Authors: Cindy Pon

Tags: #YA, #fantasy, #diverse, #Chinese, #China, #historical, #supernatural, #paranormal

Serpentine (34 page)

Surely Ben knows better.

I meet Dane’s gaze. “I’m lucky to have you looking out for me.”

He grins. “Yes you are. Should we go find Ben?”

“Do you mind if we just chill here for a while first?” The truth is, between school, work, my earlier search, and treating Dane’s wound, I’m exhausted.

“Whatever you need.”

Gratitude pours out in the form of a sigh. I lean my head back against the concrete block wall to rest. Edgar, my twenty-five pound Maine Coon, climbs around in my lap and lies down. He’s too big to fit, but that doesn’t stop him from trying.

Shirt and shoes discarded, Dane flops on top of Ben’s sleeping bag a few feet away. His long dreads spill across his brown, tatted shoulders. From this angle, he looks like the monster from the movie
Predator
. The thought makes me smile.

He’s snoring in minutes. I’ve lost count how many nights he’s slept over. Though his father owns a physical house, the fact he prefers our storeroom floor says everything about his home life. The unforgiving linoleum digs into my tailbone through my thin sleeping bag, and I shift, exacting a complaint from Edgar, whose weight puts my legs to sleep.

My cat purrs, his whiskers vibrating with the contented sound as I stroke his black fur. I wish I were as unconcerned, but honestly, I’m too keyed up over Ben’s prolonged absence to think of much else. Anytime he’s missing longer than forty-eight hours, bad things happen. A grueling night of searching turned up nothing, so we wait here. School starts in a few hours, but I won’t sleep.

Pounding on the back door sends Edgar scrambling for the corner. Dane’s up in seconds, chest heaving, my baseball bat clenched in his hand. I hold up a palm and slowly step to the back door. The one leading to the alley reserved for loading and deliveries. “Who’s there?” I ask.

“Jacob. Let me in!”

Fingers tangle as I unbolt the lock and push the door wide. Jacob stands in the sickly orange glow of a buzzing street lamp in a rumpled trench coat. His green Cutlass idles in the background. Hanging limp at his side is Ben. “Come inside,” I whisper.

Dane drops the bat and rushes forward. His stitches might rip, but there’s no use trying to stop him. He lifts my unconscious stepfather like he’s a small child and lays him on the other sleeping bag. His body is too thin, wasting from addiction and despair. His clothes are covered in black smears. A purple bruise blooms like an inkblot across his forehead. His nose and lip are busted.

“Is he okay?” Dane asks what I can’t. I rub my forehead where an ache starts, weary of this scene.

Jacob hitches his broad shoulders, stretching his fleshy neck to one side. I feel for him. As my stepfather’s oldest friend, I’ve lost count of the times he’s brought Ben home. “Took a beating, but yeah, he’ll be okay.”

I stare at Ben’s listless form on the floor. He stinks of cheap booze and body odor. It’s hard to get really clean in the little sink in our half bath, not that he tries.

“Raven?”

My head snaps up. I have no idea how long Jacob has been calling my name. “Sorry, what?”

“There’s more.” He rubs his neck and stretches again. “I hate to tell you this kiddo, but Ben hawked your mother’s wedding ring last night.” My chin drops. “Well, you don’t think I’d let him pawn it in my
shop, do you? Don’t you look at me like that!”

“Sorry, I just—”

“I know, sweetie. Lost every dime in a poker game.” He shakes his head, stroking a hand down his ample belly. “I never thought he’d give up your momma’s ring, never that.” My heart cramps with every word. “He left the casino but showed up again an hour later, begging for a chance to win his money back. When they told him to get out, he went wild, tore the place up. He was so drunk, he … started a fire. It was an accident, but the place went up like a match. Thousands in damage. I can’t see any way out for him this time.”

An arm comes around my shoulder, and I lean into it. The next thing I know I’m sitting Indian-style on the floor, staring at Ben. How did I get here? My cheeks are wet. My chest tightens in a vise grip of fear, and I release a sob. I’m so tired. All I want is to curl up and sleep. Forget.

“It’s okay, Jacob, I’ll stay with her.”

Dane? His voice is distorted, as if he’s floating somewhere above me. Wouldn’t that be nice? All of us floating away together, like puffy clouds on a summer’s day.

“Will they arrest him now?” Dane asks.

“These people don’t arrest you, boy. They make you disappear, you know that. Best to get him out of town. Oh, Ben had a letter with him …”

I glance up at Jacob. Our old friend pulls a thin, white envelope from his coat pocket. “Give it to me,” I say.

He hesitates, gaze darting from Dane to me and back.

“It’s all right, guys. I need to know.” Dane nods to Jacob, and the letter finds its way into my hand. I’m not sure how long I sit there. Shoes scuff the dull linoleum. I’m vaguely aware when the door clicks shut behind Jacob as he leaves. Outside, his motor revs, and then fades as he drives away. The letter still waits in my shaking hand.

“Give it here, little Rae.” Dane pries the envelope from my tightly clenched fingers. “We’ll read it together, want to?”

Edgar curls up next to Ben still crumpled on the floor. I don’t speak. I can’t.

Mr. Benjamin Edward Weathersby,

This letter is an attempt to collect a debt. Please meet me in my office at 11:00
AM
Friday morning on September 21st to discuss my terms for your restitution. The judgment has been recorded and documented in my ledger and needs to be paid.

Come alone. Do not contact the authorities, do not sign the payment arrangement attached to this letter, and do not respond to this communication in any way other than to meet me in person. If you fail to appear, I will take whatever action necessary to collect the debt owed me.

Sincerely,

G. N. Maddox

Blood turns to slush in my veins, thick, barely moving, slowing my ability to hear, or breathe, or think.
The
Mr. G. N. Maddox. Are the rumors true? Crime boss, ruthless killer, an evil beast incapable of compassion or mercy. Of all the people Ben could owe … I stare at my hands. My fingers quake, but I can’t feel them. Everything’s gone numb.

Ben. I can’t lose him.

“What is today?” I ask. My voice is quiet but hard as an ice pick. Every sacrifice I’ve made to hold on to what’s left of my family seems in vain.

“September 21st. That meeting’s four hours away.” Dane drops down on my sleeping bag. “There’s no way Ben can make it, Raven. Look at him.”

“It doesn’t matter, bro. Can you check on him after school today? I’m going to skip.”

“Why?” He props himself up on his elbows. “I’m almost afraid to ask what you’re planning in that stupid, stubborn head of yours.”

“Ben’s not going to make the meeting at Mr. Maddox’s house this morning.”

Dane scowls as if he knows what’s coming, and I think he does.

“I am.”

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