HARDCORE: Storm MC(175)

“What do you want?” Her voice sounded a little shaky.



“I just wanna know where Rae lives. I have to go to the house to look for her.”



Even in the dark hallway, I saw her body language change. She crossed her arms, looking me up and down. “What good do you think that’s going to do?”



“You went, didn’t you?”



“Yeah, before I knew she ran off.”



“How do you know she didn’t come back? You don’t know everything. It’s been a week since she left Gigi here. Maybe she finished what she was doing and went home. Or maybe I’ll find something there you didn’t think was important.”



“How? The house is locked up, and I can’t believe I just said that because you’re obviously going to break in.”



I pressed my lips together, trying to keep from laughing. “Are you gonna give me the address, or what?”



“Yes. I’ll text it to you.” She turned and went to her room, closing the door a little louder than she needed to. A few minutes later, she sent the text.



***



The next morning, I went out before Jamie or Gigi came downstairs. I didn’t want to answer any questions, and I sure as hell didn’t wanna face Jamie after that kiss. I still got a little hard just thinking about it.



I could imagine the shit Flash would give me when he found out I went looking for The Scarecrow on my own, which was why I didn’t tell him what I planned to do. If anybody saw more than one of us coming at a time, they’d be on guard. I didn’t need jumpy fingers on triggers. I didn’t trust many people, but junkies were the worst. Where I was going, there were plenty of them.



Our town was divided into four parts. There were the ritzy houses, like the ones in Riverview Terrace. I imagined what Jamie’s house looked like. It probably had a nice view of the river, where she could see boats rolling past. Maybe she went out there sometimes. Maybe her boyfriends took her out on boats of their own. My chest tightened when I thought about it.



Then there was the urban part of town, where the clubs sat, the office towers, the overpriced boutiques and stuff. That was a pretty popular area, and riding through on a Monday morning was always interesting. Watching the drones rush to the coffee shops on every corner, packing them, begging for the boost they needed to face their boring lives in their boring jobs. I was so glad that wasn’t me. I felt the wind in my hair as I rode. I had freedom.



There was the middle-class section, which was bigger than all the others. Nice little houses up and down the tree-lined streets. Bikes in front yards. School buses. Crossing guards. Two-car driveways and garages. I rode down the street a little slower, keeping an eye out for kids going to school. I thought about Gigi when I looked at the faces of some of those kids. She should be on her way to school like the rest of them. She should feel happy and normal. I wanted to give that to her. She deserved it.



Then there was the shitty part of town. I lived right on the edge, where the houses got smaller—still clean, still nice enough, but smaller. Smaller yards, smaller lawns, not as many trees. Then it went downhill fast. I crossed one wide boulevard and ended up in the ghetto.



It was depressing. Everything seemed sort of dirty, sort of gray. I thought about Gigi growing up in a house like the ones up and down the street, and it bugged the shit outta me. She needed a better life. I hated Rae for never telling me about the baby. I had plenty of money put away—one thing about my life was the money it helped me make. Sure, the business wasn’t totally legal, but it was profitable. I could have set them up in a good place. I would’ve paid the bills directly, of course. No way I’d give cash to Rae. I couldn’t trust her.



I got to the string of houses everybody knew was a drug den and parked my bike outside. There were two strung-out-looking dudes in the doorway, sort of slumped over. They eyed the bike up like they just hit the lottery. I made sure my gun was ready, tightly tucked into the holster under my kutte, before climbing off.



“Hey,” I said, walking to them. “I’m looking for The Scarecrow.”



One of them looked up at me with bloodshot eyes. He grinned like I just said the funniest thing he ever heard. “Why you lookin’ for trouble, man?”



“I’m not lookin’ for trouble, man. I’m just looking for him. I’m trying to find a woman.”



“Ain’t we all?” The two junkies laughed together, falling over each other. I shook my head.



“Listen,” I said, looking inside the dark house. “I’m gonna trust you two, okay? I need you to keep an eye on my bike while I go inside.”