When You Look Like Us
Page 23
“I heard scuffling,” Nic continues. “I’m sure Kenny took a swing at the guy who said it. I mean, who wouldn’t? But then the scuffling got louder and louder. I ran to the door, peeked inside. . . .” Nic closes her eyes and the tears begin to pour. “They were all on top of him, Jay. And it happened so quickly. By the time I got there—” She lets out a sob. I reach to rub her arm again, but she shakes her head. Lets me know she needs to keep going. “When they got off him, he wasn’t moving, Jay. And I just knew . . . I knew immediately. He was gone.” She wipes the tears from her face and her lips purse in anger. “They caught me staring so I ran. Couldn’t leave out because too many people were in the living room. They would’ve ratted on me. So, I ran up the stairs. Hid in one of the bedroom closets. Then I tried calling you.” She peeks up at me.
I chew on the inside of my cheek. Crack my knuckles over and over until they burn. But I want to feel pain right now. I deserve it.
“I couldn’t talk too loud because I didn’t want them to hear me,” she continues—and keeps pouring salt into my open wounds. “After you hung up, I tried calling you again. You didn’t pick up and then . . . they found me. One of them took my phone. Texted something to you to throw you off.”
I stumble back, fall against a wall behind me. I’m such an idiot. I’m such a fickin’ idiot. If only I’d paid attention, if only I’d been a good brother—Nic would’ve been home all this time and Kenny’s parents would have answers. Not to mention those racist pricks upstairs would’ve paid for what they did to him.
“I’m sorry, Nic.” My throat clenches as the words come out, but I keep going. I have to. I’ll keep apologizing to Nic until the day that I die. “I’m so sorry. If I wasn’t being stubborn. If I didn’t think you were—”
“High on bliss?” Nic asks, then sighs. “Let’s not do this right now—play the whole blame game. That’s not important. Besides . . .” She gives me a weak shrug. “One of them has a conscience. Tyler, I think. He makes sure I eat. Brings down food. Even gave me some soap and deodorant.”
I scoff. “A conscience? If that mofo had a conscience he’d let you go free a long time ago.”
“Well, maybe not a conscience, but he’s definitely cracking or something. I don’t know. If the others weren’t here, I think he would have let me go.”
I pause as the words sink in. If the others weren’t here. But they were. A whole group of them, spiraling enough to keep her cooped in here for weeks while having parties over her head. Hell, they were disturbed enough to beat Kenny to death and then dump his body at a park. These frat guys were long gone in the head—so what the hell did that mean for me and Nic now?
The door swings open and the music gobbles the basement. It dissipates as the door slams closed and footsteps come barreling down the stairs. Liam leads the charge with his two lackeys from Taco Bell behind him—one of them the same guy he roughed up in the hallway. I pull Nic behind me, puff out my chest. These dudes killed Kenny with their own hands. I know they could do the same to me. But, like Kenny, I wasn’t going down without a fight.
Liam looks me over, his eyes racing like they’re trying to keep up with the deranged thoughts racing through his head. He chucks a roll of masking tape at my feet.
“Tie each other up,” he says.
Nicole sucks in a breath behind me. I resist the urge to do the same and puff my chest out even more.
“No,” I say.
Liam rolls his eyes, not buying my tough guy act. “Tie each other up, or we’ll do it for you.”
“Liam,” the guy from the hallway scuffle says. “Maybe we should just let them hitch it. If this guy came looking for her, who’s to say nobody else will? Everyone’s gone now. They didn’t see us bring him down here. And I doubt Nicole would say—”
“Shut the fuck up, Tyler!” Liam barks. “Just because you gave this chick a goddamn ham sandwich doesn’t make her your best friend! I don’t trust her . . . and I don’t trust this idiot with her.” He glares back over at me. “Tie each other up. I won’t tell you again.”
My heart pounds so fast that I think it’s ready to box all three of these guys in front of me. Still, I can’t give in. If I struggle long enough, loud enough, one of their brothers upstairs is bound to hear us. Maybe a sane one that could call for help. I ball my fists. “And I won’t tell you again,” I say. “No.” I spit at his feet to punctuate my refusal.
Liam’s eyebrows lift at me. I can’t tell if he’s impressed or surprised. Maybe both. We have a stare off. Finally, he hitches his head and the nameless lackey rushes to my side. Before I can even throw my hands up, he swings out a right hook and his fist collides against the knot on the back of my head. The last thing I hear before greeting darkness again is Nic shouting my name.
I’m jostled awake by a bump underneath me. My eyelids snap open and one of Nic’s braids pokes me in the eyeball. I try to push away from her, but everything’s too cramped. Too tight. I try to use my hands to sit up but they’re bound together in front of me.
“You awake?” Nic asks. She lies on her side with her back turned to me.
I don’t answer. I’m still trying to figure out where the hell I am. I shift my head and I stare up at a metal covering. More bumps underneath me and I realize we’re moving. I can barely stretch out my feet and the scents of gas and rubber tires trickle into my nose. We’re in a car. Worse, we’re in the trunk of a car. Holy shit.
“Holy shit,” I say aloud. I swing my legs over Nic’s and start kicking at the fabric lining. I’ve seen that in the movies. Kick hard enough and the backseat would push forward, provide a small space for us to slip though.
“I’ve tried that already,” Nic says. “This car’s too old. Plus, I think someone’s back there, keeping it in place.”
Too old? Of course this douche didn’t want us dirtying up his fancy Escalade. I kick one more time to be sure then wiggle around again. “What about a latch?” I say. There has to be a latch. Something to yank on and pop the trunk.
“I told you. The car’s too old. It doesn’t even have that feature.” She sighs. “We’re going to have to wait until they pop the trunk themselves.”
Yeah, but what do they plan on doing when they open the trunk themselves? “How long have we been driving?” I ask her.
“Not sure. A couple of minutes. Maybe ten?”
Ten minutes. I try to think of everything around the JRU campus. The shipyard was just a few minutes out. The hospital was down the street, but I highly doubt they were being Good Samaritans. Huntington Beach was close by. Shit—were they planning on dumping us in the ocean?
My nerves go into overdrive as I feel the car stop, park. “Nic,” I say, breathless. “Nic, I’m going to get us out of here. I promise.”
I hear Nic sniffle as the trunk pops open. Liam’s hands come flying down at me as he yanks me out of the trunk, throws me on the ground. Tyler grabs hold of Nic, but his approach with her is gentler. My eyes scan around the area. A bike trail in the distance, skirting along rows of trees. A field perfect for throwing frisbees—or peewee football practice. They brought us to Deer Park. The same spot where Javon and I found Nic’s phone. The same spot where they buried Kenny.
I swallow, try to push my heart back down. “What are you going to do with us?” I demand.
“Get up and start walking,” Liam says.
I climb to my feet. “Why don’t we just solve this man to man?” I try. “You take me down, all good and well. I take you down? You have to let me and my sister go.”
“Jay. No,” Nic pleads.
Liam and the nameless lackey chuckle. Tyler just keeps ahold of Nic’s arm, looks down at the ground.
“Seems like your sister knows what’s best for you, homeboy,” Liam says. He spits out that last word like tobacco. Like it wasn’t even a good enough term to use for the likes of me. My blood is on fire. “Now turn around and walk. Don’t even think about running.” He yanks Nic away from Tyler and pushes her toward me.
I use my bound hands to make sure she’s steady, then reluctantly begin walking deeper into the park. Nic right next to me. My eyes dart everywhere, searching for my next move. I knew this park so well when I was a kid. There has to be some place where Nic and I can shake these guys. Some path that we scurry down, hide out until morning when visitors might arrive. Maybe we could even sneak out to the convenience store about two miles away and get hold of a phone.
“Stop right here,” Liam orders, interrupting my escape planning. “And drop to your knees.”
Nic and I freeze in our tracks. I spot a trail that leads right into the trees maybe a few feet in front of us, but Liam steps forward and eclipses my view.
“Drop to your knees. Now!”
Nic whimpers and falls to her knees. But my knees won’t buckle. I already let Nic down before. I can’t do it again.
“I said, drop to—”
I launch forward, slam my entire body into Liam’s. A grunt oozes out of his mouth as he tumbles to the ground. I collapse right on top of him.
“Nic, run!” I cry out just as Liam pushes me off him. I’m on my back and he crawls over to me, lifts his fist to show me what’s what. I take my bound hands and deck him on the side of his head. Scurry away from him enough to climb back on my feet. Nic and Tyler watch me in horror, their eyes as round as clocks.
“Run, Nic!” I demand again.
Nic snaps out of it before Tyler does. She darts toward the trail I scoped out earlier. Just as I take off after her, I’m tackled from behind. The air puffs out of me as my chin smacks against the ground. Again. At this point, that scar will never go away. I’m flipped over and Nameless Lackey’s over me, punches me right in the mouth before I can dodge it. My tooth pokes into my upper lip but I can’t scream. I have to survive.
I hitch my knee up and collide it right in between this asshole’s legs. He cries out, grabs his crotch. Frees his face. I smack my forehead against his to get him off me. Damn if I don’t see stars, but it works. It fickin’ works.
I scramble onto one foot just as Liam cuts through the night and sends his shoe right to my face. I fall back again. So much ringing in my ears that I almost think about answering my phone. Where the hell is my phone?
I don’t get to feel for it because Liam’s shoe comes at me over and over again. I shield my arms over my head as much as I can, but his foot rams against my chest. My stomach. I cough up something sour as another shoe rams against my shoulder.
“Stop! Stop, please!” Nic screams from somewhere behind me. She didn’t get away. All of this and she still didn’t get away.
The kicks keep coming and I roll to my side. Curl up in a fetal position. Try to find some comfort until this ends the way it’s supposed to end.
“Enough, guys—enough!” Tyler. I think.
The kicks finally stop and I attempt to pull in a breath, but my ribs feel like they’ve been in a blender. I hear someone coughing up something thick and wrong, and then a wad of something wet plops right on my cheek. I let out a yell that sounds just like a growl. My body may be broken, but dammit, they’ll feel my rage.
Liam grabs me by the shoulders and drags me next to Nic, who’s back on her knees right in front of Tyler. She reaches for me, but Liam smacks her hand away.
“Don’t you fuckin’ touch him!” he demands. Then kicks hard at the ground as if he’s imagining my ribs again. He balls his fists and shouts into the sky. This dude is losing it and I’m the cause. Good. At least I can own that.
The nameless lackey walks over and passes Liam a bat. Nic whimpers. Inches closer to me.
“Wait,” I strain. My tongue even hurts at this point. “You don’t have to do this. We won’t say anything!”
Liam scoffs at me and shakes his head.
“Maybe he’s right.” Tyler steps forward and holds up both hands to his friend. “You said so yourself, this chick’s nothing but a blisshead. Who the hell would believe her? And then him?” He juts a thumb at me. “You think a cop is going to take his word over ours?”
Liam shakes his head again. “I told you already. They know too much. And if we would’ve gotten rid of this bitch when I wanted to, he wouldn’t even be a problem. This is the only way. Now back off!”
“But Liam . . .”
The other frat guy pushes Tyler away from Liam. Liam must have this guy’s balls all up in his hand. Nicole cries again and looks down at the ground. I look over at her, hang my head in defeat.
“I’m so sorry, Nic,” I say again. I want those to be the last words she hears. The last thing she remembers. Not her brother trying and failing to set her free. I need her to look at me and be okay and know that I did all this because I love her. “I tried. I really tried. I’m sorry.” The final words hiccup out of me.
Nic shakes her head at me and forces out a smile. “You and me against the world, right?”
A tear falls from my eye. Me and her against the world. Even ’til the end. This is the period, the finality, I’ve been searching for. Liam lifts his bat, ready to do damage. I inch ahead of Nic. Close my eyes and hope he strikes me first. I wait for the pain to come. Hope it’s quick and that I won’t feel anything soon. I just wish MiMi knew about the money. Knew how much I love her. Hope she tells Mom how much I tried to put her family back together.
“Hands up! Freeze!”
My eyes fly open and Rick Ross stands a few feet away from us, pointing his gun at Liam and his frat brothers. I blow out a breath and try not to pass out.
Twenty-Eight
LIAM DOESN’T GIVE UP WITHOUT A FIGHT. HE DROPS THE bat and gets booking in the same direction Nic tried to escape earlier. A path that would lead him into the trees. But a police car with sirens blaring skirts in front of him, blocks his way. Two uniforms spill out of the car. One pins Liam against the car to slap cuffs on him. The other runs over to take care of Tyler, who raises his hands in the air.
“I’m not resisting! I’m not resisting!” Tyler insists.
The officer yanks his arms down, slaps cuffs on him, too. Officer Hunter has the other lackey pinned to the ground, secures him with handcuffs as he reads him his rights. The guy cusses Hunter out. Throws a few angry words at Hunter’s mother, too. Hunter ignores him and keeps right on doing his job, finally peeling the guy from the ground and shoving him toward the squad car.
“You kids okay?” he asks us. He rushes over to Nic first and removes the tape from around her wrists.
“We’ve both been better,” I admit.
Hunter smirks at me, but it’s a soft one. Kind of like he knows I’m being a smart-ass, but I’ve earned it in this moment. He pulls the tape off me a little rougher than he did for Nic. Nic and I pull each other into a hug again. Every muscle, every bone in me groans, but I can’t let go. I squeeze her tight, peek over her shoulder at the frat guys being shoved into the squad car. Liam catches me looking at him and throws me a scowl. So, I throw him the middle finger in return.
“Wait.” I pull away from Nic and turn to Hunter. “How did you know where to find us?”
Hunter smiles and helps us both to our feet. “You can thank your friends,” he says. “Some kid with purple hair. Bowman, I think. And little Miss Riley Palmer.”
I frown. Bowie and Riley? I had kept Bowie in the dark—so dark, in fact, that I didn’t think twice about explaining anything when I ran out of Providence. And Riley couldn’t even look at me at the prayer vigil. How did either of them know what was up?
“Come on, let’s get you both checked out,” Hunter says, placing a hand on Nic’s shoulder. He’s right. We need to make sure Nic’s good first. I’ll get my questions answered later.
I sit in a chair next to Nic’s hospital bed. I don’t need to shift because my butt remembers what to do to get comfortable in these vinyl-covered seats. Hours of keeping MiMi company. I made a vow that I never wanted to see this place again, but tonight is for a good reason. Tonight, my sister is home.
She makes a face as she swallows some of her suga
r-free Jell-O. The doctors had poked and prodded and tested her, so she was finally allowed to put something in her stomach. “Damn, you’d think after weeks of suffering, they’d let me have something with sugar in it.”
I laugh at her. “Can’t be that bad.” She shoves a spoonful in my mouth and I gag.
“See?” she says.
I force the bland gelatin down. “They just want to make sure you’re okay. To take it easy.”
Nic pokes her spoon inside the clear cup. “Can’t I take it easy with chocolate chip cookies? Or a donut? Ooh, or cake? Yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting.” She closes her eyes and smacks her lips like she can just taste that cake.
Cake. I remember Riley finding that cake pop wrapper from Nic’s bedroom. Something didn’t add up.
“So, you and Kenny never made it up to Richmond before the frat house? Doug really didn’t see y’all that night?”
Nic opens her eyes and frowns at me. “Richmond? What are you talking about?”
“Me and Riley found that wrapper in your bedroom. Kee Kee’s Goodies? That bakery’s only in Richmond.”
Realization covers Nic’s face and she nods. “Kenny and I never stayed in Richmond. We always passed through there . . . on our way to visit Mom.”
My head rocks back at her revelation. A small part of me feels that Mom had been buried alongside Dad, so hearing her mentioned sometimes took me out of my skin.
“Kenny would give me a ride during some of her visitation days. I didn’t want to tell you because you always get so weird when I bring up Mom. I just figured you never wanted to come with us.”
I wait for the anger to set in. The betrayal to wash over my body and ruin this happy reunion. But those emotions never surface. I’m sitting here right next to a miracle. Nic shouldn’t still be alive, but she is. So is Mom. Now that I know how it feels to think I’ve lost one of them, I don’t want to feel that anymore.
“Maybe we can get MiMi to drive us there next time,” I say. “Go visit Mom together.”