Page 25 of Rough Rider (Bad Boy High)
What are you doing
I just read my sister a couple of books
Four actually. She’s good at talking me into shit
That makes me smile big. That’s so freaking adorable, and I bet Niki has no clue that it is. I lie down on my side, staring at the phone.
What are you doing now?
Lying here
Me too
Now I wish I hadn’t run to the bathroom and he was here, but it’s a selfish thought. He has a family at home. One that sounds a whole lot more normal than mine.
Are you going to be able to sleep tonight
Are you really going to be here in the morning? Don’t you have school too?
I’ll be there. Try and get some sleep
I’ll try
My heart gives an excited flutter when the phone starts to ring in my hand with Niki’s name appearing on the screen.
“Hey,” I whisper when I answer.
“Turn the TV on.”
“Right now?” I glance over to the television that we never use.
“Yeah.”
“We don’t have cable.”
“You don’t need it. Channel four.” I get up, turning it on and clicking to the channel to see thatFamily Guyis on. “Lie down with me.” I go back over to the couch, putting my phone on speaker.
“Best birthday,” I whisper when my eyes start to get heavy.
“Sleep, dream girl,” are the last words I hear before I’m pulled under, my dreams good for once.
Chapter Nineteen
NIKI
“Any reason you tagged Sunshine Highrise? I heard it was a crack den and not in our territory.” Clark cocks his head.
I shrug. “It seemed like the thing to do.”
“And no other reason?”
He wouldn’t be asking if he knew for sure, so I keep my mouth shut. The fewer words said here, the better. I don’t need Andy to be on anybody’s radar.
“It kind of puts you in a whole new light.” Clark stands up and walks around to the front of the desk. He leans back, uncomfortably close in this small room. Emile sits behind me in the corner, the money counting machine whirring quietly. Nothing else makes noise as Clark flicks a nonexistent piece of lint off his school blazer. I wonder if he sleeps in it.
“Before it seemed like you were content just to take the orders you were given.” Our leader breaks the silence. “But now you are taking initiative and expanding territory.”
Clark is impossible to read, so I don’t know if he feels I’m threatening his position, if he’s just being nosy, or if he’s trying to keep me in my place.
