Page 29 of Deadly Little Games

“No, Mom, it’s serious. I haven’t seen him and just got a message about him already leaving for college.”

She spins around so fast that I jolt and nearly spill my water. The color of her eyes shifts to a haunting, stormy darkness. She crowds closer, and I can’t help but feel confined as if in a cage.

“Well, you better fucking find him and drag him back home. I need him here,” she snaps, nostrils flaring.

Each week, Alec gave her a small allowance from our earnings, but we both knew it was never spent on food orbills. That’s the only reason she’s pissed off—her supply chain just dried up.

“Once I’ve found him, we’re leaving,” I explain.

She clenches her teeth tightly, grinding them back and forth, creating an audible noise that lasts for several seconds.

“I’ve told you how many times? I’m not leaving this place. It’s home.” She huffs.

“Home?” I laugh. “We got booted from the one place we considered home a long time ago... because of you.”

The moment the words leave my lips, my mother is already on me, her presence looming over me. Her fingers tangle in my hair and she pulls my head back. Intense pain shoots through my scalp like a searing fire.

“Shut your fucking mouth, you ungrateful little bitch,” she spits the words in my face.

She lets go of me and I push past her, going straight out the front door. It slams shut, and I start walking without looking back. Through the trailer park, her voice echoes as she desperately calls out my name, but I keep walking. The park is quiet, and the sun starts to peek along the horizon, painting the sky in an orange hue.

I shoot Amirah a message, praying she’s up or this jolts her awake. I really need my bestie.

Each beat of my heart reverberates through my body, racing at an alarming pace.How could you do this to me, Alec? Leave without taking me with you?Leaving me here to deal withher. We were a team, always together and always following our plan. That’s why it doesn’t make any sense. Why would he leave without me? When I see him, I’m going to hug him tightly, then deliver a swift punch to wipe that smug look off his face.

I keep walking until I reach the edge of the train tracks on the eastern side, far enough away from the crosspoint.They still keep an eye on this place with cameras, but no one patrols it. Stepping over the first track, I lie down, resting my head against the wooden planks, and stare up into the early morning sky, watching the burnt orange turn into yellow with the rising of the sun.

Time becomes a blur of thoughts, all centered around Alec and his stupid choice to leave me behind. Footsteps crunch against the rocks, and I sit up, heart pounding, but relax when I notice Amirah coming over the tracks. I fall back down, and Amirah joins me.

“What on earth are you doing up this early? And more importantly, why did you drag my ass out of bed?” she asks, resting her arms behind her head.

“Mom,” I say, and she huffs.

“What’d she do this time?”

I spend the next hour catching her up on everything. About going away to college for Alec, him leaving without us and working for The Brotherhood. I knew she would find out eventually, but I still struggle to find the right words to tell my best friend I’m eventually leaving her.

Once I’m finished, she sits up with a myriad of emotions flickering across her face.

“First off, I’m pissed that you never told me you were planning to leave. You know I wouldn’t have told the boys, don’t you?” She falls back down, resting her head next to mine.

“I know, and you have every right to be. I’m sorry. I just didn’t want anything to ruin our chance of a fresh start,” I explain.

“Secondly, can I come with you?” she asks, and I laugh.

“As if Gage would ever let you leave. He would never stop looking for you, and as much as I want you with me, you can’t.”

Huffing, Amirah takes ahold of my hand and laces her fingers with mine. I grip her hand tightly and fight back the tears. In my lifetime I haven’t shed many tears, but now it feels as if my emotions are on the brink of breaking, ready to engulf me completely.

Over the next two weeks, I go out of my way to avoid Mom at every opportunity and continue to work my shifts at the diner. Still no word from Alec, but I’m sure he’ll reach out when he’s ready for us to join him at college. When I haven’t been working, I’ve been on a mission to find anything that can provide a momentary escape from the suffocating anxiety that looms over me. In the moment, everything seems fine, but once it’s over, I find myself falling apart once more.

At least one of the guys has been at the diner every day I work, checking in about Alec, threatening me that he needs to show his face. They need to talk to him, and I keep telling them he had to go out of town for a college thing, but he’ll be back soon. I’m just buying time until I can leave, but it’s getting harder and harder.

With a creak, the door to the diner swings open, and I find myself meeting Gage’s intense gaze. He’s wearing black jeans and a plain black T-shirt that clings to his muscles. He looks good, which is no surprise. He always looks good—it’s just when he opens his mouth that ruins it.

He moves with purpose to the booth right at the end out of sight from prying eyes.

“Kelly, can you service booth seven please?” I ask as she passes me, carrying a tray of drinks. She huffs, rolls her eyes, but doesn’t bother arguing.

---