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  I didn’t turn around. I didn’t want him to see the tear that was rolling down my cheek.

  Chapter 6

  Animal

  I went to school after a few days. Then the next day. And the next. While the other kids my age were playing football during the fifteen-minute recess on the pavement in front of the school, I was watching for cars while sitting on the brick wall at the edge of the parking lot.

  Because Boon and Fleece were looking for me. I’d heard from a few reliable sources they were pissed and wanted blood.

  I kept an eye on the cars rolling past the school. T was next to me, using a rock to scratch lines into her skin.

  We were quiet together usually. But she’d been exceptionally so recently. It was due to get cold soon, and she’d expressed concern. The shelter in town was pretty goddamn horrible. The people who worked there were nice enough, but the politicians in office were cracking down on the homeless. So she could only stay three days at a time. And I knew that there was a ban on feeding homeless people in the park where she had to stay.

  “You relocating?” I was curious if she had a plan.

  When she looked up from her wrist, I saw what might be letters etched there, but she pulled down her sleeve so I couldn’t make out the words.

  “Maybe.”

  Her voice was husky, like she was hiding somewhere inside herself and had to fight to be heard.

  “What are the options?” I kept my eyes on a lowered Monte Carlo as it drove by far below the speed limit.

  “Under the toll bridge. I guess.” She watched the car with me. “Trouble?”

  “Maybe.”

  The windows of the Monte Carlo were tinted. I was getting that buzz at the bottom of my spine that something wasn’t right.

  I stood. I didn’t like facing anything sitting down. They might be trying something, but I wouldn’t be caught unaware.

  T started mumbling the plate number. Smart girl. The car pulled away.

  I looked down at T. She had the plate number etched into her left arm, some scratches going so deep they drew blood.

  “I got it if you need it.” She held out her slightly bloody arm to me.

  I looked at the mix of numbers and letters until I had it memorized. She pulled down her sleeve when I nodded.

  I scanned the school ground. I felt so much older than the kids playing ball or lumped in groups gossiping. I knew T felt the same. Her long brown hair was covering one side of her face, but her one brown eye that I could see got me.

  “We’ll make it, Animal. I can tell.”

  The bell rang and we had to go stand in line to get back into school. It was all so stupid. I half-waited for someone to shoot me in the back. I didn’t feel as young as all the kids around me, even though we were the same age.

  Chapter 7

  T

  They were crowding me. They saw me. All the times I was invisible, I was lucky. Tonight I wasn’t. The roar in my ears was taking away my ability to think. My ability to fight. I wanted my mom. I wanted something normal as they ripped my shirt off. And then I silently prayed for forgiveness for betraying her—even in my mind. It wasn’t her fault. But as they started to hit me, I tried to fill my head with her smile. She could save me in my mind, at least.

  Chapter 8

  Animal

  The cold had finally come. And I knew, on this Saturday night, that T was likely staying under the bridge. It was the worst place. It certainly wasn’t safe. And tonight, it was cold. I was worried about her.

  Cars had been creeping on me when I was out and about. Fleece and Boon were making themselves scarce. I got it. They were waiting to figure out if I’d snitched. And I had. And I would. But Merck was setting the boundaries. I knew that I’d face-off with them both at some point. I stole their gun and the car they wanted. Plus, the first “test” of killing the baby was one that I not only had failed, but had turned on them.

  I didn’t like my chances in this town right now. My birthday had come and gone. Well, the date they thought was my birthday, anyway. No one knew for sure. At fourteen, I felt the same as thirteen. Tall, older than kids my age, and antsy.

  What I was antsy about was not distinctly defined. I had something I needed to do, but I sucked at figuring it out.

  The fosters were binging in the house ’cause of the cold, so I beat feet into the night.

  I had a warm sweatshirt on and a blanket I’d nabbed from the attic. It smelled like four people had died in it, but it was warm. And I was bringing it to her.

  Under the bridge was a shitty place to stand, never mind sleep. I stood in the shadows and took in the sight.

  Fires in trash cans and car noise. The stench of alcohol and piss was overwhelming. I tossed the stinky blanket to my feet. This was not going to happen. T wasn’t sleeping here another night. If I had to sneak her in the attic at the fosters’ house, I’d do it.

  I walked into the crowd, milling around with my hands jammed in my pockets. It was dark, but all the eyes could see me. Watch me. I felt the attention crawling all over me. They were looking for drugs, jewelry, anything. It was primal out here.

  A crazy man started hollering and laughing. “Shit. They got the girl back there. Shit. They got the girl.” Then he started laughing and pointing.

  The buzzing started in my spine. There were plenty of women here, but I knew he was talking about T. I moved fast through the crowd in the direction he was pointing.

  Between two rusted out cars I saw a herd of guys. I knew it was bad. Men didn’t clump up like that unless they were on something like a pack of dogs.

  I heard growling and snarling, then I saw one of the guys drop his pants while another swung his leg with a kick.

  The resulting yelp was extremely female. I heard fabric rip. I looked at the ground for anything and found a pipe. It was heavier than it looked, which was good.

  I went for the bare ass first, because he was getting to his knees and I wasn’t stupid. He was trying to mount someone.

  I knew it was T without seeing her. I hit him square in the center of his back. I didn’t give the other guys around her a chance. I swung and hit without mercy. I didn’t try to pull the blows to make them lighter. I heard bones cracking.

  A fist connected with my face. My adrenaline was so pumped up, I only registered the blow because it moved my head. I let go of the pipe and used my fists. I was skinny but strong. Taller than all the men there. And it turned out, men who try to rape women are cowards. They ran. I looked down at the girl, hoping I was wrong.

  Her pretty brown eye was swollen shut. Her shirt was ripped off completely and she was using her shaking arms to cover herself.

  I pulled my sweatshirt off and handed it to her. She couldn’t move one of her arms. I kept watch with my teeth bared as I helped her put my sweatshirt over her head. They were coming back. They’d run, but then they figured out that I was just one guy. I bent low. The arm she couldn’t move dangled as I slipped one arm under her knees and the other behind her back.

  I growled, and a few of the men and women from under the bridge formed a human wall between the attackers and us. Now that they’d seen me fight for her, they were willing to as well, I guessed.

  It didn’t matter. T was shaking in my arms and trying to talk, but she stuttered on the words.

  I carried her up the hill by the bridge. I knew the toll takers would be in the booths, and I was hoping they could call for help. I had no idea how hurt T was.

  How bad it had gotten.

  I didn’t even register her weight; I was too fixed on the lights on the bridge. My back was made out of metal.

  “It’s over?” T finally made a sentence.

  “It’s over,” I told her. I approached the tollbooth then.

  It wasn’t until after I heard, “Freeze. This is the police,” that I realized I was a topless black man carrying a sobbing white girl out from the night.

  I looked down at her face. I’d promised her it was over, and I wouldn’t re
gret helping her, even if it meant I would be shot down in this instant.

  Chapter 9

  Animal

  I expanded my lungs with air, not sure if any of it would be the last thing I did.

  “Animal?” T was confused.

  “I got you, T. I won’t put you down. I know you’re hurt.” I waited as men I couldn’t see decided what my fate would be.

  “Hey. No. No. Hold your fire.”

  I recognized the voice.

  Merck jumped out in front of the searchlights aimed at me.

  He jogged toward me, holding his gear as it bounced.

  “What the hell?” He held out his arms for T, but she shook her head, moving her hair enough for him to see her whole face. I watched as Merck saw how young she was.

  Behind me, we both heard the sound of tromping feet up the hill. Headlights flashed by, going over the bridge.

  Merck stopped offering to take T from me and made “a round them up” hand signal. When the other cops on the scene walked toward me, he redirected them to the guys who were hunting for T and me.

  In no time, the cop cars were abandoned and the police went after the guys on foot before they could even get close to us.

  I felt T shivering, and then I realized I was shivering, too. I walked toward the cop cars, knowing that I could get her in Merck’s cruiser for at least a short time.

  Before I could set her down to open the door, the office door cracked and I heard an older woman call to me.

  “Bring her here. You okay, honey?” I looked at T’s face and made the decision for both of us. My arms were starting to ache. T wasn’t heavy, but she wasn’t too light either.

  In the office, there was a small couch that I put T down on. I sat next to her. The woman was in a toll taker’s uniform with a swirl of gray hair like cotton candy on her head. She disappeared in a closet and pulled out a blanket and a windbreaker. She placed the blanket gently on T and handed me the windbreaker.

  “Do you guys need some water? Hot cocoa?” I could see her nametag now. Martha Meiner.

  T was using her hair as a veil again, so I agreed to some water for us both.

  I leaned close to T. “Your shoulder jacked up?”

  She wasn’t moving it. T looked from the floor to my face to her shoulder. “Yeah. They pushed me down on it.”

  “Okay. We need to get help for that.” I was going to ask for help from Martha Meiner.

  She bustled back in. “Okay, here’s some water. Been a crazy night. Had a jumper out here, and just after they talked him down, you two show up. You I recognize. You’ve been under the bridge a few days now, right?”

  Martha handed me both of our water glasses.

  T was still looking at her shoulder, but she nodded.

  I must have seemed confused, because Martha provided the answer. “I like to make the mister casseroles, and I try to make a few extra for our friends underneath. Little Miss here’s new, so I made sure she got a plate.”

  There was a light knock on the door and Merck entered.

  “How’s it going?” Merck looked at T. He kept his distance. T was unmistakably putting off some “leave me alone” vibes.

  “They were attacking her. I don’t know how far…” I stopped. I didn’t know how bad it had gotten. T was still wearing her jeans, so I had hope.

  “They didn’t rape…” And then T trailed off. It hadn’t happened, but it was about to. I wanted to give her a hug, but I knew that carrying her had been a lot of physical contact for T. She was a private person.

  “It was the clear intention.”

  Merck made a quick hand movement that shut me up. He didn’t want me to say more and it made me angry, but I listened.

  “Ms. Martha, thank you so much for watching them. We got an ambulance coming for her now.”

  Martha frowned sympathetically. “Can I get ice for her? And his face?”

  T shook her head, so I did the same. Martha didn’t seem offended that we turned down her offer.

  She stood and asked to speak to Merck outside.

  Adult talk, I was guessing.

  “I don’t want to go under the bridge again.” T touched my hand with the fingers that were working.

  “I’ll fix it. Somehow I’ll make it okay, T.”

  Chapter 10

  Animal

  Merck met with officers and conversed with them outside the toll both office while we waited for an ambulance.

  When Martha had to go back to her shift, T spoke up.

  “If I go to the hospital, they’ll want to know information.”

  She didn’t want to be found out. The homeless thing. The fact that she was working a loophole in the system.

  The police scared her. Reporting scared her. The hospital terrified her.

  Names. Address. Phone number.

  It all made her more anxious than her not being able to move her arm. Scared her more than whatever they’d done to her.

  Her hair was caught on her bloodied lip. I reached up and pulled it gently and tucked it behind her ear. Her brown eyes were wide on me. She was always so in control. I’d never seen her this petrified before.

  The ambulance pulled up. The lights filled the office, bouncing off the walls. T was panicking.

  “There was a kid in one of my early foster homes. He wouldn’t talk, not when he didn’t want to anyway. They said he was…” I thought for a few seconds as I pulled the term up from the depths of my memory. “Selective mute. That was it. He could talk, but not when he was scared. You could be that.”

  She nodded. “I like that.”

  “I’ll try to stay with you, okay?”

  Merck opened the office door for the paramedics.

  They were respectful when T tried to get closer to me.

  “You know her?”

  I looked at her face.

  “I’ve seen her around.” I was vague. When in doubt, vague bought me time in the past.

  I watched Merck narrow his eyes. He’d want to know what the hell this was about. I widened mine slightly to let him know that I had my reasons.

  The paramedics were very kind and gentle. When I didn’t own up to knowing T, in hopes of keeping her a mystery, I was no longer able to assert my claim to be next to her.

  The paramedics loaded her into the ambulance. I tugged on Merck’s sleeve and pointed to his patrol car.

  “What the hell, buddy?” Merck started the car and followed the ambulance. He put his lights on, too, so we could follow just as swiftly.

  And then I let it pour out. I told him that T was my friend and how she didn’t want to be in the system. I told him that we had to find a place for her to stay that worked and that I needed to be in that hospital with her.

  I watched as he shifted in his seat, his gear squeaking and clacking.

  “That’s serious.” He was plainly running through ways to process what I’d told him.

  The lights flooded the sides of the road as I waited to see what he would say. I knew hospitals were militant about shit. I exhaled, worried that I’d made a mistake.

  “I know a lawyer. A chick that works for homeless kids’ rights. I can call her in the morning. I can stay near T and you can stay near me at the hospital. For now. Do I have to call your foster parents?”

  Merck slid the blinker in the right direction to follow the ambulance.

  “Nah, they won’t answer the phone.” I kept my gaze forward so I wouldn’t see Merck’s internal struggle on his face.

  We were about eight blocks from the hospital when Merck picked up his phone and called his wife.

  His side was clear. Her side was, too, because I was close. She was ripping him a new one for not coming home. Accusing him of cheating.

  He took the verbal lashing before apologizing a few times and hanging up.

  We got to the parking lot, and he put the car in a spot set aside for police. I finally looked at his face, and he at mine. I said sorry without the words for the shit he’d taken for me.


  Merck shrugged. “I’d do anything for you, kid.”

  That statement opened a whole can of worms. I dropped my gaze and let him escape the obvious. Everything except be my father.

  I opened the door as the paramedics opened theirs. T was spooked out of her mind. She had an IV in her arm and bandages wound around a few of her cuts. Her arm was stabilized.

  I eased out and stood next to her. “Here.”

  The paramedics ignored me, and Merck put his hand on my shoulder to officially escort me into the building.

  I was able to grab T’s good hand and hold it. She squeezed me back. We were a train like that all the way to the curtained cubical in the ER.

  T

  Maybe I loved him more in the moment he stood next to me at the hospital. Consistent. I saw a fire in his eyes to keep me safe and I was feeling so incredibly out of my element. Tender. Where I was normally sharp I felt like I could be breached and I hated it. The men under the bridge had taken a confidence from me that I didn’t even know I valued. But Animal was there like a knight in the night. Someone else that worried about me. His name was branded on my quivering soul. I could be brave again, soon. But right this second he was a brick wall for me.

  Animal

  T had to get her shoulder reset. The assholes who had attacked her under the toll bridge had dislocated it. She had some deep bruises, but nothing was broken.

  That night, after she had a taste of some strong painkillers, the doctor was able to manipulate the bone back into the correct position so she could move her arm.

  Merck worked his magic, and I was able to stay with T that evening. T played her part as a newly developed selective mute. The lawyer got a special social worker called, and Merck spoke to her, but there was only so much he could do.

  T was assigned to a new foster mom with an amazing reputation. The lawyer had pulled some strings.

  I knew T was probably against it all. T had a mom. She told me about her once. It had been a late night. Sometimes when I needed to get away from the toxic environment of the fosters, I snuck out. It wasn’t hard. They didn’t care where I was. At night T and I would meet. She’d steal food, and I’d keep us safe. But one night she told me she still had a mom. I had been confused until she explained how it was.