The Bad Boy's Secret (7 page)

“Yes. She’s worth it.”

It was simple, and yet Richard could see the truth in it. So he let the upper classer stay while he dealt with Chuck.

“Speak, I ain’t got all day,” he said and Chuck shook his head.

“The kid, she’s got secrets…”

“That you are going to spill,” Richard said, taking the note out of his pocket. “Because it was none of my business when you brought her around, and it was none of my business when you and her would whisper. But now, there’s a note on my door step, with my brothers in the house, and I want some answers. Because it’s my problem now.”

Chuck barely reacted to the note, it was almost as if he expected it. He took a deep breath, and then spoke Cassie’s secret.

“Her partner just didn’t die. Someone bribed them to lose and they didn’t. So they shot him on the ice and I know she’s next. And I know who did it. And Richard, I swear, if it’s the last thing I do,” he growled. “I will kill them with my bare hands. And then it will be no one’s problem anymore.”

Richard had expected a lot of things to come out of his best friend’s mouth, but he hadn’t expected that. In shock, he sat down on the porch, running a hand through his hair.

“Woah,” he said, and found Dave beside him.  Chuck was still in his foul mood and half glared at them.

“You going to judge us, Snob?”

“What?” Dave looked aghast at the suggestion. “No, not at all. I had no idea what she was going through. I mean, I knew that she was a skater, but I had no idea it was like that.”

“Well, that’s the cold hard truth,” Chuck said, lighting a cigarette. “A far cry from your perfect little life, ain’t it?”

Richard kicked him.

“Why you got to be nasty?” he asked, his point made. Chuck took a long drag on his cigarette.

“I think I know who did it,” Chuck said. “I got a contact back in New York, Jimmy the Snitch. And that ain’t his birth name. He’s got what I need, and I am going to get myself a glock and shoot them up in cold blood.”

“Woah,” Richard replied. “Guns got her into this mess to begin with. You somehow think that they are going to solve the problem?”

“We should go to the police,” Dave said, careful to speak. He was way out of his element, but the fact that he had fallen in love with this girl gave him courage. “Tell them what you know. No judge is going to be able to be stern when she cries like that.”

“Fuck the police,” Chuck said, stubbing out his cigarette. “They didn’t do nothing the first time, what makes you think they are going to do something this time?”

“And do you plan to show her the body, after, like a pirate?” Dave asked, bravery flooding him. The two of them glared at each other until Richard cleared his throat, taking on the role of the adult.

“Listen to you. “And do you plan to show her the body, after, like a pirate?” Dave asked, bravery flooding him. The two of them glared at each other until Richard cleared his throat, taking on the role of the adult.

“Listen to you. You’re snapping at each other, but you don’t realize you both want the same thing. History has been made on this porch; an upper and a lower fighting for the same cause.”

They both looked up at him in astonishment, and he continued to speak.

“So what do you think is going to happen, Chuck, if you hop the train to New York with a glock in hand?” Richard asked. “Either you’re successful, and you leave her to feel guilty for another death, or you’re not, and she stands at your funeral. You spend half your life ranting about how you want better for her, then why don’t you show her?”

“What do you mean?” Chuck asked, at least listening, although he didn’t look happy with the way the conversation was going.

“You want better for her, don’t get her involved in another mess. Start straight, here and now. Take your ass into the police station with the things you know.”

Chuck let out a deep breath. He hadn’t told him, but somehow, Richard knew. He knew that Chuck was feeling guilty for the whole mess, that it was probably his involvement with the gangs of New York that drew the attention to Cassie in the first place. That they probably wouldn’t have turned an eye to her without his presence around her. He had caused enough trouble in her life, and he knew that going to cause more in this underground life wasn’t the right way to go.

But he didn’t know any other way, when it came down to it. He had grown up on the streets, and his only interaction had been with those who stole their way through life. His parents never said a word to him about it, engaged in their own illegal activities. He never told anyone how he envied the big houses, where the upper classers gathered, warm and safe. How he sometimes wondered what it would be like if there were cookies and milk rather than water and an empty fridge to come home to.

He was used to not telling anybody anything, not revealing how he truly felt. But his secret was written on his face; as much as he hated the upper classes, he envied them. And as much as he pretended to not care about life; to be perfectly fine with his position in it, he wanted better. He just assumed that he wasn’t good enough for it.

Kids like him; no one gave them a chance. They looked at the address, at the shoes worn down through the sole and the clothes with holes and looked away. They looked at the leather jacket and the greasy hair, the chains warn as jewelry and they assumed a lot. They assumed this was somebody who would amount to nothing, who did’ want anything, didn’t deserve more. They hustled their children away and put their noses in the air.

Once, Chuck had wanted a second chance. Once, he had tried to defy the odds. But that was exhausting, and a few years of that was enough to last a lifetime.  He just accepted he wouldn’t go anywhere in life; and saw his second chance to make a difference with Cassie.

And he had grown up fast; used to an empty fridge. One grows up fast when they grow up poor. He felt a lot older than his eighteen years, and he understood, in a way, how Richard could transform into a responsible adult in one night; the night they found out his parents weren’t coming home.

But to change everything about his life was a different story. He wanted better for Cassie than he had, and he felt like every day was a fight to keep her on the right path. He hated the upper classers who spit on him, who turned their noses up at him and here was one sitting in front of him, waiting for his answer.

Finally, he stood.

“Fine. Let’s go tell the police what we know.”

“You sure?” Dave asked, shakily.  “I mean, I’m sure I could…”

“I’ve never been less sure of anything in my entire life,” Chuck replied. “Except that I love Cassie and I want what’s best for her.”

“Yeah,” Dave agreed. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

Chuck gave him a hard look.

“This don’t mean shit, upper classer. I ain’t forgetting the way your kind treats mine.”

“Well that,” Dave replied. “Is a whole other problem we’ve got to tackle on our own, isn’t it?”

Chuck paused, looking at this man who stood opposite him.  This was the kind who turned their nose up when he had begged for change as a kid. But in Dave’s eyes, he saw Cassie, doing begging on her own. He didn’t know if this one was different, didn’t know if it was going to amount to anything. But he certainly would try.

Dave drove them to the police station, and mostly, they drove in silence, except for the crack that Chuck made.

“Usually, on my way here, I’m in the back seat with a screen in between me and the driver.”

Dave gave him an uneasy smile.

“If it makes you feel more at home, you can climb back there.”

Chuck snorted.

“Yeah, just don’t be surprised if the minute I walk in there, they slap cuffs on me. I’m not exactly top of their list for world’s most upstanding citizens.”

Dave shrugged, turning a corner exactly at the speed limit.

“When I was six, I stole a candy bar from the store.”

Chuck grinned at him.

“Really? Why? I’m sure your mom could have afforded to buy you a hundred of them.”

“I wanted to be cool, like you guys,” Dave replied. “Always slipping things into your pocket and no one noticed. You could have whatever you wanted.”

Chuck laughed at loud at that.

“And you don’t think we didn’t watch you, thinking you had everything?”

“Yeah, everything. Divorced parents battling over alimony and shuffled between houses every two weeks. Your parents are at least still married, right?”

“Yeah,” Chuck shifted. “They are.”

The reaction when Chuck walked into the police station was exactly as he predicted, until he told them why he was there.  And even then, he still expected handcuffs to be slapped on him at any moment, sure that his name popped up a dozen red flags in the system.

But the more he talked, the more they relaxed. The Feds had been after Samuel Jones for awhile, and the information Chuck gave them, having run on the inside for years, combined with what Jimmy the Snitch knew, was valuable.

“And the girl, Cassiopeia? She’ll testify to these bribes?”

“As long as you can promise she’ll be safe,” Chuck replied. “Look around, man, they ran to the middle of nowhere , when they had the glamour of NYC. They were pretty damn scared.”

“We can offer her and her family security,” the police officer said. “And you, of course.”

Chuck grinned the wicked grin that they had come to know.

“Man, I don’t need you. I’ve taken care of myself my whole life.”

“Sometimes,” the officer said, slowly. “It’s nice to have someone else take care of you awhile.”

It was something that Chuck had never considered before.

There were official statement forms to fill out, and several police officers that wanted to talk to them, both on the phone and in person. It was dawn before they let them go, and this time, it was with a happy wave and there were no handcuffs involved.

“That was surreal,” Chuck said, as they got back into the car. Dave choked at the time.

“Man, my parents are going to kill me.”

“Must be nice,” Chuck said, and Dave shrugged.

“Yeah, being grounded for a decade. At least it’s worth it.”

“Yeah,” Chuck closed his eyes as the roar of the engine started. It had been a long night but before he could sleep, he had to make sure Cassie got to school alright. Missing even a day of class could make a huge difference.

He thought about his own Dave in school, about all the days he had missed. Maybe it was too late to go back to traditional school, but there were always night classes.

“Yo, man, how do you be a cop?” he asked Dave. The other boy raised an eyebrow.

“Uh, I think you need a high school diploma and then you take the police entrance exams. They have an academy and all.””

“Yeah?” Chuck considered this. “Think they’d take a GED?”

“It’s the same thing, isn’t it?” Dave gave him an encouraging smile.

“Yeah,” Chuck said. “Pretty much.”

The conversation gave him new hope as they headed back to the Criter house. Maybe everything wouldn’t be the way he planned, and the end wouldn’t come with a gunshot in the dark for him.

It was morning at the Criter house, as if it were just another day. Cassie was still sitting on the couch, under a blanket, although she looked like she had moved. Her hair was piled on top of her head and she had some makeup on. But what Chuck was most interested in was the fact that there was a plate of eggs and pancakes half eaten in front of her, and she was continuing to go at it with interest.

“Chuck!” she practically tripped over the table to throw herself into his arms. He grinned, trying not to get bowled over. Small or not, she had impressive force. “Dave! You’re back! Where did you go? Richard wouldn’t tell me where you went.”

“We went to take care of some problems,” Chuck said, as she let go of him and wrapped her arms around Dave, who kissed her. “Legally.”

She gasped, with a grin.

“You know that word?”

“Apparently,” he replied, as Shawn and Peter came into the room.

“Peter, do you remember the last time an upper classer was in our doorstep?” Shawn asked, and Peter shook his head.

“Nope.  Think this one is lost?”

“I’m sure we could help him find his way.”

“Boys!” Chuck held up his hands. “This one’s cool! It’s cool. Chill out.”

They looked at Chuck like he had grown a third head.

“You drunk, Chuck?”

“Not anymore,” he replied, and gave Dave a grin. “Things are going to change around here, I expect.”

“Cassie, you done with this?” Richard came in, picking up the plate she had nearly knocked over. She turned back to look at it, ‘yes’ forming on her lips. And then she smiled.

“No, I ain’t. Not yet.”

Chuck grinned at his best friend as he took off his coat.

“Oh yeah. Things are really going to change around here. And it’s all thanks to you, kid.”

Cassie looked between the two of them, confused. She had no idea what could have transpired over the night, but whatever it was, it was a good thing. And so she shrugged, sauntering back to the eggs and taking another bite.

“Sure, no problem,” she replied, as Dave sat beside her.

“Hey, where’s my food?” Chuck asked, loud as ever. “Didn’t I just spend all night working my butt off for everyone?”

“You know where the kitchen is,” Richard grunted. “I’m going to work. No one start World War 3 while I’m gone.”

The boys looked a little skeptical with the upper classer in their living room, but the fact that the older ones seemed at ease made them relax. Clearly, there was something they had missed, and they were eager to be filled in on the drama. But whatever had happened, no one doubted that it was because of the skater’s secrets that everything was changing.