Page 6 of Dangers of Love

“We knew.” Israel chuckled. “Most of the time when you boys got in trouble, it was your idea, and he went along with it.”

I grimaced at the memory. “I still have no idea why you never told him not to hang around with me.”

“You’ve always had a good heart, Eoin,” Israel said. My face must’ve showed my thoughts onthatparticular statement because he smiled. “You know that Angel and I were high school sweethearts, but I bet you don’t know that we almost didn’t make it.” He looked at Nana Naz, a faraway expression on his face as he thought of her daughter, his late wife. “Six weeks before our high school graduation, a friend of mine, a boy I’d known since birth, was killed in a drive-by shooting. Cops dismissed it as gang-related violence and never really did much to find out what really happened. Thing was, Nate wasn’t in a gang. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time wearing the wrong thing with the wrong colored skin. We both were. I was just the lucky one who didn’t get hit.” He glanced at me. “As you can imagine, I didn’t handle it too well.”

He understood, I realized. He knew what it was like to have a friend killed right in front of him. And it was even worse for him. Yeah, Leo and I had been helping people in Iraq when we’d been ambushed, but we’d still been in the army, in an area where people weren’t too happy with what we were doing. Israel and his friend had just been teenagers, minding their own business.

“I was angry with the world. Started doing stupid stuff. Broke windows, graffitied walls, all the things angry people do when they don’t get justice.” A ghost of a smile appeared. “Angel dumped me because of it, said she wasn’t going to be with a man who acted like a boy.”

I’d always heard that Angel had been like her mom, and that definitely sounded like something Nana Naz would’ve said.

“She’s the one who straightened me out.” He gestured toward Nana Naz. “She told me that if I didn’t straighten up, then I’d end up being the sort of black man who made the justice system not care, and that would be a waste. She marched me over to each and every place I’d vandalized, made me apologize, and promise to pay for everything. Then she took me to the police station and had me confess there too. I paid everyone back, did fifty hours of community service, and I’ve been on the straight and narrow ever since.”

I didn’t know what to say, but he wasn’t done yet.

“That’s why we didn’t discourage Leo from hanging out with you. We told him he needed to be the kind of friend who made better choices and was a good influence, but we never thought you were a bad kid. You just needed some help to believe it yourself. Sometimes, we can have the best family in the world, but it takes someone outside the family believing in you that makes a difference.”

I honestly wasn’t sure I believed it now, but I thanked him anyway. Whatever the reason, misguided or not, their decision had played a large role in why I wasn’t in prison or worse. Without Leo, I doubted I ever would’ve completely straightened up, no matter how great my family was or how much they loved me. Israel was right. I’d needed it from somewhere else too.

He reached over and ruffled my hair the way he had when I’d been that brat who’d stolen cigarettes. “Now, while we’re here for who knows how long, how about you tell me what’s got you so troubled.”

“Am I that easy to read?”

He shrugged. “I know a thing or two about being in love.”

Love?

I shook my head. “It’s not love, but it is a girl.” I sighed. “I barely know her, but I can’t stop thinking about her.”

A wide grin split Israel’s face, and the flash of memory that came with it was bittersweet. Last time I’d seen that smile had been right before things had gone as wrong as anything could. I didn’t have to worry about getting lost in the past, though. Leo had gotten his stubborn streak from both his dad and his grandmother, and Israel wasn’t going to let things be.

“Hate to tell you, son, but that probably means it’s love.”

“You’re not going to let this rest until I tell you the whole story, are you?”

He shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere soon.”

So, I told him. Everything. From the first moment I’d seen her on that ransom video to Freedom showing up at the agency right before he’d called. When I finished, I shut up and let him process. It was a lot, especially since he already had plenty of other shit going on in his head. If he hadn’t insisted, I never would’ve laid all that on him, but I could see part of why he wanted to hear it. It might’ve been a lot, but it was a great distraction.

“I’m guessing you haven’t talked to your parents or siblings about this.”

“No, why?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Because they would’ve told you the same thing I’m going to tell you…stop being an idiot.”

I barked a laugh, but it wasn’t a happy one. He wasn’t wrong. I hadn’t talked to anyone in my family about it because they would’ve said exactly that. To stop being an idiot.

And I would’ve said the same thing to them that I was going to say to Israel.

“It doesn’t matter. I fucked up too many times.”

Well, I might not have worded it exactly that way with everyone, but the sentiment would’ve been the same.

“We all do,” Israel countered. “But, if she’s worth it, you go after the girl.”

I shook my head. “Even if she would forgive me, a relationship isn’t in the cards for me.”

“And why not?”

---