And Then She Was Gone(37)
“That blows.”
“She and I are a lot alike.”
Jack pictured the petite white girl standing next to his huge black friend. “I guess you don’t have to look like someone to be like them.”
“She’s a good kid. She just—well, at her foster home before this one, she had it real bad.”
Jack’s jaw clenched. He’d grown up with foster kids, and he knew that their lives generally started at rough and went downhill from there. He didn’t want to think about what “real bad” could mean.
As they walked, Jack tried not to think of his own past. The numerous therapists he’d seen over the years always told him he should talk about his past, get everything out in the open and deal with it—but Jack insisted on doing the opposite. Whenever old wounds opened back up, he would just shut down. If he couldn’t kill the past, he’d bury it. He was determined to cage the demons that raged inside him and lock them away so they could never get out.
Chandler punched his arm—hard.
Jack stumbled sideways. He spun around to face Chandler, his chest thrust forward. “What the heck?”
Chandler made a goofy face.
“What did you do that for?” Jack snapped.
“You were looking like you wanted to kill someone.”
“So you hit me? That’s brilliant.”
“I wanted to get you thinking about something else.” Chandler grinned. “It worked.”
As Jack stared at Chandler’s smiling face, his temper cooled. “Idiot.”
“But you just called me brilliant,” Chandler shot back. His smile widened.
Jack shook his head, and they started to walk again. He didn’t want to admit it, but Chandler was probably the biggest reason he stayed sane. The pull of hate and anger inside Jack was strong, and he found himself frequently drawn to the darkness. But Chandler always had a way of coaxing Jack back from the edge. The thought of what Jack would have become without all those years of his friend’s help made Jack’s stomach churn. He shoved Chandler’s shoulder, and his big friend laughed.
Jack had never understood how Chandler and Michelle had turned out so normal. They’d lost their parents when they were both little, yet they didn’t seem to bear the scars Jack did. He felt like a jigsaw puzzle with a bunch of pieces missing. But them? They seemed happy all the time.
As they neared the end of the street, Chandler asked, “Are we cutting through the park?”
“Yeah. I want to check the basketball courts. Two Point hangs there, so maybe somebody saw something.”
“It’s too bad we can’t ask Victor.” Chandler looked around. “I bet he knows where Two Point is.”
Jack stopped. “Victor Perez?”
“Yeah.” Chandler stopped too. “Two Point’s part of the D Street Crew—Victor’s gang. You knew that, right?”
“No, I didn’t. But you’re right, his gang leader would know. If Nina’s not around yet, we should definitely go talk to Victor.”
Chandler looked at Jack as if he had three heads. “Are you out of your mind? Talking to Victor’s no joke. You risk getting a bullet in your head just by being near him.”
Jack shrugged. “I just want to talk to him, not fight with him. Besides, I know Victor.”
“Maybe a long time ago you did,” Chandler said. “Trust me, Victor is bad news. Everyone in his crew is packing. It’s bad all the way around.”
Jack kicked a rock across the road. As he traced the path of the rock, he noticed a ponytail poking out from behind a large elm tree. Replacement’s ponytail. “Your watchdog followed us,” Jack whispered.
Chandler smiled but didn’t let on that they’d seen her. “She does that.”
Jack angled his head back toward the tree. “Where we’re going, she shouldn’t be near,” he warned.
“You should listen to your own advice. We shouldn’t be going there either,” Chandler grumbled. But he turned around and whistled.
Replacement immediately popped out from her hiding spot, and without a word Chandler pointed back to the house. Replacement’s shoulders slumped, but she obediently turned and started jogging back toward Aunt Haddie’s.
Chandler turned back to Jack. “Are we really gonna do this?” he asked. “I don’t feel like getting shot.”
“You don’t have to come,” Jack said.
“Yes, I do. I don’t want to. I don’t think you should go. But if you go, I go.” Chandler held up a large hand. “But let me be clear. I’m just going to watch your back.”
“Then I guess you’re going.”