big difference in the hierarchy of the Crossroads. Only the Mother Bird and her husband, the Upright Man, stay in one place, running the Nest. They don’t take part in local politics and pay minimal tribute to the Two Dragon Clan or whatever tribe rules
their district.

  Which leads me back to Tony. Eventually, he’s going to find out about this place. I don’t know what the deal is between John Walks Long and Kingfisher, but I know Kingfisher would sell me out in a hot second if given half a chance. I wish I had enough money so the Sparrows could buy this trailer. Then they could hit the road and me along with them.

  I wonder if that’s what happened with Matthew. He got sick of all the Two Dragon Clan politics and rules, dropped out, wound up in a trailer with a Gypsy family and thought, hell, why not? I can see the allure. I mean, aside from the fact that Bridie is really pretty. Well, that probably had a lot to do with it, too.

  “Lennon.” Penny’s whisper comes from outside the curtains. “Are you awake?”

  “Yeah.” I sit up on my forearms. I only spent a couple of nights on the kitchen bench. Then Kai offered to let me share the cabover with him, which is way more comfortable. The curtains part and my heart does a one-two punch at the sight of Penny’s crinkle-nosed smile. I don’t want to be Paul Lau. I want to be Lennon, a lost boy who ran away with the Gypsies.

  “Bridie’s home from work. You want to come down?”

  “Sure.” I roll across the mattress and settle on the edge of the cab, my legs dangling over the side. Kai sits at the table, playing a game on his phone.

  The front door opens and Bridie enters wearing jeans and a Maid Brigade T-shirt. “Hello, darlings.” She rustles a bag. “I got some lovely biscuits for tea.”

  Penny groans. “Mum, you’ve got to stop spending money on things like biscuits. We’re skint.”

  “Stop being such a killjoy.” Bridie collapses onto the bench that used to be my bed. “Be a dear and make us a cuppa. I’m knackered.”

  Penny goes to the sink and fills the kettle with water. She looks up at me. “How was your nap?”

  I shrug, since staring at the ceiling while my mind churns doesn’t constitute a nap.

  She drops a PG Tips bag into a teapot before turning to her mother. “Lennon and I cleaned the Tern caravan today.”

  A tired smile lifts Bridie’s lips. “Thank you, darlings.”