“Jesus Christ, Deck! Stop!” I needed to find a way to get through to him. Whatever demons he had running the show in his head right now were blinding him.
But Deck didn’t stop. He turned back to Chi-chi and punched him again. Blood splattered up across Deck’s chest. A small splash dripped from his chin. It had only taken the first punch for Chi-chi’s face to look completely mangled. A few more punches and it looked like ground beef.
That was when two cop cars pulled up, lights flashing and sirens blaring.Had someone actually called them?
Four officers raced onto the scene. I saw with horror that one of them was Deck’s brother Emilio, who had just graduated from the Police Academy. He ran to his brother and pulled him back into his lap on the ground.
“¿Qué has hecho hermano?” Emilio asked him as Deck went limp, sinking into his brother’s embrace.
Behind me, my mother pulled the same move, clutching my back against her chest. I felt her shove something into my hand.
My shorts.
I slipped them on quickly before the police noticed us. They were too busy tending to the three men on the ground. I could only imagine how it appeared. Deck was practically naked, and he and Chi-chi were muddy and covered in blood.
That was when Emilio looked up and saw me. Even though I’d put the shorts on, I couldn’t hide my lip or the bruises on my face. “Oh my god,” he mouthed silently.
An ambulance arrived. One EMT went over to Chi-chi while the other looked at Aaron’s wrist.
My eyes glazed over as I watched the professionals triage the scene. Emilio still held his brother. I was fairly certain that wasn’t police protocol, but the other officers seemed fine with turning their heads away.
“Don’t fucking say anything,” Emilio whisper-shouted to Deck. “Do what they tell you and don’t make it worse. I don’t know how deep you’re into this, little brother, but…they got Cruz.” A flicker of emotion crossed Deck’s face at that, but just barely. “They got him, and now…I don’t know what’s going to happen…with all of this.”
Emilio sounded distraught, which was my first confirmation that the situation was truly dire. This wasn’t just gonna be some fight where everyone got off with a warning.
Chi-chi had certainly been punished for attacking me tonight. He still wasn’t moving. But at what cost? Would it have been so terrible to call the police? Prosecute him for assault? I would have done it, would have taken my chances.
But that wasn’t how things worked here. Things weren’t settled at the courthouse. Not if you could help it.
What would happen to Deck? My brother? Their friends? When did this ever stop?
I loved Deck, but now we had this to add to our misery, to deal with in addition to everything else.
Baby.
Heart emoji.
I wanted peace. And a future. I wanted to live in a world where I could get stitches in my foot when I needed them.
I loved Deck, but I also hated him.
Hated him for taking everything away from us.
I watched dully as the cops cuffed Deck and put him in the back of a cop car. Before the door shut, he and I exchanged a long look.
There was a hint of a smile on my face, the ghost of the girl who had always loved him. I needed him to know that—as mad as I was—I still believed we could handle anything.
I hoped Deck saw the love there. That he knew I would do whatever it took to help him get through this.
But he wasn’t himself. And I worried he only saw the hate.
Chapter seventeen
Cori
It took a few days to get Johnny into a rehab facility. Luckily, I found a good one within driving distance. The staff there told me he wouldn’t be allowed to contact anyone for thirty days, but after that, we could discuss visitation or possibly release, depending on how things went.
The lack of a definitive plan forward scared me, and so did the fact that the program was voluntary. I worried that Johnny would leave the facility and be out of my reach before I could stop him. I’d been having nightmares about his heart stopping. My whole life, I’d believed money could solve most problems. Yet even having a large bank account at my disposal didn’t guarantee Johnny’s recovery. Or his survival.
