“No,” Connor said. “I’m not leaving him alone here. Are you gonna tell us what’s going on or what? Why you sent us all these messages?”
“Us?” Toby spat a wad into the wilting grass. “I sent them to Jack, not you. Jack, please. Make him leave.” He lowered his voice. “We got a tip that the cops are on the way to our house. They’re gonna raid it. The whole thing. Please, Jack. I just need you to talk to these guys and tell them that I didn’t—”
“Toby, who the fuck IS that?” boomed a familiar voice. The angry male voices were arguing again. I backed away instinctively as D’Angelo’s big, muscular frame appeared in the doorway.
“Oh,” he said. “I remember you two punks. Why are they here, Toby? Why the fuck are they here? What were you thinking?” He slapped him upside the head, hard, and Toby just shrank back like a dog who’d been kicked. Shit. I’d never seen D’Angelo raise a hand to him before. Another police siren blared not so far off. D’Angelo cursed. “Get inside, both of you, before someone sees.”
I wanted to run. My feet told me to run. Get the hell out of there, now. But strangely, Connor walked forward confidently, calmly, as if there was nothing to fear. I couldn’t leave him. I followed him inside and the door slammed shut.
D’Angelo locked the door.
It was so dark in here. It smelled like sawdust and fumes and something burning. As my eyes adjusted, I spotted five or so guys I kind of recognized—big guys, including Toby’s uncle, who was smoking a fat cigar, and Gabriel. They were seated in the center of the garage at a long, metal folding table. And they were all staring at us.
“Who the fuck is this? That you, Jack?” Toby’s uncle asked sharply. He knew me. He saw me all the time at Bazingo. But the way he was looking at me now, it was like I was a cockroach he’d just stepped on. He pointed at Connor. “Who is this?”
“I didn’t invite him!” Toby said quickly. “I just invited Jack. He knows us, the family. He knows the whole situation. He can explain everything.”
I can? What did he want to me to say?
“Well you better start explaining now,” D’Angelo growled. “First you bring a girl to the house. You never bring a girl to the house. Are you dumb or are you stupid? Then she goes to the pigs, says something about you sexually assaulting her? Tells them shit about what she saw in our house? When they’re already suspicious? And now they have probable cause to enter. What is wrong with you, Toby? Do you want your entire family to go to prison?”
Jess. Jess had called the cops on Toby. I felt for my phone in my pocket but didn’t dare take it out. Not yet. Not with all these guys’ hard, mean eyes on me. I had to get out of here and find her, help her. Do whatever I could. I tugged at Connor’s sleeve. We had to go. Whatever trouble Toby was in now, there was nothing we could do. But Connor pulled away from me, stepped forward, and got right in Toby’s face.
“So you admit it, then?” he said. “You did assault her. Wow. You’re a bigger pussy than I thought.”
“Connor,” I tried. “Let’s go. Please. This doesn’t involve us.”
Toby’s hands clenched at his sides. “Oh, but I think it does, Jack,” he said. He jabbed his finger into Connor’s chest, but Connor didn’t even flinch. “You’re the reason all this started. If it wasn’t for you, none of this would have ever happened!”
“We don’t have time for this high school drama,” Gabriel said. “Get them out of here, Ang.”
But D’Angelo put a hand up, like he wanted to see what would happen next. His eyes were fixed on Toby and Connor. And they were hungry eyes.
“No, Toby, you’re the reason your friend now thinks you’re a worthless asshole.”
“That kid is my brother!” he screamed, pointing at me. “The only worthless asshole here is you!”
“You treat all your brothers like that, Toby? At least when I fuck Jack, he likes it.”
Toby shoved him. Connor shoved him back harder. Toby stepped back a few paces and put his hands up defensively. He was frightened, and not just of Connor I realized, whose own fists were balled, who was somewhere else entirely. D’Angelo was looming behind them, licking his lips, eyes wide and ravenous.
Shit, shit. I gingerly slipped my phone out of my pocket and dimmed the lights, sending my location to Connor’s uncle along with a Call 911 text while everyone else was watching the brewing fight. Drug gang, I added, just to be safe.
“It was him,” Toby said to D’Angelo. He pointed at Connor. “He was the one who fucked over this family! He probably told that slut to call the cops. And I know for sure he ratted us out.”
“Shut up, Toby!” I said. “You know that’s bullshit.”
D’Angelo’s expression shifted. “That true, Toby?”
Toby nodded vigorously. He wiped the sweat pooling off his face.
D’Angelo moved towards Connor, but again, he didn’t flinch. “You fuck over my family?”
Connor looked him in the eye. “Fuck your family.”
It all happened so fast.
D’Angelo’s punch knocked Connor to the ground. All of the breath left my body. Then he was on him, kicking him with his steel-toed boots. I tried to get in there, but a sharp pain shot through my shoulder as one of the big guys grabbed me and pulled my arms behind by back. They were surrounding him now, all the rest of them, some watching, some joining in, some yelling at D’Angelo to pull back, cut it out.
“Leave him alone! Hit me instead!” I shouted, uselessly, hopelessly, but of course no one was listening. D’Angelo was kicking and punching Connor like a rag doll as I struggled to get
