Page 21 of Wrench
could tell he was trying to lighten the mood. Once he realized I wasn¡¯t biting, he said, ¡°For
the record,¡± sticking his hands in his pocket with his head hanging an inch and as close to
sheepish as Tank could look. ¡°I didn¡¯t think you were. Just had to make sure for myself.
See your honest answer.¡±
¡°And?¡± I asked, though not really sure what answer I was looking for. Annoyance
toward the man still clouded my mind. The man I had looked up to since I rode into
Mascid ten years ago.
A smirk crept up his face and his dark brown eyes got a funny look in them. ¡°You
looked a little guilty.¡±
¡°What? How?¡±
¡°Guilty people act defensive, like you just did.¡±
¡°Can you blame me for being defensive? You woke me up before I could even¡ª¡±
He cut me off and ignored me. ¡°But lucky for you, I know you¡¯re not. There¡¯s no way
you¡¯d be dealing without using, and I know a user when I see one,¡± he said. ¡°I know
you¡¯ve been clean.¡±
I scrunched up my nose and looked back at the floor. I didn¡¯t know if I should accept it
as a compliment or an insult. Thankfully, I felt his hand on my shoulder and he said,
¡°Proud of ya, Wrench. You¡¯ve come a long way.¡±
The comment touched me. People didn¡¯t say those types of things often enough. But
the tender moment was interrupted by Tank¡¯s obvious discomfort, and he slapped me on
the back before taking a large step away from me. I decided to be the first to change the
subject. ¡°So, what the fuck is going on, anyway? Why¡¯d you even ask?¡±
Tank rustled in his jacket pocket until he pulled out two items and displayed them on
the large wooden table in the middle of the kitchen where the cooks would take their
dinner breaks. One was a newspaper article and the next was a tattered piece of fabric that
was yellow and green with a portion of a flame stitched onto it, clearly ripped to pieces.
Except it didn¡¯t look like it was torn by a man, it looked burnt. My eyes widened at the
sight of the fabric, identifying it immediately.
¡°Tank, is that¡ª¡±
¡°Yep,¡± he answered. ¡°That¡¯s our patch.¡± He pointed at the newspaper article next and I
