“Since you know me so well, answer this. How many times did I tell your sister to carry her ass to school? How many times did I tell her to get home so she wouldn’t have to hear her grandma’s mouth? How many times did I tell her to lay off the bliss?” He lets out a long sigh and finally detaches one hand from the wheel to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Look, I know you and your grandma and everybody else think I’m a piece of shit. Ain’t no thing to me—my dad told me that before I even learned how to ride a bike. Nic’s the first person to look at me like I’m a king. Not because she’s scared of me or anything, just because. And, shit, I want to feel good sometimes, too. So, fuck me for not pushing her away hard enough.”
Riley takes in a breath and squeezes my hand. She gets it. Nic had done the same for her. Saw something in her that others didn’t. And if I really think about it, she’s done the same for me, too. I wouldn’t have survived all this shiz we’ve been through if she hadn’t been beside me. Putting her arm around my shoulders, telling me everything was going to be fine because we had each other. “Me and you against the world,” she’d say to me. That’s why I’ve been working so hard to get her back.
Javon’s car stops moving. I blink, look around.
“This is where the tracker says she is,” he says.
His headlights spill over a sign: Deer Park.
Holy. Shit.
Twenty-Two
RILEY, JAVON, AND I STUDY THE DEER PARK SIGN IN SILENCE. By the way Javon’s breaths come out, all jagged like he’s about to implode, I can tell he hasn’t been here since news broke of Kenny’s body being found. Why would Nic come out here? Is this her way of paying her respects to Kenny, especially after missing his service?
“Stay right here.” Javon’s voice slices through the air and causes Riley to jump. I guess she’s just as on edge as I am about being so close to where somebody spotted Kenny.
“Naw, man,” I say. “If Nic’s out there, then—”
“Damn, I see what Nic was talking about when she called you hardheaded.” He shoves his phone inside his pocket. “I’m not going to repeat myself: you both stay put. No telling what’s out here this late.” He slides out of the car and goes running down the path toward the sign. Soon, he gets out of reach of his headlights.
My knees bounce up and down, up and down. Nic’s so close but still so far away. I can’t believe I have to wait even longer to see her.
“You heard him before,” Riley says, placing her hand on my knee. “As hard as it is to believe, he loves your sister. He’s going to get her back to the car safely.”
Riley has a good point. But there’s only one thing she forgot: I love Nic, too. I unbuckle my seatbelt. “Lock the door behind me.”
Riley sighs. “Jay . . .”
“I mean it. Call me if you see anything funny, and I’ll come back running.” I squeeze her hand. “I have to do this.”
Riley pulls away from me, but nods. Of course she gets it. She’s seen what I’ve been through over the last two weeks. I close the door behind me and dart in the same direction as Javon. The park gets dim as soon as I’m a few feet away from Javon’s car, but thankfully I remember my surroundings from the time Dad used to drive me here for peewee football. As soon as practice ended, we’d sit out on one of the benches and sip on slushies. Watch people play with their dogs. I’d always ask Dad why we didn’t have one of our own, and he’d wave a hand across the park and say, “We get a new one every week.” He’d laugh each time like it was the first time he told that joke and I’d roll my eyes, all while hiding my smile behind my slushie. The park hasn’t changed much since then. Physically, at least. Knowing that Kenny was buried a few feet away from where five-year-olds toss footballs gives the place a gloomier vibe.
I hear scuffling close by. I blink, adjust my eyes, and spot Javon pushing down some other guy right by one of the bike trails. I rush over to them as the other guy tries to scurry to his feet. He wears a Dallas Cowboys jersey with Tony Romo’s name fading away on the back.
“Pooch?” I say, my feet screeching to a halt once I’m close enough to them. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“This motherfucker had your sister’s phone,” Javon says, holding up another phone. The case is striped with purple and turquoise and glistens from all the tiny crystals embroidered on it. I once joked with Nic that a unicorn must’ve sold her that. This was definitely her phone.
My pulse tries to punch its way through the side of my neck. It’s only Nic’s phone here, not Nic herself. I don’t understand. “Why do you have Nic’s phone?” I ask.
“I told him already,” Pooch says, scrambling to his feet. “I found it.”
“Lies!” Javon hisses, then jumps at Pooch. Pooch stumbles back onto his ass, tries to scoot away but Javon grabs hold of his feet. Drags Pooch back toward him.
“Jay!” Pooch cries out. “Jay! Help me!”
My stomach does the Harlem Shake as I watch the scene unfold in front of me. Any other time, I would’ve stepped in front of Pooch. Explain to his assailant that Pooch never means any harm, that Pooch is just being Pooch. But . . . he has Nic’s phone. Which means he might know what’s going on with Nic. Or maybe he even hurt her . . .
“Just tell him the truth, Pooch.” The words shake out of me.
Pooch looks up at me, wide-eyed, like a deer staring at the headlights of his impending doom. Javon steps toward him and I spin around. I can’t watch whatever it is Javon plans on doing to get some answers. I hear Pooch grunt and plead, and the rubble underneath him and Javon screams for mercy. My hands tremble so I shove them into my hoodie. Just talk, Pooch, I beg. Hope my words get to him. Please. Just talk.
“All right!” Pooch cries out.
I suck in a breath, turn back around. Javon still hovers over Pooch, fist cocked and ready to fire. Pooch cradles his head with both arms, his body trembling from pain and fear.
“I didn’t find it—I stole it!”
“From who?” Javon demands. “From Nic?”
“No!” Pooch drops his arms and looks up at Javon. “I would never steal from any of the Murphys. I didn’t know it was Nic’s phone!”
“Then who?” Javon’s voice explodes through the park, sends birds scampering away out of trees. Didn’t even know birds kicked it this late.
“I don’t know his name,” Pooch says. “I went to Mickey D’s to grab something off the value menu. Some cocky white guy trashed it in the dumpster outside. I thought I could sell it.”
Javon smirks, then pauses. Drops his raised fist to his side. His face gets real still, like he’s programming a computer inside his head. Finally, his face twists in anger again. “I’m gonna kill them!” He steps over Pooch, storms toward the park’s exit.
Pooch lies back onto the trail and curls up into a fetal position. I should check on him. I should at least call for help, but somebody who wasn’t Nic had Nic’s phone—and Javon seems to know who it is. I shoot an apologetic glance at Pooch, then jog after Javon, though my legs are heavy with guilt.