“Smelled like Bash,” he said.
I nodded. It was quiet between us until he popped the last bite of Whopper into his mouth and said, “Just so you know, Deck, I would have been okay if Bash had…done it. I’ve been through worse shit and come out okay.”
My stomach clenched. He said it without inflection, like him being able to power through getting raped was a casual topic of conversation. I didn’t want to imagine whatworse shithe’d been through, although I could guess. He was so deep into the drugs now, same as Johnny. I’d been trying to convince myself thatsomeday, I’ll fix them, but everything kept getting worse.
I could blame the drugs, blame the app assholes, blame his parents, but really… For the billionth time, I wished I’d never met Chi-chi in that park.
Pulling out my phone to check in with Cruz, I saw a text from Cori letting me know Johnny had made it out alright. But then her next text said she was staying at the trailer. Something about her mom.
What the fuck?
ME:The trailer’s not safe. You can’t stay there.
She didn’t reply. I texted again.
ME:Hey I need to know you’re alright.
When Cori still didn’t message back, it set my senses on edge. She wouldn’t leave me on read. Not with everything going on.
“Eliazar, we need to go to Johnny’s.”
Eliazar released a hollow laugh. “You remember I’m homeless, right? I don’t care where we go.”
I gave him a meaningful look across the console. “You’re not homeless,hermano. Unless we all are, you’ll never be.”
He turned his face to the car window. “Thanks, Deck.” A beat later, he asked, “So I guess this means Cruz is pulling the job for Chi-chi?”
“Tonight.” I could barely spare a thought for that. At least, of all my friends, I trusted Cruz to handle himself the most.
“Think he’ll be okay?”
“I guess he’ll have to be. Chi-chi is a real fucking live wire lately. He never used to be so reckless.”
“Just like he and Bash never used to carry,” Eliazar said. “Now they do. Chi-chi wants to be big time. Or at least act like it.”
“You think that’s all it is?”
“I know so. He’s not complicated. You don’t spend much time in the basement, but I—”
“Eliazar, I can’t talk about how much time you spend in that basement tonight.”
He hung his head. “I know. I’m only saying that sometimes Bash and Chi-chi talk down there, because they figure everyone is so far gone. A few months ago, I heard Chi-chi explain to Bash how he wanted to pull bigger scores. Make real money.”
Eliazar shivered as he spoke. Meanwhile, I felt hot enough to erupt. I pulled my shirt off and handed it to Eliazar. He didn’t hesitate, slipping it over his head and burrowing into the fabric.
“Well, apparently his ambition has fried Chi-chi’s brain,” I said. “Because now he’s throwing people in dumpsters and letting his henchmen rape them to prove a point. He’s fuckingloco, acting like we’re the enemy.”
Eliazar sighed his agreement. I was sure that, like me, he wondered how the hell we were ever going to get out from under Chi-chi’s thumb, especially after what I’d just done to Bash.
But that was tomorrow’s problem. For now, I needed to find out why Cori wasn’t texting me back.
Chapter sixteen
Cori - Age 16
TWELVE-AND-A-HALF YEARS AGO
The cut on my foot would not stop bleeding. After less than an hour, I’d soaked through the hand towel. I needed to find something else to use, but I’d already wrecked this towel and the kitchen rag. Using a big bath towel was a last resort. It wasn’t like we had extras.
