“No shit? That’s a great idea.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah, I do. I don’t know how building all those centers for disadvantaged kids became a mission for you, but it’s obvious to me that’s what they are. A mission. An important one.”
He nods, his expression sober, though not as shuttered and forbidding as I’ve so often seen it. He’s changed somehow. Still the shrewd, unbreakable man he’s always been, yet there is a deeper strength in him now, one that bores into me through the clarity of his cerulean eyes.
“I think you probably do know why, Jared. You and I aren’t so different. Maybe we had different backgrounds, came to this city from different places, but deep down we’re more alike than not. We both came through hell to get where we are now. We left behind pieces of ourselves we can never get back, but goddamn it, we’re still standing. We’re survivors.”
I can’t hold that unflinching stare. I let a curse slip past my lips as I drop my gaze and stare at the rug under my boots for what feels like an hour. I wasn’t prepared for Nick to bring up my past. He’s one of the few people who knows where I’ve come from, what I had to do in order to make it from one day—and night—to the next.
I didn’t come here to crack open that ugly part of my life, and I sure as hell don’t want to see Dominic Baine’s pity for what I’m struggling with now. I clear my throat, but my voice still comes out as a sandpaper rasp. “I’m here because I want to talk to you about Alyssa.”
It takes Nick a moment to respond. “All right,” he says, unacknowledged permission to let me dodge other subjects I prefer to leave buried. The intensity hasn’t left his gaze, but it’s replaced now with the steely, inflexible look that must serve the corporate titan very well in his boardroom meetings. “I gather Alyssa told you we’ve barred her from the rec center.”
“She did. She’s pretty broken up over it, Nick. That center is her lifeline.”
“She should’ve thought about that before she allowed her friends to vandalize and empty the place out last week.”
I curse, giving a tight shake of my head. “She didn’t allow anyone to do anything. And those kids aren’t her friends.”
“Kids?” Nick scoffs. “You want to see the security video from the break-in? They smashed their way in with sledgehammers and crowbars. They did thousands of dollars’ worth of damage before they ran out with twice that much in computers from the STEM lab and other electronics.”
“Alyssa had nothing to do with it, Nick.”
“No? Her skinhead boyfriend was the asshole leading the pack. We’ve got enough of his face on camera for me to ID him. Now, we’re just waiting for the police to track the bastard down and arrest him.”
I nod, feeling no regard for the nineteen-year-old gang leader who’s been manipulating and using Alyssa for the past year. As if turning tricks from the age of fourteen wasn’t enough, she went and got mixed up with lowlifes who can only drag her further down.
“I hope they do get him,” I mutter. “Chad Traynor’s bad news. Best thing for Alyssa would be for him to go away for a long time. Best thing for her baby, too.”
“Ah, fuck.” Nick gives me a bleak look. “She’s pregnant by that piece of shit?”
“Going on four months. She told me when she came to my house last week. Like I said, she was pretty upset after she found out she’d been banned from the rec center. She’s got nowhere else to go, Nick. Her mother’s been in and out of shelters with her since she was born, and that’s no kind of home for a seventeen-year-old girl. Those art classes are the only place she can get away from Traynor and the rest of her fucked-up living situation. She’s safe there. The center and the art classes she’s taking there give her something positive to hold on to. It gives her hope. Kid like her? Having a little hope could mean the difference between life and death.”
I know I don’t have to remind my friend how true that statement is. He knows. He’s lived it, same as me. Although Nick hasn’t said as much, I’d guess his determination to build his recreation centers throughout the city is an effort to give a few kids the kind of safe haven we both wish we’d had. Especially the troubled ones, the ones whom life would otherwise swallow up and destroy.
Nick exhales a long, slow sigh. “You believe her that she didn’t have any part in the break-in or the planning of it?”
“Damn right, I believe her. She loves the center as much as anyone, maybe more. It’s all she’s got.”
He stares at me for a long minute, then shakes his head. “It’s not all she’s got. She’s got you on her side, Jared. If you’re vouching for her, then that’s good enough for me.”
“Thanks, Nick. I appreciate you giving her another chance.”
As we stand up and shake hands, he gives me a considering look. “Maybe Avery and I could convince you to teach one of the painting classes this year.”
I chuckle. “Not a chance. Kids and me don’t mix. That goes double for my art.”
“I’m talking about teaching them basic technique, not giving them a master class on the Jared Rush method of erotic portraiture.”
A grin tugs at my mouth. “Answer’s still no.”
Besides, the last thing anyone needs is to watch my hand shaking in front of the canvas. Worse, to see my rage over it explode like it did in front of Melanie. I can’t fix that mistake now. I’m damn sure not going to
