“Goin’ for broke, huh?” He snickered lightly, snatching the cash I held out, and Mick carefully, deliberately counted each bill with practiced hands. “Not gonna bet on your own boy?”
“Nah. He’ll run himself into the ground in four rounds or less. You got anything good for me?” Since being sent to Utah permanently, I’d been coming here. Mick shrugged carelessly with a slight shake of his head. Frowning, I reached to rub my jaw thoughtfully as Mick stood up to put my name on the board. “Not even for a fair trade?”
“What’cha got?” Pulling a little baggie out of my pocket, I tossed it on his desk, and the rock rolled with a light clatter. Mick’s eyes lit up, and I pulled a second baggie out of my pocket to hold it up between two fingers.
“I’ll throw in an extra if you fix me up nice.” Okay, I admit that maybe paying with cocaine to fix a few fights was a bad thing, but Mick wasn’t about to let his own fix get away. He nodded, holding out his hand for a shake. He took the bag and pocketed them both before gesturing to the door I’d sent rook and Davey through.
“Go on. I’ll make it happen.” Grunting in acknowledgment, I headed to the door and gripped the knob before a thought occurred to me. I hope Nicole doesn’t find out. Scowling slightly, I shook my head viciously. There was absolutely no reason for Nicole to ever know. She knew I bet to make money, and an explanation didn’t need to go deeper than that.
“Hey.” Davey waved his hand as his shout barely rose above the rest; this place was like one of those side-show wrestling matches that went town to town and never had a packed house. Mick and Mack were trust-worthy enough that most people made their bets and left, coming back later to collect their winnings. Rook was already getting the shit kicked out of him in the ring, and I almost winced when he went flying back into the bars of the cage.
“He got in quick,” I say, sitting ringside next to Davey, and my friend nodded as I sat back and stretched my legs out. “So, why’d you wanna come along?”
“Warpath has done a lot for me, and I know I’ve been distant lately.” Guilt thickened his tone, and Davey sunk into his cheap, folding chair as I glanced at him. “It’s been rough . . . losing everything. I probably wouldn’t be alive if y’all hadn’t helped me out. Ever since all that shit with Bailey’s ex, I’ve been feelin’ like I don’t do enough.”
“Dude, no one expects anything of you but a couple of jokes and to pick up the bar tab every once and a while. We’re not gonna force you into this.” Clapping a hand on his shoulder, I squeezed, and he reached to rub his face roughly. “Spyder and I have been doing this combined longer than you’ve been alive. It’s not easy to go from being a cop to being the criminal.”
“It’s a lot easier than you think, Bruiser. I spent six years putting black kids in jail for first non-violent drug offenses, and a white kid rapes and kills a girl at a party, and he gets nothing? And for what? Because the evidence was ‘mishandled’ because the guy’s dad bribed the arresting officer? No. That’s not what I signed up for. The thing is though . . .” Trailing off to take a hot, shuddering breath, Davey clenched his fists as they trembled with residual rage. My chest tightened, and I turned my gaze back to Rook as he stumbled to his feet to lunge at the guy he was fighting. “Ever since I left . . . ever since I switched sides, I . . . I dunno how to explain it.”
“Davey, there’s corruption everywhere. I think it’s just a matter of finding out which brand you can live with and which ones you can’t.” I clapped his shoulder as I watched Rook blindly shoulder check his opponent with enough force to knock them both down. Kid was gunnin’ for it, and my mouth dried as I watched Davey out of the corner of my eye. “You wanna know somethin’? You can’t change the world, Davey, but you can change your world, and that’s what you did. It’s a slow road to walk. Besides, you do your part. You’ve gotten us outta plenty of messes. You show up when you’re called, and you answer when you’re wanted.”
“Yeah.” In the cage, Rook took a punch straight to the face before going down, and I shook my head knowingly. He stumbled to his feet, spitting blood onto the floor, and bum rushed the guy again. “He’s not that good.”
“He’ll get better. Spyder wants to bring him on, and I’m not gonna oppose even though I’m not happy with it.” Hopefully, getting the shit kicked out of him will help with the pain. Losing the first girl he loved was hard, even worse how it happened, but Rook wasn’t entirely blameless. He must’ve had doubts or something, and not listening to his gut is what got him into the situation. Eventually, he’d be okay, though. Today was simply to get it out of his system and introduce him to the pits.
“How was your date the other day?” Davey changed the subject swiftly, and I nodded as he nudged my arm. “Parker’s been up your ass?”
“I had a nice time, yeah. Nicole’s a real sweetheart. I’ve already told Parker to fuck off, but if I gotta get nasty, I will. Who I fuck isn’t any of his business, no matter how hard he tries to make it? We’re roommates because it’s convenient, but when it’s not, I’ll take my apartment back, and he can find something else.” It sounded cold, but I knew
