Streamline (13 page)

“You know where to find me if you or your brother need anything,” said Marcus. “Don’t be a stranger, Jason. And thanks for getting me out of here last night.”

One more addict — one more caring person
, Jason thought. “
I’m
the grateful one. Thanks for helping us.” 

Jason sat in the rental car, attempting to ignore his pounding heart as Marcus drove away. He had a vague notion of the closest police station, and he headed in that direction. He found it far too quickly. After a few tense minutes gripping the steering wheel, he forced himself to walk inside.

“I’m here to report a crime,” he announced to the officer at the desk.

“Let me get you a report form,” the man said, sounding bored.

“Uh, no — I mean…I’m the one who did the crime.” Jason stumbled over his words. “I guess I’m here to confess.” This time the officer looked more interested. He motioned to another cop, who frisked Jason, then led him down the hallway. They stopped at an office where a tall, voluptuous blonde sat frowning at her laptop. “Detective Easton? This gentleman would like to turn himself in.”

The detective stood, and Jason realized she was only a couple inches shy of his height. After dismissing the officer, she scrutinized Jason. “Are you for real?”

“Yes, ma’am?”

“If this is some sort of fraternity gag, I’ll charge you with obstruc-tion of justice, got it?”

Jason’s eyes widened. He had a live one here. “I wish this was a gag, but it’s not.”

Still squinting at him, she gestured to the chair facing her desk and took a seat. “Okay, I’ll open up a new file, Mister — ?”

“Scott. Jason Scott.”

The detective typed quickly, entering the information she gleaned from her rapid-fire questions. The interrogation had an easy rhythm, and Jason felt his father’s presence lifting off his shoulders as he confessed the details of the theft. Maybe he would finally stay sober.

Then the detective asked who else was involved in stealing the cell phones.

“I can’t say, ma’am. I’m trying to make amends to people I’ve hurt, not get anyone else in trouble.” Her tone softened. “You’re working step number nine, huh?” Jason nodded. “I have a brother in the program. You remind me of him a bit, minus the part about taking responsibility for yourself.

So who’ve you hurt?”

“My mom and brother.”

She nodded, and after a few more questions, Detective Easton read him his rights and arrested him, informing him he’d be placed in a holding cell until he went before a judge. As if on cue, an officer came into the office and hauled Jason to his feet.

“You did the right thing, Mr. Scott,” she said.

Their eyes met for a moment as the officer placed him in handcuffs. “Thank you, ma’am.”

As they walked down the hall, Jason tried to convince himself the detective was correct. After a lifetime of wrongs, he hoped he was finally doing right.

Leo stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, sweating and disoriented. His alarm had interrupted an intense dream of being chased by the police. He was glad Wednesday was the team’s one morning off, but he already felt nervous about afternoon practice.

Actually, he worried about the entire day ahead.

Splashing some cold water on his face, he leaned closer to examine the damage. The cut on his bottom lip looked better, but the gash on his forehead was a deep, angry red and crusted with dried blood.

The bruise on his right cheek had bloomed into shades of purple and gold. Terrific. A loyal Pensacola Panther to the end, he now wore the school colors on his face.

Trudging down the stairs to breakfast, Leo reminded himself that his father had already left to catch an early military transport back to Miramar. He wondered how CS would explain his own colorful face.

A short time later, Leo walked into the high school feeling clear-headed and eager to make a fresh start. He made a beeline for the assistant principal’s office and, taking a deep breath, he knocked and entered.

Mr. Morrison inhaled sharply when he looked up at Leo’s face.

“What happened to you?” He pointed to a chair.

“I got in a fight, sir. It happened off of school property, I promise.”

“Who was it?” When Leo didn’t answer, Mr. Morrison inquired,

“Was it Billy Ryan?”

Leo gave his best poker face. “Let’s just say the other guy looks a lot worse.”

“And you’re proud of that? Violence isn’t the answer, son.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Your once-bright high school career’s gone down the crapper, Leo. What’s this I hear about you being in drug treatment?”

“Sorry, sir. I’ll do better. At least the treatment center let me go early so I don’t have to miss class.” Mr. Morrison appeared distracted by the thick stack of papers on his desk. “Good. First bel ’s about to ring so you better get going.”

“Yes, sir.” He stood to leave.

“Leo? Steer clear of your brother. He’s a bad influence on you.” Leo bristled. “Jason’s a good man, sir. Too bad you don’t see it.” Rushing to chemistry, Leo barely made it to his seat before the bell rang. Mrs. Boyd gave him the arsenic eye as she distributed the tests. Leo panicked — he’d forgotten about today’s exam.

Audrey reached over to pat his thigh before the teacher reached their row of desks.

“That’s not helping with my concentration!” he whispered.

She smiled and removed her hand, turning to sit studiously in her seat. Leo took a deep breath and prepared himself for some creative guessing.

Leo felt sick after the test. He knew he’d bombed it. He gladly shoved his chemistry book into his locker. As he pulled out his government textbook, he noticed Billy Ryan had sidled up next to him.

“Scott,” Billy growled. “Looks like Navy boy finally got what was coming to him.”

Leo struggled for control. He should’ve expected Billy to gloat.

Audrey
had
asked him to take credit for the beating. Having lived for years with a man who followed through on threats of violence, Leo knew Billy was all talk. Nothing had happened in the five months since their altercation.

“Leave me alone.” Leo stared directly at him. Though they were both a little over six feet tall, Billy outweighed Leo by forty pounds.

“I think I need to multiply those bruises, Mr. Mathlete. I didn’t get to experience the real thing.” Bil y squinted. “So who
does
get the credit for busting up that pretty little face?”

“Your dad punched me when he discovered your mom and me together in bed,” Leo deadpanned.

Billy’s black eyes narrowed. “You little punk,” he snarled, stepping closer.

“You want a week’s suspension, Billy?” Leo tilted his head to find Mr. Morrison in the hallway, watching them intently.

Billy patted Leo’s shoulder with a beefy hand. “This ain’t over.”

“Whatever.”

Leo gave Mr. Morrison a defiant glare and headed to his next class. He could come to enjoy this new bad-boy role. Instead of hiding at home, waiting for his bruises to heal while he was “grounded,” sauntering around the high school with his busted face gave him instant credibility and coolness. How screwed up was that?

At lunchtime, Leo joined Audrey, Elaine, and Alex in the cafeteria, where they’d lucked into having the same lunch period for the second semester of their senior year.

Eyeing Leo’s bruises, Elaine asked, “So, where’d Billy corner you?” Leo exchanged an uncomfortable glance with Audrey. “I was actually coming out of Urgent Care as he was coming in — he was getting an x-ray or something. I heard he dropped a dumbbell on his foot in the weight room. Wrong place, wrong time, I guess.”

“You had to go to the doctor to get tested for mono?” Alex asked.

When Leo nodded, he clucked. “That sucks you got slapped around, Leopatra.”

“Do. Not. Call. Me. That.” Leo tried to hide a grin.

“Yeah, you really sound sympathetic, Alexis.” Elaine smirked.

“Shut up, hag!” Alex stuck his tongue out at Elaine.

Audrey stuck to the cover story. “The good news is Leo doesn’t have mono. He can return to practice today.” Alex rol ed his eyes. “I bet you’re excited he doesn’t have the
kis ing
disease
. I don’t care what your orientation is, just keep it to yourself, people, okay? I’m getting tired of you sticking your PDA in my face.” 

To spite Alex, Leo skated his hand through Audrey’s hair and gently drew her close, touching his forehead to hers and planting a loud kiss on her lips. He tasted turkey sandwich on her mouth.

Alex pointed emphatically. “You see? That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Stop flaunting your heterosexuality.”

“Sorry, Alex.” Audrey grinned. “We’ll try not to make you lose your appetite.”

A few hours later, Leo walked out onto the pool deck. It was unseasonably warm for late January, and he soaked in the sunshine as he tightened the string on his drag suit. The smell of chlorine relaxed him, and the clear blue water conveyed a shimmering peace.

His coach’s brusque approach interrupted his reverie.

“What happened to
you?”
Matt asked.

Leo hated lying. “Remember that fight I got into in September?

Well, it was payback time.”

“That Billy Ryan kid? That tool? You could totally take him, Leo.”

“I guess I’m still off my game from the withdrawal.” Matt’s tone softened. “How’s treatment going?”

“Great!” Leo grinned. “Especially since it’s over.”

“
Over?
Treatment can’t be over. It just started.” Leo shrugged. “Mr. Shale said I was doing fine. He didn’t want me to miss so much school, so he told me I’m done.” Matt’s eyebrows lifted. “Well…Good to have you back. You’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

“Yes, sir.” Leo grabbed his mesh equipment bag and headed over to the fast lane. Audrey had already started her warm-up in the lane to the right.

“Hey, Eric.” Leo reached down to shake his hand. “I forgot to tell you your five hundred kicked butt at the invitational on Saturday. Way to go, man.”

Eric looked surprised, then pleased. “Thanks, Leo. I heard you were sick?”

“Yeah.” Leo surveyed the lane ahead. “I was sick.”
Sick in the mind,
body, and soul
. “But I’m better now.” After gingerly pulling on his goggles to avoid the cuts on his face, Leo jumped in. At first the cold water stung the gash on his forehead, but then it washed over his wounds, cleansing him of the pain of the past twenty-four hours.

Leo popped to the surface and began taking sure, strong strokes.

It felt good to be home.

Audrey and her father sat on their respective sides of the visiting booth. “So, Dad, how’s the pregnancy coming along?” After a moment his puzzled look morphed into a smile. “Not so great. It’s hard getting prenatal vitamins inside the joint.” He looked down at his waistline. “Am I showing?” Audrey giggled. “Not yet. Maybe in your second trimester.”

“How’s swimming, honey?”

“Good. We start taper in three weeks!” Audrey couldn’t wait to lighten workouts in preparation for the high school state meet. Though some swimmers got restless or even anxious during taper, Audrey entered the zone. Matt could rely on her to swim her best times when it really counted. Leo, on the other hand, was a crapshoot this year.

Her father smiled as he cradled the phone to his ear. “I know how much you love taper. Matt stil hitting you with a lot of yardage?”

“Yeah, yesterday we did eight one-seventy-five IMs with long rest, trying to beat our goal time for the two hundred IM. My muscles were like jelly. I can’t imagine college practices being much harder.” He brightened. “You decided on college?”

“Yep. Florida State. I’m getting a full ride, and I love it there.” Her father paused. “Why not Northwestern?”

“Because it’s
freezing
there!”

“Okay, okay.” He chuckled. “I just want to make sure the decision’s best for
you
. You don’t have to stay in Florida just because I’m here, at least for now.”

She nodded.

“Will Leo go to FSU as well?”

Audrey’s face fell. “He’s going to the Academy. His father’s making him.”

“
Making
him? That’s a nine-year commitment. I can’t believe James would force him to go.”