We were silent for a minute, as the train kept going past. I had to wonder if his friend was killed by one of our guys. Las Balas was one of our sworn enemies, and a lot of shit went down between us.
“I lost my parents, too. It sucks.”
“Yeah. Lily told me. She said you’ve been real good to her, though. Stepped up like a dad and stuff. I didn’t have any brothers or sisters, but I would have done it too, if I had.”
“You don’t really have a choice. You just do what you have to do. Family is family.” The damn train finally passed and the gates went up.
“Look. You seem like a good kid, Scott. Can I give you some advice?”
“Sure.”
“I know you think that you’re in love with Lily. Shit, you might even really be. I don’t know. But she’s sixteen years old. Being a patch in Las Balas isn’t gonna lead you to any kind of life. You’re gonna end up like your friend.”
From his body language, I sensed defensiveness kicking in. “You gotta trust me, here. If I could do it over again…if I could be twenty, I wouldn’t do half the shit I did. If you and Lily are gonna pull through you need to do two things. First, wait until she’s legal, man. Seriously. That shit will get you in prison. Second, stay the hell away from Las Balas. Go back to school or get a job or something. Go straight, get married—not to my sister—have a couple kids and take them to soccer practice. Choose a better life than this.”
He was looking straight at me as I pulled into the parking structure of my apartment complex. “Is that what you want to do? Get out of Outlaw Souls? Choose a better life?”
I took a deep breath before getting out of the car. “I don’t know, kid. Right now I just want to find my sister.”
Thirty-Four
Paige
We got stuck at a stupid train on our way to the freeway. My mom was in the passenger seat and my dad was following behind in the Audi. My mom had thrown a shit fit when he got an R8. He kept saying he got a deal on it because he’d bought it for only $150,000 from another doctor in the office. Bailey called it his “mid-life crisis car.”
I’d been surprised that they brought it to La Playa, but then again, my dad took it whenever they wanted to get somewhere in a hurry. It was a fantastic sports car. I’d only driven it a couple of times, but was very glad he’d taught me how to drive a stick shift when I was in high school.
There wasn’t much traffic on the road, but we were stuck at the damn train track. My mom looked completely drained, as she rested her head back and had her eyes closed. The sun was coming up, and I wondered when was the last time she’d pulled an all-nighter. I could barely remember the last time I’d stayed up to see the sunrise.
“Mom?”
“Hmmm?” she said, eyes still closed.
“Was it hard to love Bailey at first because of how she was conceived?” It wasn’t the kind of question you’d normally ask, but we were both tired and a little numb from the events of the night.
“Not at all. Not even for one minute. As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I saw it as a blessing from God. I didn’t understand why He chose to bring Bailey into this world like that, but it was part of a plan that I didn’t need to understand. When Mary got pregnant, she didn’t understand it either. But she trusted. And as soon as I took one look at your sister’s face, I knew. She was a pure, innocent baby. She deserved…deserves…” She started to cry and couldn’t talk anymore.
I heard the Audi engine revving behind us and I reached out to squeeze her hand. “We’ll find her, Mom. We just have to trust.”
* * *
Betty White was barkingher face off when we pulled in the driveway. Dad opened the garage door of the second garage and pulled the Audi in. It had only been a couple of weeks since I’d been here, but it felt like it had been months.
Mom got out of the car and went in the front door. Betty White came bounding out to greet me, sniffing and licking me. My parents had gotten her from a rescue place that my mom had done some charity work with through the club. She was some kind of mix, but was all white and had blue eyes and had a black and pink nose and tongue. Bailey had named her when she became obsessed with the television show The Golden Girls on the oldies channel.
We walked in the huge double doors and it felt like I was walking back in time. I half expected Bailey to come bounding down the stairs, wearing her backpack and talking about some drama at school.
I wished I had a time machine and could go back to before the concert. I wanted to return to that simpler time when my only concern was whether or not to go to LBCs for burritos after the beach or not.
But those times were gone. I walked into the kitchen and set my stuff down on the island, and looked out the window at the ocean view that was so expansive, you could see Margarita Island in the distance. Somewhere out there in the world was Bailey. If she could have come home, she would have. If she could have texted or called, she would have. But she hadn’t done any of those things, and it was all I could do not to fall apart. I needed to stay strong for my parents.
“There are some bagels in the pantry if you’re hungry,” Mom said.
I shook my head. “I couldn’t eat.”
Dad walked in and said, “Let’s remember to cancel tennis with the Schweigers.”
“That’s right. What should we tell them?”
