Thief (52 page)

But why was there that still persistent nag at my heart? Maybe it was because I still had a picture of him in my mind of what he used to be. Before my mother died, he’d kept a job, even if it wasn’t a good one and didn’t pay very well. He wasn’t always the friendliest, but he’d worked hard and kept us kids in line. It was what you’d want in a dad, at the least.

How could he dare ask me to stay, and beg me with those eyes that look struck and horrified? After all the fights? After becoming a bum and forcing us to cart him around while we barely survived? He’d given up on us.

“You have about a month,” I said as coolly as I could muster. I could leave him that at least. It relieved some of the guilt over abandoning him like a helpless animal. “The hotel room has been paid until then. If you don’t cause too much trouble, and they don’t have a reason to kick you out.”

Jack’s lips twisted and his head jerked back. “You shrewd girl. You’ve been holding back money? Paid a month? For this place?”

“Come on, Kayli,” Marc urged. He reached out for my wrist and tugged. “We should go.”

“You’re an idiot,” Jack called after me. “The rent is outrageous here. I was going to move us somewhere else. After the next check came in, I was going to...”

I turned from Marc, looking back at Jack. What was he babbling about? “What check?”

Jack shook his head. “You think you’re going to get a dime from me? You’ve got to be kidding. After all I’ve done to teach you to fend for yourself.”

“Teach me?” I asked. My shoulders drew back and I pointed a finger at him. “You mean drinking all our money and getting into fights at night until we were nearly out in the street? You couldn’t afford a cardboard box.”

“Stop, Kayli,” Marc said, tugging again, gentler this time. “He’s just egging you on.”

“What check?” I asked Jack again.

“You think I need you?” Jack shoved a finger back at my face. “It doesn’t matter if Wil is here as long as he’s going to school and the cops don’t catch him living somewhere. And if you’re both off on your own, then the state may reduce it, but I can still live on...”

It was like ice water striking at my very heart. “You...” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You get checks from the state?”

“You think I do nothing around here?” he bellowed. “You think I can’t support myself? You think your little contribution makes you tough shit?”

I smashed fists against my thighs to stop myself from hurling them at his face. My mouth clamped shut and I was biting my tongue so hard, I tasted the blood boiling inside me. “How long?” I managed to utter.

“None of your business what I do with my money,” he said. “You dropped out of school and have been running around and when I stopped providing for you and your brother, you straightened up and worked and finally started contributing.”

Raven held up a hand between us. “This isn’t the time for this. Wil is still gone.”

But the revelation struck me hard. My father had lied to me. Lied about having money. He lost his job, and didn’t even try to look for another one. It’s why I’d dropped out of school. I’d started working part time jobs where I could get them. And when it wasn’t enough, I started stealing what I needed by picking pockets at the mall. Even then, we got kicked out of our old apartment and Jack convinced us we should stay at the hotel until we found another. But this whole time, I had been the only one paying the bills and contributing. Jack left nearly every afternoon when the bars opened to drink and pay for hookers out of the money I’d brought home for rent.

And now he tells me he’s been getting government assistance all along. Possibly using me and Wil the entire time as the state helped pay for what we needed. Only the money went to Jack. He must have drank it all. Gave it away to those hookers.

My rage bubbled over. I lunged at him. I wailed. I screamed. Marc tried to pull me back, but I wrenched myself free. Raven dropped my bags and wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me back, but not before I clawed at Jack’s face with a good swipe. Even then, it wasn’t enough.

“How could you?” I screamed at him as Raven started carrying me to the door. “We needed you and you kept it all to yourself? We were starving!”

“Get out!” Jack bellowed after me. “Ungrateful little shithead!”

A slew of curses fell from my lips as Raven towed me out. I fought him, but not as hard as I could have because he wasn’t the one I wanted to kill.

I was a mess, upside down, eyes seeing red and choking on sobs as Raven brought me to the parking lot. Marc followed, carrying the book bags that Raven had dropped. His head was down as he stared at his feet as we left. He opened the truck and threw my bags into the back seat. Raven put me down in the passenger side and then shoved me over until I was in the middle.

Raven got inside, slamming the door. “
Skatert'yu doroga
.”

“Good riddance is right,” Marc said. He jammed the keys into the slot and started the truck.

I sat back against seat. My eyes were open and I was staring at the windshield, but I wasn’t really looking at anything. I was trying to contain the anger that now threatened to consume everything inside of me.

I’d been gripping Raven’s thigh after he got in. As he settled, he snatched up my hand and squeezed. Then he opened up his arm and pulled me into him until I was leaning against his chest. He gripped at my shoulder, clutching me.

I let him. And in a way, his strength allowed some of my anger to flow away. Marc drove and then glanced at us. His hand drifted out, and he gripped my knee.

None of us said anything. We didn’t need to. We all knew.

I’d never see Jack again.

But what about Wil?

T
he
A
cademy

The Ghost Bird Series

Push and Shove

Book Six

Coming June 2014

Written by C. L. Stone

Published by

Arcato Publishing

––––––––

T
he fight started with a shout further down the hallway. The words were slurred and the dialect was too different for me to understand, since this was South Carolina, and I was from Illinois. The shout was angry and threatening, which was enough for me to understand something was terribly wrong.

Victor must have understood what was said, because instead of continuing to the staircase, he turned, scanning the crowd with his fire eyes lit up to a brilliant roar, aware and focused. I followed his gaze to a thicker part of the crowd that had stopped.

Two boys punched each other. One of them had very red skin, like he had a terrible sunburn. I didn’t know their names, but recognized both of them. They hung out together in the courtyard. I had thought they were close friends. Now the red kid swung a fist at his friend’s face, and the other retaliated by slamming his book bag at him, full force.

“Victor?” I asked, though my voice had disappeared amid the noise of the crowd.

Victor squeezed my hand. He had a lean figure, slim in the hips. His brown wavy hair was swept back in a stylish way that suited him: an almost-famous pianist and local celebrity. His arching eyebrows capped his brown eyes, lit up with a fire from within and warming when he gazed at me. “Go to gym class, Sang,” he said.

“Don’t get into a fight,” I said.

“I’m just going to watch unless someone gets too hurt.” He leaned in and kissed my cheek quickly before anyone noticed. My heart warmed a little. “Let me do my job. Don’t stop until you get to class.”

I nodded, wanting to stay with him, but knowing my interfering could make things worse. I distracted them enough from their Ashley Waters job, part of which meant school security. The fighting boys didn’t seem to be interested in anyone else, but I was glad Victor was going to watch over it. Victor was going to time to see when teachers and administrators reacted to this fight, monitor who started it, and turn in a report to Mr. Blackbourne.

I left Victor to the fight, knowing he had his cell phone and could call in assistance if he needed it. I crossed my fingers he didn’t need to.

Cell phones had become a problem for us lately. The boys had gotten a security update that they included me in on. We were to avoid using them if possible, and absolutely no Academy business, in code or otherwise, was to be conducted by phone. We had to appear as normal as possible. Normal was uninteresting to anyone who might be listening in.

I weaved my way around gawking students and headed down the stairs. I tried to move quickly and not be noticed. I was having a hard time being invisible and not getting noticed lately. I didn’t think I was anything out of the ordinary. My hair had a slight wave, was dirty blond, a color that Gabriel often said was chameleon-like, as it changed depending on the lighting. I was a little short, which made things easier dodging around students. I did my best not to attract attention.

My fingers hovered over the phone planted in my bra. Touching the cell phone made me feel like I wasn’t too far away from any of the boys. I waited for a chance to get through a narrow point in the hallway.

A bony shoulder jabbed hard against mine, striking with enough force to knock me back. Unbalanced, I fell, landing in an ungraceful mess on the tile. My book bag slid off my shoulders, and the skirt I was wearing skidded up high on my hips.

“Oh,” a female voice said. I glanced up, spotting a familiar pair of disapproving eyes and dark hair. “It’s you.” Her tone implying that she had been fully aware who she’d bumped into.

“Jade.” Jay materialized next to her. He had a shaved head and a hulking figure. I remembered him being on the football team. He frowned at her. “Don’t be such an ass. It’s ugly.”

“Excuse me,” Jade snapped at him. She glared, nearly baring her teeth. “I was trying to get to class. She stepped in my way.”

“She’s Rocky’s girl.” Jay stooped, and without asking, he took my arm. His eyes were cold with distrust, but something lingered behind them. Respect? Loyalty? Responsibility?

I let him pull me to my feet. My cheeks were on fire. I wanted to correct him about being with Rocky. I hadn’t seen either of them in a while. Rocky was handsome, but he was assertive and, to me, too assuming. And the last time I’d seen him, he’d had Jade in his lap. I thought
they
were together.

Still, Jay was being nice, so I didn’t want to contradict him. “Thank you,” I said softly.  

Jay’s head tilted, quietly studying my face as if trying to determine if I was being sincere or not.

“She’s not Rocky’s girl,” Jade uttered with a coolness. “She’s with Silas. Or that muscular guy with the red hair. Or that punk kid with the gay earrings.” She raked her fingernails through her hair, as if trying to make sure it wasn’t out of place. “Honestly, I can’t keep up with which one of those courtyard retards she’s dating.”

“Two of which are on the team,” Jay said. He turned to her. “You’re a cheerleader. So stop talking shit about the team.”

Jade’s eyes flashed at his face. If I ever thought someone could throw daggers with a look, she could do it. She squared her shoulders at me. “Just so you know, the football team’s Friday night party is at my house. I want to keep it a small party. Cheerleaders and football players only. No friends or girlfriends.” Her thick, ruby lips parted into a cold smile. “No offense.”

I blinked at her, unsure of what she expected me to say. “Okay,” I said softly again. I broke my gaze with her, trying to appear unconcerned about the obvious rejection to something I hadn’t even known about.

Only, I realized her decision meant North and Silas would be there alone. And North and Silas didn’t know my suspicions about Jade and how she might have spiked my water at the last party, the one North ended up drinking and had reacted so badly from.

“It’s my house, too,” Jay said.

“And it’s my party this weekend,” Jade snapped back. “My party, my rules. I only support the team, not their bitches.”

Jade and Jay moved on up the stairs. They were siblings? I didn’t catch the family resemblance. Jay wasn’t exactly the warmest person I’d ever met, but Jade was most certainly one of the coldest. I couldn’t believe they were related.

The bell rang, and I started jogging to get to the locker room. The lucky thing about having gym class was if I happened to be a few minutes late, no one noticed as long as I was dressed and ready when class started.

“There you are,” Karen said. She sat on a bench between the lockers and was tying on her tennis shoes. Her brown pixie hair was a little messed up in the front. Karen’s eyes swept over me once. “You okay? Your skirt’s all messed up. Or is it a new fashion I don’t know about?”

“There was...” I paused, still feeling rattled about Jade. I blushed. I didn’t often attract attention and I wasn’t sure what to do about Jade. I never talked to her. I didn’t even try to. But she seemed determine to single me out. “Do you know a girl named Jade?” I asked.

Karen’s soft brown eyes widened. “Don’t tell me she’s trying to talk you into joining the squad.”

I shook my head. “No. She doesn’t really like me.”

“She doesn’t like anyone who isn’t a cheerleader. I don’t think she likes most of the cheerleaders, either. And the feeling is pretty much mutual for everyone.”

I took my gym clothes out, and out of a need to use the restroom and to get two things done at once, I dashed to the stalls on the other side of the locker room. When I was finished and returned to my locker to put my clothes away, Karen was still there, dressed and waiting.

“How come you always go into a stall?” Karen asked.

“I don’t always,” I said.

“You do it before and after gym.”

“I had to use the restroom,” I said, though now when I thought about it, perhaps I did use the stalls to change. “It’s a habit.”

Karen shrugged and stood up. She was taller than me, and with her lean, athletic body, I thought she’d join a sports team, but she told me she was too busy for that sort of thing. She nudged at my shoulder. “Let’s go before we’re late.”

At her touch, I clammed up. I don’t know what came over me. I hurried, as though doing as she told so we weren’t tardy. In reality, I just wanted to keep a distance from her for some reason. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I noticed it as the weeks into school progressed. While we did talk, we never became close. I often ran out of things to say and we spent time staring at other students in class and not talking at all. I had a rough time with making friends, but it was better with Karen who was sweet and friendly; this was about as close I’d ever gotten to a friendship with a girl.