Page 127 of The Price of Ice

“But I mean, you must be spending more with one more person here...”

She laughed a little. “Good argument,” she praised. “But still no.”

He sighed, not really up for an actual argument. Besides, if he was going to move out... And fuck, he was, wasn’t he? He missed living with Levy, and he’d moved in with himbeforethey were dating simply because being around Levy was the easiest thing in the world. Of course the Johnsons hadn’t helped matters, but other than the kids being a little loud, they hadn’t been a problem, really. Later on, things had got awkward for a multitude of reasons, but he wasn’t going to lie to himself, he’d wanted to look after Levy and then he’d just wanted to be close. He still thought he should have paid rentthenat least, but of course he couldn’t have brought it up without explicitly admitting he’d moved in.

It'd felt safer to pretend the Johnsons’ teasing was an exaggeration, that he wasn’t really that committed... And therefore, that close to heartbreak if Levy did something he didn’t like.

But Levy never had, and when they’d disagreed about stuff, it’d never gone beyond that, a disagreement between equals who could look for a solution together.

“I’ll come with you to look at flats if you want,” his mum said, and he realised he’d zoned out for a bit.

“No, that’s...” He met her eyes. “Could you do something else for me?”

HIS MOTHER HAD STAYEDin the room with her sketchbook, while he called Mr Evans and told him he wanted to quit as soon as possible.

He’d expected an objection, but the lawyer hummed thoughtfully. “Well, I am waiting on the official word, but there should be an order to arrest McKinley very soon anyway. And then the team will know, and if they wanted to support you—”

Kallen snorted.

Mr Evans sighed. “Well, they could,” he finished. “And if they won’t, it won’t change anything. May I suggest you wait two weeks and get an extra month’s salary?”

Kallen paused. He didn’tneedthe extra salary at all, not when what he’d made this year and barely spent would cover his expenses for years to come. And then he realised something hehadn’tbudgeted for. “Um, how much... How much am I going to be paying you?”

“Ah.” He had really surprised the guy there. “I charge per the hour, it’s in the contract we signed,” he added, which Kallen was pretty sure was a gentle chide. “But I can get my secretary to send you an estimate, if you want. It will depend on how quickly the court resolves the matter, but it is also customary to ask the person who’s wronged you to pay for the cost of representation.”

“Oh.” That seemed fair. Or not fair since McKinley had fucking raped him and he couldn’tpayKallen back for that. Buteven if he had money, he’d gladly take a chunk out of McKinley’s bank while he rotted in prison. “That’s... That’s good, that he has to pay.”

Mr Evans, as usual, seemed to be very much in his wavelength. “Yes, it doesn’t fix anything, but money pays for the protection that allows them to think the law does not apply to them.”

“Are we asking for a lot?”

“We are not asking,” Mr Evans explained. “But it is standard for judges and juries to assign compensation, particularly when there is a big discrepancy in economic status between victim and perpetrator, like in this case.”

Kallen looked at his mother, thinking of what he could do for her with... a lot of money. McKinley had been a pro for maybe twenty-years and captains were on a higher salary bracket. She met his eyes, as if sensing his regard, and he remembered what she’d told him about their bills.

“Could I donate it?”

“Donate it?” Mr Evans echoed.

“Yeah,” Kallen said, and he was smiling now, the idea like a shot of electricity through his body. “I mean, I know we haven’t won, that I haven’t done it, what I need to do to get him put away. But if I win, can I give the money away? To... Well, I’m thinking Fair Sport. To fix this, all of it?”

In the silence that followed, his racing heart started feeling less like excitement and more like terror, but when his lawyer spoke, it was low and full of something Kallen thought might be respect. “You could. You could do whatever you wanted with it, and, not that my opinion matters, but it seems like if McKinley funded the organisation that takes down the whole system...Thatmight be fair.”

Hanging up left him feeling a little lost. He’d been putting this off for months and he’d been so afraid of being left withnothing when he walked away from the rink. But he hadn’t put on skates in months and he was okay. He could walk again, and he had Levy, and teaching lure, and now he thought he might have a path forward.

It wasn’t a short path, he knew nothing about laws, but he didn’t think everyone at Fair Sport and every other civil rights organisation had just failed at their task for lack of funds. But moneywaspower and lure was power, and Kallen was going to make sure it went to the people that didn’t currently have any.

A warm hand on his shoulder startled him back to the present. “Big conversation there,” his mum said. She’d heard, of course.

Because he wasn’t alone.

Maybe he’d never been, he’d just told himself he was because it’d been the only way to put himself through the things he had.

“Why don’t you go for a walk? Clear your head.”

He went around the block twice before he realised it was no good. He couldn’t clear his head because it didn’t seemreal.It’d happened and he even had a witness, but even so...

Ringing Levy wasn’t easy, and when he didn’t pick up, it only made things worse. He couldn’t quite think what time it was in Jiro; most days, his boyfriend was still volunteering and now he had the added hassle of packing up his life. It wasn’t fair of Kallen to expect him to be on call twenty-four/seven.

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