Page 109 of Road Trip
Chapter Twenty-Four
Abra
When I stepped back inside, Sergio had his phone out.
“Ms. Mora, I want to leave. I don’t want to get in this any deeper. I want to trust your friend, but—”
“I understand, Sergio. I do. But this is a really big deal and you have your mom and sister to think of, too, right?”
I did not like putting him in this situation at all. I wished I could take him home with me! I felt like that a lot in my job. If I didn’t already have people to take care of, I might have done it already.
He hung his head over the table and blew out a long breath. “If you think they’ll protect my mom and sister, I’ll talk to them. I just don’t want anything to happen to them because I ran my mouth.”
“You’re doing the right thing,” I said, only mostly meaning it. I couldn’t tell this kid what was going to happen. I couldn’t make him any promises, and neither could Kelly.
Kelly. My love. He had so much integrity. He so could have handled this situation more to his benefit. He could have been dishonest, he could have jacked up this kid if he didn’t tell him what he wanted to know. He could have been an asshole cop. Instead, watching him work…he was so earnest and truly wanted to do the right thing. I was so proud, so grateful. My heart hurt and soared for him at the same time.
The rest of the afternoon went by in a whirlwind. The lieutenant showed up a few minutes later and Kelly waited outside. She seemed cool, not likeAüberbitch the Amazon. But she kind of took over the situation. I didn’t know what I could say and not say to his lieutenant. I worried about Sergio, too.
When we went back inside, Lt. Ramsey went through the whole thing again with Sergio. He was so tired of it all, he spoke freely about everything. Julian sat quietly while Sergio probably said more than he intended to. This lieutenant was smooth. When it was over, the boys were told to stay away from Sergio’s house. Kelly rode back with his lieutenant to the PD since his partner had ditched him. I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to him.
love you. see you later? thank you for being such a good man.
It wasn’t until two hours later, after I was just getting home and chatting with Katie that I got his response.
love you, too, doll. so sorry for today. won’t be over tonight. talk tomorrow.
Katie asked me what was up.
“Oh, let’s just say our two professional worlds totally collided today and he’s not coming over tonight.”
She rolled her eyes. “He can be such a dick about work. I swear! I get it that he has to be all like Superman and shit, but—”
“Katie, this is a horrific situation for all involved. I think he did the best he could. I’m just worried about him.”
Kelly had opted not to tell Katie everything that had happened with the accident, only that I’d rescued him after his car was stolen. I forgot sometimes that she didn’t know. If she did, she’d understand a little bit more why this situation was so awful.
She kind of melted at that. “You are so good for him. I hope he realizes he needs to keep you!”
So did I.
And that was the start of a really long week without Kelly. He did text me and just said work was keeping him and that he was staying at Manny’s. After a week went by I was feeling avoided. I called him and asked him to stop by that night, even if it was just for a little bit. Katie hadn’t seen him either, and she was not singing his praise. He texted later and said he got held up.
Then it was time for the students to arrive. We had orientation, kids showed up, classes got going. It was pretty awesome. I always loved seeing them all after a summer away. Inside, however, I felt incomplete.
Sergio was noticeably absent from school. I called home and the number was disconnected. I finally saw Julian the last day of the first week. When I asked about Sergio, he just shook his head.
“He’s safe with us for now.They all are. His stepdad is in the wind, though. I’m worried he’s going to show up. We’ve got extra people watching his mom and sister. The cops said they’re looking for his stepdad.”
I didn’t like this situation at all. “Well, I want him back in school, but I understand. You tell him I’m here if he needs me, okay? He can text me on my student messenger.” I had a special number so kids could text me if they needed me. It had come in handy before.
It came in handy later that night. I was in my room reading, thinking I should probably get to bed and cursing because there was still no Kelly after two weeks. Then I got a text from a number I didn’t have in my contacts on that messenger. The message asked me to call.
“This is Ms. Mora,” I said when the number connected.
“It’s Sergio,” he whispered. “He’s here.”
My heart started pounding. “Where are you? What’s happening?”
