Behind the Hood (Behind the Lives) (10 page)

“I’ve left Leila for Annie. I love ya daughter.”

Annie gasped. “Really?” She smiled at Jayden with the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen.

Jayden nodded.

Annie turned to her father. “Please Daddy, let me be with Jayden. I love him.”

Jayden grinned. She loved him! He couldn’t believe his ears. He’d been scared that she’d turn him away, telling him to f-off and that he was a right loser for not fighting for her. He would have agreed with her too.

“Over my dead body!” her father said.

Jayden wished he could make that happen. “She’s eighteen now, ya can’t stop her.”

“You ruined my daughter’s life once. I’m not letting you do it again,” Mr. Daniels spat.

How did he ruin it? If it wasn’t for him Lil Jay wouldn’t be alive. Plus, Annie was never going to have some fancy schmancy career. She was just like him—dumb. He wasn’t being insulting, it was just a fact. She had only ever wanted to be a mum. He remembered they had talked about it when they were younger. Her exact words were,
‘I want three boys and three girls.’
Jayden hadn’t minded, because he loved kids too. Although he didn’t expect to start their
whānau
so soon, he could never regret having Lil Jay.

“Ya ‘ave a beautiful grandson, don’t ya? How’s that bad?” Jayden offered.

Mr. Daniels charged him. Although Jayden knew Annie’s father wanted to hit him, the tackle still took him by surprise. Pain shot through his skull as he hit the driveway. Mr. Daniels started pounding his head. He could hear Annie and her mother screaming and Lil Jay crying.

Jayden covered his head with one arm and blindly swung out with the other. He was beginning to feel light headed, voices were becoming muffled and he could taste blood.

“No, Dad!”

The punches stopped. Jayden pushed up onto one hand as Annie tried to pull her father back. Mr. Daniels yanked his arm free.

Jayden lost consciousness as a kick struck the side of his head.

12

Nike

Nike needed to get out quick. He didn’t want to talk, have a beer, nothing, there were just too many people hanging around Ash’s house. He tucked the package under his arm and headed down the steps, reminding himself not to run. As he neared his van a female voice shouted at him to stop.

Just stay cool,
he told himself.
She doesn’t know.

“Oh, c’mon, cutie, I just wanna talk?” she called out.

Nike looked over his shoulder. A girl walked towards him, followed by two others in tight dresses. They had messy hair and smudged mascara, their black makeup giving them panda eyes. The word
slappers
came to mind.

Behind the girls, half-awake partygoers were making their way across the lawn and out the gate. From inside the house Ash yelled, “Fuck off.” A loud crash sounded then a guy flew out of the front door, followed by another one. They picked themselves up and took off, almost tripping over each other in their efforts to get away. Ash and Dante stepped outside, their different tattoos the only distinguishing marks between the brothers.

Nike wondered where their younger brother was. He wanted to ask him questions about Tama. Yeah, Sledge hated him and probably wouldn’t have told him shit, but Nike knew Ash would’ve easily wrung the info out of him.

Two of the girls headed towards the brothers, one of them shouting out Dante’s name. The third one continued to stare at Nike. Nike ignored her and unlocked his door. He stuffed the package under the seat so fast he was scared that he’d ripped it. Christ, he was an idiot. He shouldn’t have agreed to take it early. It was bad enough that he delivered drugs for Ash, but to take the shit home, where Jess and Jake were ... man, he felt like scum.

“Can I get a ride?” the girl asked.

Nike thought she probably would’ve looked attractive if she hadn’t dyed her hair, the yellow-blonde unsuitable for her dark complexion. He was sure he’d seen her somewhere before, but couldn’t remember. Didn’t care either.

“No,” he said, climbing into the van

“Oh, please. I can pay.”

Nike turned to her. He could do with the money. “How much, and where do ya wanna go?”

“To Mangere.” She smiled. “And I wuzn’t referrin’ to cash.”

“Not interested.” He pulled the door shut before the girl could respond, and fired up the engine. She shouted something and gave him the finger as he backed down the driveway.

His mind went back to the drugs. It wasn’t like he had a choice, he had to deliver them. They needed the money. The credit card debt had spiralled out of control, and he couldn’t take one more day of Jess getting upset over the mounting bills. He swung the van around and took off towards home, grateful that at least Jess didn’t know. He didn’t want to think about what she’d do if she found out. She hated drugs even more than him, her cousin’s overdose affecting her greatly.

Nike slowed down for the give-way sign. A police car zipped past. He breathed in sharply. Even after a month of working for Ash, he still felt sick every time a cop drove past. Bloody hell, he didn’t need this stress on top of looking for Tama.

He grimaced as he turned left, annoyed that he’d let Tama get away. He’d been so close, he should have just floored the accelerator and run over the prick. But at least Ash was onto Tama’s case now.

He turned onto his road, then into his driveway. Jess was sitting on the front porch with her hands covering her face. He yanked the handbrake on, and jumped out. As he headed around the van Jess ploughed into him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest.

“I thought I’d lost you,” she said.

He smiled, relieved that nothing was wrong. The woman was just being overdramatic ... again. All he needed to do was get a bloody scratch and she went silly.

“Why were you worried?” he asked.

She let go and started hitting him. “You’re a bastard, Nike!”

“Ow! What did I do?” He grabbed her wrists.

“I told ja not to go to Sledge’s house. Mikey said Tama was there, and he was gonna gut you. When I couldn’t get through to your phone I thought you were hurt.” She tried to free her wrists. “Let go!”

Nike let go. She started hitting him again.

“Ouch! Stop doin’ that.”

She shoved him. “You scared me.”

“Why? I wuz perfectly safe. My mate owns the place. And it wuzn’t my fault my shitty phone crapped out.”

“But Tama was there,” she replied, looking confused.

“Yeah, I saw him runnin’ from the house and gave chase. Ash wuz after him for hurting his sister.”

“Oh God, did he stab her too?”

“No, Juliet’s alright.”

Jess exhaled loudly. “And how the hell do ya know a gang leader?”

“He’s not a gang leader. My dad used to coach him in rugby. We’ve been mates ever since.”

Her frown deepened. “How come you’ve never told me about him then?”

“I don’t see him that much.” Nike scratched his head and looked down at his feet. Man, he was a crappy liar.

Jess wrapped her arms around his waist, seemingly unaware of his lock-me-up-and-throw-away-the-key expression. “Mikey wanted you to know that he’s sorry for what Tama did. He was really upset about Maia getting hurt. He said Tama’s gang chased her into the video store.”

Nike’s jaw set. “Did he mention any names?”

“Only Sledge and Tama.”

He stared at her in disbelief. “Sledge wuz there?”

“Yep, he helped Tama kick down the door to get at Maia.”

Nike clenched his hands. What the hell was wrong with Sledge? The guy’s own mother had been killed in a knife attack; he should have helped Maia not Tama.

“Wait till Ash finds out,” he said. “He’ll rip his bro a new hole.”

Jess grimaced. “You want lunch now?”

“No, get Jakey. I wanna go visit Maia before headin’ back to Ash’s.”

“But, I don’t want you goin’ there again.”

“I’ve already told ja Ash is a mate—”

“I don’t care! The police should deal with this, not you.”

“The police? They’ll do jack shit.”

“Only cos you don’t give them a chance.”

“I’m gettin’ Jakey and we’re leavin’ now.” Nike headed for the house.

“Nike!” She followed him inside.

He picked up Jake and walked past her.

“Will ya stop ignorin’ me,” she shouted.

He opened the van and strapped Jake into his carseat.

“Nike!”

He turned around. “I’m doin’ this whether you like it or not, so lay off!” He swore under his breath as Jess started to cry. “Shit, don’t do that.” He went to pull her into his arms.

“Don’t touch me.”

“Jess, baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at ya. But, I hafta do this or those arseholes will keep doin’ this shit to my family. You know what Tama’s like, and his mates are just as bad. And, I’m only goin’ over there to tell Ash—”

“I don’t see why you can’t do all that over the phone.”

Nike rubbed his forehead. “Ash needs to be told in person. What Sledge did will hit him hard.”

“But—”

“Please, Jess, just trust me.”

She wiped her eyes. “I’m scared.”

He pulled her into his arms. “I know, but Tama won’t go back there now. So, there’s no need to worry.”

“I couldn’t handle it if I lost you.”

He kissed the top of her head and gave her a squeeze. “That ain’t gonna happen.”

13

Maia

Maia lay in her hospital bed, staring at the wall. She felt like crap. Not only did her back hurt like crazy, but she had an enormous headache, the type brought on by a skinny white bitch constantly whinging. She wished Stella would quit making her feel guilty. She didn’t mean to puke on her; it was the damn medication’s fault, not hers. Plus, she’d apologised enough.

“That cow did a shitty job,” Stella whined. “I can still smell your disgusting spew. I reckon she did it on purpose. The snobby bitch was constantly patronising me when all I was doin’ was tryin’ to help her.”

Maia rolled her eyes. She understood perfectly why the nurse had gotten annoyed. Stella wouldn’t stop swearing the whole time the nurse and janitor were cleaning up.

Stella continued, “Man, you’d think I was fuckin’ five years old with the way she was talking. I hate being patronised.” She stopped for a moment. “Oi! Are you listening to me? Turn around.”

Maia closed her eyes.

“I said, turn around.”

“I’ve got a headache. Leave me alone.”

“
You
got a headache? Bloody ‘ell, I’m the one with the banged up head.”

“Fuck off!”

“I beg your pardon.”

Maia opened her eyes and stared up at an annoyed looking nurse. It was the same woman Stella had sworn at.

Maia grinned before she could stop herself. “Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

The nurse glowered. “I don’t think that kind of language is funny, young lady.”

Man ... her involuntary grin always got her into trouble. And no one believed her when she tried to tell them she wasn’t being rude. Especially her stupid teachers. The amount of times she’d gotten detention because of it pissed her off. In the end it was just easier to skip school. Well, until that stupid counsellor had upset her mum. Prick.