Page 24 of Revived
“Nothing really. There’s just this kid at school that’s been messing with me.” He lets his sentence trail off before panic laces his features, and it’s almost like he remembers he’s talking to his Uncles. “I mean, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” He rushes out.
My blood is singing with the fury that laces throughout my body. I try to tamper it down while Flynn tries to rein in his anger too.
“Rhett… Anything you say to us stays with us unless someone is in danger. We’re not a direct line to your parents.” I remind him. It’s clear hedoesn’t want his parents to know what’s going on, and I think that that’s fair as long as he’s talking to someone.
“Yeah, but I don’t want this to go back to anyone else.” He finally says after a long pause.
“Deal, Little Bear. What’s up with this kid?” Flynn asks.
He looks around his room before propping up his phone on his desk and lifting his hands. He’s going to sign so no one can overhear him. He’s such a smart fucking kid, and if he decides to follow in his Da’s footsteps, it’ll be an edge that the BOCG has over other competitors. They can literally talk around other organizations, and they’re none the wiser.
“There’s this kid at my school. His last name is Barkov.”He pauses for just a second to let that sink in before he continues. We got it… Dude’s a fucking Russian. Perfect, the bitch that killed Annie was also a Russian. “He’s been on my case all year, and I’ve tried to just ignore it. But on Monday he walked by and swiped my hearing aids off my desk. I was taking a test, and I took them out to concentrate better.”
Flynn flicks his fingers to get Rhett’s attention. We’ve propped up our phone too, and Flynn asks the one question that burns at the base of my skull.“Why didn’t you slice his motherfucking head off his shoulders?”
“How did you get them back?”I ask, giving him options on which way he wants to play this.
“Well, I wouldn’t be student of the year if I sliced the neck of every kid that messes with me because I’m the deaf kid. Well, I probably would because that’d cut out over half of the school's population.”He rolls his eyes in the way only a teenager can manage. His eyes swing my way to address my question next.“I waited and acted like I didn’t even realize they were missing. At lunch he was laughing with his buddies and tossing them around his group of jerks. I walked up, punched him in the dick, and took them back.”He shrugs, but I can tell there’s something else there.
“And his friends just let you walk away after that?”I raise a brow in skepticism.
“Well, not exactly. Everyone at the school knows who I am, obviously. They know who Da, Uncle Mac, and Uncle Kie are too. I’m a mafioso and an intelligent teenager. I don’t walk away unscathed. I just walk away with it easier to hide. They know if Da ever saw a mark on my skin that he’d stop at nothing until he fixed it.”
Flynn, and my matching glares practically shatter the screen with their intensity, but it’s Flynn who asks. Acid burns in the back of my throat as I think about my little nephew being bullied in school.
“Where is it then, Rhett?”
Silently he stands and pulls his shirt up just enough so we can see the top of a very prominent shoe print decorating his ribs. My anger cranks up higher than I ever thought possible. We both curse under our breaths.
“Bear, we can’t keep secrets that involve you being hurt.”I gently remind him, and his eyes pop open wide.
“No, Uncle Sully. I promise I have it under control. School’s out in just a month, and I don’t need Da storming the building to try to hurt children. Please? I’ll be safe, I promise.”
Flynn and I have an entire conversation with just our eyes, and we know we’re going to relent. He’s talking to us. If we rat him out, he could shut us out, and no one will know what happens.
“Fine, we won’t say anything.”He sighs out a breath of relief as Flynn signs.
That is until I lift my hands and pick up where he left off,“But… If we’re sticking our necks out for you, which we don’t ever mind doing, you have to swear to tell us the truth if this keeps happening.”
He quickly signs,“Deal.”
“Wait a minute. You also have to tell your Da this summer about this. All he’s ever wanted was to keep you, your Ma, and your sister safe and protected. He deserves to know what’s going on.”
He huffs out an annoyed sigh, but ultimately agrees.
“Okay, deal. I’ll tell him after the school year, and I’ll tell you guys if anything else happens.”
We all agree with the plan, and after some goodbyes and promises to Facetime in the next couple of days, we hang up. My phone immediately starts buzzing on the coffee table. Peering at it, I see that it’s Mac. Without much thought I ignore the call. He calls back as soon as I kill the call. I’m not trying to have this conversation with him. No doubt he’s bugged Rhett’s room or some crazy shit. So I kill the call again.
In the next five seconds Flynn’s phone starts ringing.
“What the hell, Mac?” Flynn grumbles as he answers and flips the call to speaker.
“Dude, you guys need to learn to answer your fucking phones.” Yeah, he’s pissed. “Is Sul with you?”
My eyebrow raises in question, “yeah, I’m right here. What’s up?”
“Your girl. That’s what. You need to get to the gym now. Cops are almost there.” With that, he kills the call, and Flynn and I are out the door.
