By unspoken agreement, Deck and I put our conversation on ice. After the incident at the market, we drove Jayden to school in one of the Center’s vans. Shockingly, he told us he’d made it to his first four periods that morning, so evidently his plan had been to commit a casual felony during his lunch period. We extracted a promise from him to come to the Center that afternoon, and maybe it was naive, but I had no doubt he’d keep his word.
When Deck and I were alone again in the van, he asked what I’d said to Mia.
“Nothing much,” I replied. “I thanked her again, and she said she was glad it was her and not someone else who might have done something different. She said that she was only in the store because she’d had lunch near the waterfront earlier and got turned around since she doesn’t know the area.”
“Explains the church clothes.”
“I gave her my card and told her to reach out anytime, in case she wanted to check on Jayden.”
Deck hummed thoughtfully. “It’s nice to be reminded there are good people in the world.”
I nodded. “I only hope Jayden saw. Not just Mia but also you, me, Amos, and even that one cop who clearly knew something was up.”
“It’s tough to get a kid like that, with such a big chip on his shoulder, to see he has people. Being part of his brother’s old crew is tempting because no one’s asking him to make a hard choice.”
“Wild how robbing a store is somehow the easy choice.”
“Neighborhood logic.” Deck lifted his shoulders as we pulled into the Center’s parking lot.
When Jayden arrived a few hours later, he’d switched out his hoodie for a plain white T-shirt. He checked in with Marisol, just as he did on any other day, as I stood next to her at the front counter.
“Remember, no more fights with Tycho.” She gave him a warning stare.
“We’re cool. Imma keep my head down,” he said, eyeing me.
“Glad to hear it,” Marisol replied.
“Jayden, I was wondering if you’d like to help Deck,” I said. “He’s working in the bathroom.”
The teen stuffed his fists in his pockets. “Uh, yeah. Sure.”
If his quick agreement surprised Marisol, she didn’t show it. “That’s a great idea, Cori.”
“It was Deck’s idea, actually.”
I walked with Jayden across the atrium to the bathroom, lifting the caution tape. Inside, Deck and Reign kneeled on the floor. Sandra, the volunteer, sat in a chair engrossed in her phone. Since the bathroom project had evolved from a repair to a full makeover, it looked nicer every time I came in. There werestill holes in the ground where toilets should be, but the freshly installed sinks gleamed.
Deck saw me noticing them.
“Those are leftovers from an apartment project we worked on in Bellevue,” he said. “I know they’re modern, but they’re commercial-grade and should hold up fine.”
“They’re gorgeous,” I said. “A real upgrade. I just hope they don’t put the rest of the place to shame.”
Deck smiled with the cocky confidence I’d seen way too little of this past month. “Don’t worry. I have a few other tricks up my sleeve. When I’m done, this bathroom will shine like it's brand new. In fact, I spoke to Juan this morning, and I can do the other downstairs bathroom to match, if you want. The project owners are fine with donating their excess materials.”
“That’s incredibly generous, Deck. Of course I won’t say no.”
He stood and waved an awkward hello to Jayden. Reign paused in their work, watching from the floor with flattened lips.
“Hey, Jayden.” Deck tipped his head downward. “Do you know Reign?”
“Yeah, I’ve seen them around.” Jayden glanced at the other teen. “’Sup.”
Reign looked suspicious but nodded at Jayden before turning back to the tile, making a point of slipping in earbuds first.
“Reign helps me with projects, too,” Deck told Jayden. “That won’t be a problem, will it?”
“Huh?” Jayden’s attention was stuck on Reign’s movements. He seemed genuinely curious about what the other teen was doing. “I got no beef with Reign. I know some people are assholes about the non-bi—… the non-bini—…the not a boy or a girl thing, but far as I know, they never did shit to me or mine, so we’re cool.”
