Light Unshaken (Unveiled #2) Page 13

  I kicked off the wall and stood before Trey. A deep inhale of exhaust-tainted air broadened my shoulders. “Dee’s worth the cost. All the kids are.”

  Trey cupped my face. Parenthesis-shaped wrinkles bookended a smile that looked pained. “You’re a treasure, Emma.” He swallowed something unsaid and turned. “It shows in the performance review I just submitted for you. They’d be crazy not to give you an A.”

  His voice betrayed his light tone.

  “I don’t care about any of that.”

  He stopped and faced me. “You should. You urge Dee to protect his future, but what about yours?”

  My throat constricted. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying maybe we should end your internship a little early. You’ve certainly earned your experience.” He waded through the debris toward the utility closet.

  My mind sprinted ten steps ahead of my frozen body. “What? You . . . ? No.” I ran after him.

  “Trey, no. I’m not doing this just for experience. Or grades. Or my future. This—this place, the work we’re doing here—this is my life right now.” The one constant. “I won’t work past six. I’ll always have someone walk me out.” I rested a hand over his and nodded. “Please.”

  He squeezed my fingers. “You’re brave, kid. I’ll give you that.” He retrieved a broom from the closet.

  I stole one for myself and squared off beside him. “Thought I was stubborn.”

  His Cosby laugh billowed across the open-walled court. “That too, my dear. In full spades. I tried to warn Riley.”

  The chain fence rattled. Trey swept in front of me like a body guard.

  On the sidewalk, A. J. reached for his mouth. “What the—?”

  “Tito, that’s what,” I said from behind Trey’s shoulder.

  A. J.’s knuckles whitened around the fence links, his face the exact opposite shade. “What are we still doing here? Those punks could be nearby.”

  The fence shook as he pushed off it.

  “Stop.” Trey strode forward with the authority of a commanding officer. “This isn’t your fight.”

  A. J.’s glance bounced from me to the vandalized court and back. “The hell it isn’t.” He jerked toward the street again. “I let those two kids get away last time. Not again.”

  Trey slid in front of him. “There were only two of them last time. Not a whole gang.”

  A. J. turned. “We don’t know how many are out there.”

  “Exactly,” Trey said.

  He squeezed the fence again. “So, you’re just gonna let them win?”

  Trey set a solid grip on his shoulder and held out a broom. “Not all fights are won with your fists.”

  He examined the broom as if Trey’d handed him something from outer space. “You want me to win this fight by cleaning? You can’t be serious. They might be watching us right now.”

  Trey turned. “Oh, I’m counting on it.”

  A. J. lumbered onto the court behind him. He tossed his hat on the ground and raked his fingers through his hair. “You’ve got a strange way of looking at things, man.”

  The sound of footsteps from the walkway butted into Trey’s husky laugh.

  This time, two bodyguards stood post in front of me.

  I pushed through their shoulders. “Dee? What do you think you’re doing here?”

  He shrugged. “My mom told me what happened.”

  “You can’t just come parading down the streets at night. You could’ve been hurt.”

  Dee shook his coat off his shoulders, baring his stocky muscles. “Think I can handle myself on the streets.”

  Were he and A. J. like brothers, or what?

  Dee flicked his chin at the mess around us. “Trashing your car wasn’t enough for him?”

  Trey swept up a small square of debris. “Apparently not.”

  Dee mumbled something in Spanish and hit the fence.

  “Hey,” Trey yelled. “You wanna flex those muscles? Here.” He shoved him his broom.

  A. J. laughed at Dee’s expression and rubbed a hand over his head. “Don’t argue, bro.”

  Trey retrieved trash bags and dustpans from the closet. The four of us paired up and got to work on opposite ends of the court.

  We wouldn’t be able to remove all traces of the vandalism before tomorrow, but we’d do the best we could. The kids deserved that much, and we couldn’t afford to let the Success Duo see any more of Tito’s handiwork.

  Dee dumped a dustpan full of litter into a bag. “I’m sorry, Miss E.”

  “It’s cool.” I pointed a thumb at A. J. “You should’ve seen Mr. Macho’s reaction when he first got here.”

  “No, I mean for this.” Dee motioned toward the middle of the court and the wreckage covering it. “This is my fault.”

  “Oh, really?” I leaned on my broom’s wooden handle. “You ordered Tito to do this?”

  “No, but—”

  I raised a brow. “That’s what I thought. We each make our own choices. You know that.”

  He twisted two sides of a black trash bag and compacted the garbage with his knee. His gaze swept around the court and landed on Trey. “He’s not gonna press charges, is he?”

  I pushed the sweaty hair away from my forehead with my sleeve. “Like I said. We all make our own choices.”

  Dee tied the ends of the garbage bag into a tight knot. “He’s right. Fighting with Tito ain’t gonna change nothing. Maybe I should just man up and talk to him. Show him how different things could roll if he came here.”

  “Oh, Dee, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” This was about the center, but it was personal too. He could be hurt or worse.

  He rose. “You guys took me in. Why not him?”

  My palms dragged down the chipped broom handle. Was he kidding?

  “You aren’t Tito.” I picked at a splinter on my thumb. “You’re different.”

  He shrugged. “Not really.”

  “How can you say that?”

  He heaved the garbage bag onto his shoulder. “’Cause it’s what you taught me. We all need grace, right?”

  In such a short time, I’d watched the anticipation of believing things could change replace the doubt that’d caged him. Every moment spent with him exposed how little I really understood about courage.

  The splinter in my skin didn’t come close to the one digging into my heart. The chime of an incoming text pushed it in even deeper. I knew Riley’d need some time to think after our last conversation. He had more to process than just the fact that I’d been bruised up by gang members. He had to process through the reason why I’d waited so long to tell him.

  I swiped the screen. My heart plummeted at the sight of Jaycee’s name instead of Riley’s.

  You ok? Where are you?

  She expected me home an hour ago. No wonder she was worried. I typed a quick reply and pocketed my phone again.

  The day’s stress soaked into the shadows overtaking the back corner of the court. “We all need grace.” Dee’s words settled over me. Would that same grace cover me too? I faced the dark sky. Some things were easier to believe in daylight.

  chapter nineteen

  Bruised

  Last night’s manual labor ached in muscles my usual workouts at the gym obviously missed. Sitting in this stiff chair all afternoon sure hadn’t helped. Stationed at my desk, I rotated from side to side to stretch out my back.

  At least Trey’d agreed to let me stay on. With constant supervision, of course.

  My cell sat on a notepad beside me. No notifications. I tapped the side of my keyboard, debating whether I should call Riley. Would he even answer? But what if this whole time he’d been waiting on me? Scooping up my phone, I swiveled toward the wall and waited while one ring led into another. His all too familiar voicemail stood in for him.

  My voice dropped with my chin. “Hey, just, um, wanted to talk.” Wanted to make sure there was still something to talk about. The screen door shuddered behind me. “Call me when you have time.�
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  I hung up and turned right as little Andre came toppling into the office from the basketball court. He bounded headfirst into A. J.’s legs. My pinched lips wouldn’t have held back my smile if I tried, not with that precious face stealing my heart. Achy muscles were nothing compared to my return on investment with these kids. Same as studying for the PSATs with Dee would be. They were worth focusing on. I shut my cell and questions about Riley in a side drawer for now.

  On his desk phone, Trey stared into his mug and swept off his cap. The overhead light caught a few silver hairs I didn’t remember seeing before. He took a sip of coffee that had to have trespassed way beyond the lukewarm stage by this point in the day.

  He clamped the phone to his ear with his shoulder and massaged his temples. “Yes, sir, I know when the rent is due. I—” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I understand, Mr. Glyndon. I hate putting you in this position too.”

  His chair creaked upright. “Mm hmm.” He leafed through a pile of bills I’d given him earlier, dropped them back on his desk, and shook his mouse.

  Poring over the computer screen, he adjusted his glasses. “I promise to have a payment to you by the end of the week.” He pulled a pen cap off with his teeth and jotted something down. “Yes . . . yes, sir. Will do. We’ll see you then.”

  The handset clicked into its base. Trey unwound his finger from the spiraled cord, but the stress on his face didn’t come close to unraveling as easily. He met my anxious eyes, directed my attention toward Andre, and shook his head as if to say, not now.

  The side door opened. Dee slipped in with his hood pulled over his hat.

  The repercussions of Trey’s phone call could wait a little longer. I unburied a booklet from beneath a pile of paper. “Hey, I was just thinking of you. Ready to tackle the PSAT prep course?”

  Dee started for the classroom without lifting a glance my way. “I’m not taking them.”

  “What?”

  Trey and A. J. both returned my confused stare.

  I headed after him. “Dee, wait.”

  Keeping his head down, he tugged on the bill of his hat to shield his face. I cut him off at the door. He pulled his arm away from my hand. “Just forget it, a’ight? It’s not gonna happen. Never was.”

  “What are you talking about? I don’t understand. I thought—”

  “You thought wrong.” He looked at me then. The light caught the sheen of blood on a gash in his lip that had barely started to scab. Dark bruises discolored the skin swollen around his left brow. More than any physical wound, the fractured look in his eyes cut the deepest. Whatever fight he’d been in, he’d taken my heart through it too.

  I covered my mouth and reached for him. “Dee.”

  He flinched from my touch. “I’m a thug, Miss E. The streets is where I belong. Not some college.”

  How could he say that? Crestfallen, I turned to Trey.

  He nodded and lifted Andre onto his hip. “How ‘bout we work on that dunk you’ve been practicing?” He motioned for A. J. to follow them out back.

  The room fell quiet again. “You went to talk to Tito, didn’t you?”

  Dee kicked the baseboard and let out a rueful laugh. “Naw. He sent Hugo and Mark to pay me a visit. Roughed up my pad. If my mom had been there . . .” He yanked his hood off and mumbled in Spanish. “They said Tito was doin’ me a favor. Remindin’ me who I am. Where I belong.”

  I brushed my thumb over the cuts on his knuckles. He winced but didn’t pull away. “You can’t let them bully you.”

  “You don’t think I’m trying?” He backed up, shook his head. “You don’t know nothin’ ‘bout how things roll here.”

  I swallowed the sting. “Maybe not, but I know you.” I lifted his chin until he met the certainty in my eyes. “And I believe in what I see.”

  A rap at the door drew us both around.

  Mr. Brake stepped in, slid his Newsboy cap off, and scanned the room.

  What was he doing here? Taking some kind of inventory again?

  “Trey’s out back.” I headed for the door. “Let me grab him—”

  “Don’t bother. I’m not staying.” He strode past me. “Someone broke into my daughter’s car last night. Used the same M. O. as with Mr. Williams’s car.” He peered outside toward the frayed basketball net.

  My blank stare trailed from him to Dee and back again.

  “She saw the bastard from her apartment window. Said he looked like he’d been in a fight.” His brown eyes paraded over Dee’s broken face. His knuckles whitened. Trembling, he took two strides toward him. “If you ever come near my daughter again, so help me.”

  Dee looked backhanded. “I didn’t do nothin’ to your daughter or her car.”

  Jim released his balled-up fists, visibly fighting to uphold his composure. He straightened his tie. “I told Mr. Williams to be careful who he let in here.”

  My nails dug into my palms. “Excuse me?”

  His briefcase brackets clicked open. He laid a piece of paper on Trey’s desk, business-mode taking over again. “We only support organizations that set up the next generation for success.” He flicked his chin in Dee’s direction. “Not ones that perpetuate failure.”

  I blinked. Twice. Voice lost.

  Dee’s busted lip twitched beneath glassy eyes. He tugged his hood back on and grazed Jim’s shoulder on his way out.

  “Dee, wait.”

  Mr. Brake stood in my path and motioned to the rejection notice he’d left on Trey’s desk. “I trust you’ll make sure Mr. Williams gets this?”

  My temples throbbed. I glared at him. “You don’t know a thing about this place, about these kids.”

  He secured his cap over his balding head. “I know they just cost you a grant.”

  Teeth gritted, I started to shake, angrier at his arrogance than at Tito’s. “Get. Out.”

  The screen door swung open. Mr. Brake nodded to someone behind me and backed out the way he came in.

  I turned, and A. J. caught me in his arms. Trey blurred out of focus in front of me.

  Perpetuating failure? That pompous jerk had some nerve. I didn’t care how it looked. He should’ve gotten the facts first. Why’d he bother flaunting a chance of success if he’d discounted the kids at first glance? He was the one perpetuating failure. Not Dee.

  Dee. I pushed off A. J. “I have to find him.”

  “Em—”

  Trey grabbed A. J.’s arm. “Let her go.”

  I hustled outside and down to the main street. Beside a metal trashcan in front of our neighbor’s, Dee sat on the curb with his head in his hands. I inched toward him, not knowing what to say except that I wanted to make it all go away. Every bruise, seen and unseen.

  I joined him on the curb and rested my arm against his in place of words that wouldn’t come.

  He rubbed his cuff under his nose. “Don’t worry ‘bout it. It ain’t nothin’ I never heard before.”

  “That doesn’t mean it’s true.”

  Quiet minutes drifted into the last of the day’s light, disintegrating behind the building opposite us. Even in the hardest of moments, friendship was a gift. One with a tag that read, no words necessary.

  A smile gradually found its way to Dee’s face. He pressed his arm into mine. “Courageous?”

  “Courageous,” I whispered back. “Things are gonna work out, Dee.”

  Somehow.

  chapter twenty

  Swagger

  Sitting through my Monday classes should’ve sped up the hours keeping me away from the center. With Mr. Success’s bombshell from Saturday still lurking in the background, it was hard to focus on anything else. I’d even stopped checking my phone for texts from Riley. I couldn’t take more than one hurdle at a time.

  Thankfully, Trey managed to scrape enough funds together to appease our landlord. For now. At least it bought us some extra time to come up with a game plan.

  I breathed a little lighter once I settled in at the office.

  Trey traipsed
by my computer monitor. “Scoping out a new college to transfer to?”

  “Funny. I’m researching schools with good computer graphics programs. I promised Dee I’d help him look into some colleges after he takes the PSATs.”

  Trey sorted through a handful of mail. “Aren’t those coming up?”

  “Mm hmm.” I tapped the applications I’d printed off into a stack. “Which is why I’m going to have these ready for him when he gets his results.”

  “Seem pretty confident. You think he’s ready?”

  “Shoot, after the top-notch tutoring course I’m giving him, he better be.” I laughed, moved a pile of papers aside, and leaned on my arms. “To be honest, I don’t think it’d hold him back even if he failed them. There’s something special about him, Trey. He has this quiet strength that pushes the status quo, even with everything in his life trying to confine him to it.”

  “Not everything in his life.” He lowered his glasses and gave me that infamous father-look. “He pushes boundaries ‘cause you’ve taught him to hope in a future.”

  “Okay, you’re giving me way too much credit there, buddy.”

  Trey held his ground. “He looks up to you.”

  I stared out the window into memories of how terrified I was when he first showed up. So much had changed. “It’s kinda crazy. Dee’s the last person I wanted to build a relationship with. It’s almost like I had to be willing to face my own fears before he was able to do the same.”

  My chewed-up pencil dropped onto my desk. “Wait a sec. You knew, didn’t you? That’s why you paired us up from the beginning.”

  At his desk, Trey angled his bifocals to read the monitor. “Restoration doesn’t usually come without redemption,” he said in his sage-like manner.

  A roar of high-pitched yells from out back ransacked my response. Gazes connected, Trey and I both flew to the basketball court.

  Jamal’s nose almost touched Drew’s. “Man, I do circles ‘round you.”