Keeping Cole's Promise

by Cheryl Harper

  A hard basketball game should screw his head on properly. He waved at Sarah, who was on the phone when he passed her office, and slid into EW’s truck.

  “Everything work out in Austin?” EW asked as he pulled out on the highway.

  Cole had never mentioned his concerns about going back to the prison.

  That didn’t mean that EW couldn’t read between the lines.

  “Yeah, the women at the shelter are going to help spread the program to more prisons,” Cole said.

  EW pursed his lips. “’Bout the best outcome, then.” He offered his hand for...a fist bump? Cole was shaking his head as he answered with his own fist. He would not ask about this new development.

  “Things is working out,” EW murmured, “like I knew they would.”

  “Yeah.” Cole was fighting a smile, certain he’d turned a corner into some weird emotional amusement park, when EW pulled into the trailer park. There, Mike and Eric were hanging out under the basketball goal with the third kid, the owner of the beat-up car.

  “Feel like a game?” Cole asked with a glance at EW.

  EW raised his eyebrows. “Now, then, a young fella who wants to engage with at-risk youths... Wonders will never cease.”

  Cole grunted as he slammed the door. “Just back me up.”

  He didn’t slow down until he was standing under the goal, the basketball in his hand. “I was hoping I’d catch you.” He offered his hand to the third guy, a kid about the same age as Eric but with miles of hard living on his face. “Cole Ferguson. Want to play three-on-two? These two’ll vouch I can handle it.”

  The kid didn’t shake Cole’s hand. “Nah, I’m out.” He pointed at Eric and Mike and backed away toward his car. All of them watched him climb in and drive away.

  “Didn’t mean to send away your company. Nice kicks, though. Look expensive.” Cole pointed in the direction the car had disappeared as he dribbled the ball with one hand. Neither Eric nor Mike seemed that comfortable. “What’s his name? He go to Holly Heights?” Cole tossed the ball to EW, whose beautiful jump shot drained the net.

  “No. He visits his girlfriend.” Eric caught the bouncing ball and held it.

  “Ain’t in school,” Mike added.

  If Cole had to guess, Mike wished he could run away. Since he knew how to play rough, Mike’s concern wasn’t about the game.

  “Same rules?” Cole asked. When Eric and Mike nodded, Cole tossed the ball to EW and waded into battle. The game to ten was quick and dirty and exhausting, but so much fun that Cole was grinning even as he wiped blood off his lip. “You boys have been practicing.”

  Neither one of them said a thing, but the gasping for air Mike was doing satisfied Cole on a deep level. This time, EW managed to catch everyone off guard by stealing the ball and scoring the winning shot. EW caught the ball and dribbled it while he shook his head. “Not practicing quite enough.”

  Cole was happy to see both Eric and Mike were bent over, resting their hands on their knees as they panted. Just like he was.

  The sun set earlier this late in September, so the shadows were already growing when he straightened. “Good thing we didn’t bet anything this time.”

  Eric didn’t smile, but he nodded. Cole studied his face. It seemed like the kid wanted to say something, but he hesitated. Cole offered him his hand. “Better luck next time.”

  Eric shook it but didn’t meet his eyes. Cole turned to Mike. “Nice hook shot.”

  Mike quickly shook his hand and shuffled back, before he stopped. “Right. Uh, I’ll see you tomorrow, Eric.” He didn’t look at them as he walked away.

  Cole turned to EW, raising his eyebrows to ask if he knew what was going on.

  “Where does Mike live?” Cole asked as he watched the darker shadow retreating. “This trailer park?”

  “Yeah, in the back. Next to Red’s girl. That’s the guy who left. Red asks a lot of questions.” Eric scuffed a line in the dirt and shoved his hands in his pockets. Whatever he wasn’t saying weighed heavily. If Cole had to guess, Red was trouble.

  “Questions? About what?” Cole asked as he bounced the basketball.

  “School. The shelter. Things like that.” Eric scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Spends too much time with Mike.” Eric darted a glance his way before adding, “Guess I better get inside. I have homework.”

  Cole watched Eric until he climbed up on his porch, the thick greenery giving the whole place a nice appeal. An old Subaru was parked in front.

  “Think I ought to go ask Eric about the money?” The cops had interviewed all the volunteers but didn’t have much new information to go on. The few items that had been stolen had yet to turn up at the town’s single pawnshop. Neither cop was surprised. Only the dumbest criminals would try pawning stolen goods here in Holly Heights.

  “Cops already did.” EW bounced the ball slowly. “What would you have said? At that age?”

  Their eyes met in the growing darkness. He’d have lied to protect his gang. That was the code they’d all lived by. It had made them closer than family sometimes.

  Until Ricky Martinez had broken that code to save his own neck.

  “Know Mike’s last name?” Cole asked.

  EW pursed his lips. “Naw, but the police’ll be able to figure that out.”

  Cole braced his hands on his hips as he tried to figure out what he was going to do. Informing on anyone pretty much went against his better judgment and his promise to keep out of trouble. In jail, if he’d even considered going to the guards with something he’d seen or heard, he’d have ended up in the infirmary or worse.

  But he wasn’t in prison anymore.

  Was a suspicion that Eric and Mike had talked to Red about the money at the shelter even count as a tip? What if Mike had been involved? Or worse, Eric, the kid he’d been patting himself on the back for helping?

  What if he didn’t say a thing and the next thing Red talked Eric and Mike into trying was worse? Breaking and entering was bad enough, but there was no violence involved. Almost any other scheme would increase the danger to the kids’ lives and freedom.

  “Can I borrow your phone?” Cole asked as he started walking to EW’s place. If Hollister or Adams happened to be at work, he’d mention what he’d seen. If they weren’t, he’d sleep on it.

  Or he wouldn’t sleep so much as worry about it all night long, but he’d call again in the morning from the shelter. That was all he could do.

  Paws for Love mattered to him. Then he remembered Sarah’s certainty that human nature would make him worry about Eric and his future for the rest of his life.

  Because of one woman’s insistence and a basketball game, he and Eric were tangled together forever. If he’d refused her, this would be someone else’s problem.

  In this case, it would be Eric’s burden. Cole had lived in his shoes. He couldn’t turn his back if he had the power to help, not anymore.

  EW’s shuffle behind him was reassuring. He didn’t argue, so this was the right thing to do. Had to be.

  He wasn’t convinced even as he picked up EW’s cordless and dialed the number from the phone book. Then he remembered Eric’s face, the uncertainty and the inability to meet Cole’s stare head-on. Whatever the kid knew, he didn’t want to be the one to tell the police.

  So Cole would do it. He was an adult. He didn’t stand to lose much if he was wrong or if he was right. But Eric would be able to let go of some of that worry.

  That was enough to convince him.

  As soon as an officer answered, Cole said, “I’d like to talk to Officer Hollister. I might have some information on a robbery.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  REBECCA NERVOUSLY CHECKED to make sure her T-shirt was still neatly tucked into her khakis. If this wasn’t the quintessential teacher outfit, she didn’t k
now what could top it. Maybe if it had a Holly Heights mascot on the pocket instead of the Paws for Love logo.

  “What are you doing out here, Rebecca?” Arturo asked in his tried-and-true principal’s voice. “As I mentioned when I told you about this meeting, there’s no need for you to attend. We’re gathering information at this point. I’ll tell you how everything turns out in the morning.”

  When she reached down to grab the poster board sign she’d made, Rebecca did her best to calm her nerves. She’d never done anything like this. Protests, peaceful or otherwise, were nowhere near her comfort zone. But she wanted to be heard.

  “Sorry, Art. I’m not going to wait for you to decide what’s best for me and my program.” She held the sign up like a shield. “I’ll be out here. Handing out information on my new project. It’s called Mentor Me and it’s for kids of all ages. I’ll do it on my own time.” She held out a copy she’d managed to sweet-talk Will into letting her make on his office machine. “Here’s some info.”

  As she remembered Jen’s angry insistence on a real protest, Rebecca added, “There might also be chanting and marching. We’ll have to see.” Stephanie and Jen were prepared to come out swinging to make sure Rebecca got what she wanted. That precious loyalty could only be explained by the bonding that surviving high school together would bring.

  It had taken her most of the day to come up with something clever to yell, but she’d settled on “Volunteers, yes. Closed minds, no.”

  She should have asked Stephanie for help. Rhyming would be better, but it captured her feelings anyway. Since Jen, Stephanie, Sarah, Shelly and Les were all planning on joining her here, she’d exceeded her glitter quota on the signs. The chant might be lacking and the flyers she’d put together were rough, but the signs were on point.

  “You can’t do that here. This is school property,” Art pointed. “Go down to the street if you insist on this...exhibition.”

  Before Rebecca could decide whether she was going to cooperate, her backup rolled out of the Paws for Love van. Jen picked up a sign. “We like it here.” She linked her arm through Rebecca’s and the rest of them followed suit. Their chain was long enough to block two of the three sets of doors.

  “If you insist on being a nuisance, I will call the police.” Art leaned forward. “Please don’t make me call the police on you, Rebecca.”

  If she hadn’t already lived through the storm of public opinion, Rebecca would have folded immediately. “Listen, Art, do what you have to do, but this is too important to me to back down.”

  “You’re ruining any hope of letting this simmer down,” Art said, his lips grim.

  “Fine. Holly Heights needs to understand that this is wrong. These parents know me. I love this town and their kids. Either they trust me or they don’t.”

  Saying it out loud was enough to make Rebecca understand that was exactly what Cole had meant in the parking lot at the shelter. In or out, the choice to trust Cole was up to her.

  It was as easy as making up her mind to trust the good man she’d come to know.

  And now, as soon as she settled this thing with Holly Heights, convincing Cole to trust her was first on her agenda.

  Rebecca watched Eric, his sister and a few of the shelter volunteers walking through the parking lot. Were they here to listen to the school board meeting?

  “What about your job?” Art asked. “An arrest? How will that look?”

  She hadn’t quite reconciled herself to losing her job, but she wasn’t going to stop. “Go stare at my bulletin board of successes, Art. Then we can talk about my job.” It was a gamble, but she’d have to take it.

  When Eric stopped behind Art, the principal turned. “Go on in and have a seat.”

  Eric wiped a hand across his mouth. “Actually, we were wondering if you have any extra signs. I didn’t get that memo.” He shoved both hands in his pockets.

  “Take mine. I don’t do glitter,” Jen said as she offered it. “Go on down to the end.”

  Art was shaking his head as he stalked away.

  Rebecca turned to Sarah and Jen. “Kids? We don’t want kids involved.”

  “It’s their decision, Bex,” Sarah said. “This directly affects them. If they want to be heard, let them.” She patted Rebecca’s shoulder.

  Debbie Jordan held out her hand for the papers Rebecca was mangling. “Better give me those. I’ll hand them out.” She quickly scanned the flyer. “A mentoring program for kids of all ages. Free after-school programs. Spring break camps. Summer day camps.” She whistled. “You turned up the heat, didn’t you?” Debbie nodded. “Good for you.”

  Rebecca stared hard at the line of kids and grabbed Debbie’s wrist before she could pursue the group of parents crossing the parking lot. “Hey, this week I’m going to stop by the Shop-on-In. That okay?”

  “What did he do now?” Debbie drawled as she glared at her brother. “We were doing so well.”

  Rebecca waved her hand. “No, it’s not him. It’s you. If I’m going to do this—” she tapped the stack of flyers in Debbie’s hand “—and keep my day job, I’m going to need help. Are you interested? It’s only part-time, but we could work around your schedule at the Shop-on-In.”

  Debbie shook her head. “You are unbelievable. You don’t even know me.”

  “I know Eric. You’re good people.” Rebecca shrugged. “I need help making calls, lining up volunteers and businesses and speakers and who knows what else at this point. If I can find someone who understands the importance of what I’m doing, so much the better.”

  “We’ll talk,” Debbie muttered, and then caught the first group of parents before they could make it past the human chain.

  Rebecca quickly untangled her arm and ran down the line. They had effectively blocked off all the doors. “Listen, kids—” she held out both hands “—if Principal Sepulveda calls the police, you need to drop the signs and head inside. Do you hear me? I don’t want any of you having to answer questions or face any repercussions.”

  “We want to help,” Eric said after a long pause. “Me, for one, I can’t ever pay you back for all you’ve done. This is nothing.”

  Rebecca squeezed his shoulder and then did the same for every kid in the line. “Unless you agree to ditch me at the first sign of the cops, I’ll have to call the whole thing off.”

  More than one set of eyes rolled, but they all nodded. Satisfied that she’d done what she could to protect them without scrapping their right to speak, Rebecca trotted back to the end of the line, wrapped her arm through Jen’s and picked up her sign.

  “Volunteers, yes. Closed minds, no,” Rebecca said loudly. When she repeated it, Sarah and Jen picked it up. Eventually, the whole line was chanting. Parents were arriving and having to maneuver around the line to get inside the auditorium. Debbie made good use of the delays and managed to talk to every parent before they escaped inside.

  It was working. Rebecca realized that protests were more her thing than she’d imagined. She was almost having fun.

  Then EW’s truck rolled to a stop in front of the school auditorium and Cole slipped out of the passenger side. Panic tightened her muscles, made it hard to breathe. For his own good, he shouldn’t be here.

  And she wasn’t sure how she’d manage if his disapproval matched the same level it had the last time they’d met in Sarah’s office.

  His face was hard to read as he studied the line of protestors, but he eventually walked over to stand in front of her. “Have you lost your mind?” he asked in a low voice. “You’ll be arrested.”

  Disappointment made it hard to stand tall, but she had a plan for that eventuality. If it happened, she would be okay. “It’ll be fine. I have bail money.”

  He ran a hand down his face as if he was too fatigued to deal with her or the situation. Debbie shoved a flyer in his hand and then head
ed out to accost stragglers in the parking lot.

  “Are you here to speak at the meeting?” Rebecca asked, the chanting dying down as everyone turned to listen.

  “No, I’m here because someone told me that I wouldn’t want to miss this.” He stared at Sarah before shaking his head. “What I don’t understand is why she didn’t talk you out of it.”

  Rebecca stepped in front of Sarah. “Listen, a wise man once told me good people don’t walk away from things that matter, not without regretting it. I won’t regret this.”

  “If you lose your job? What then?” he asked as he wrapped his hands around her arms. “Don’t do that for me. I’ll find something else.”

  She snorted. “Right. I’m not doing it for you. This is for me. I want my program on my terms, and these people will give it to me or...”

  Cole raised an eyebrow.

  “Read the flyer. I’m expanding.” She tapped her chest, the freedom of having complete say over her own future bubbling up there. At every step, she’d worried about what would happen if she lost control of the program she loved, but now, with him in front of her and her friends behind her, this was so right.

  She was a different kind of Lincoln than the rest of her family. First, she was rich. And second, she’d built her own program from scratch. This new program would be what she wanted, anything she could dream up.

  Cole scanned the sheet of paper quickly then he laughed at the way Sarah sang, “I told you so. Don’t you underestimate any of us.”

  Rebecca stared at Sarah and then turned back to Cole. “Kids who don’t dream? They need me, Cole. That’s it. That’s the key. If I concentrate on what I really believe in, the possibilities are endless and exciting and worth fighting for. This school board meeting? Who cares? They can close the school program down or give me rules or decide to run it themselves. No matter what they come up with, I’m going bigger.”

  She squeezed his hands. “And no one can stop me.”