“Boy, look at ’em go.”Haze whistled as he watched a gang of motorcycles pass them by. He whooped before he resumed tossing rocks on the boardwalk and watching them scatter.
Gideon didn’t much like the sound of the rumbling engines and how the noise seemed to vibrate his entire body. At ten years old, he was shaping up to be a giant. He was already five feet, ten inches tall and growing every day, so the fact that those loud bikes could shake his whole body never sat right with him.
“Man, come on. We ’posed to be back home by now,” Gideon said as he threw his own rock. It scattered down the boardwalk and dipped off the dock and into the water several yards away.
The boardwalk in Desmore Bay was normally busy this time of night, especially for a Friday night, but because it was closedfor renovations, Haze and Gideon were the only two walking on the deserted street. Those motorcycles were the only vehicles to pass by the boardwalk in the past hour that they had been there.
Haze sucked his teeth and dipped under some construction tape. “You always follow the rules.”
Gideon shrugged. “Ain’t that what they’re there for? To follow them? Plus, yo’ people are cool, man. You should want to listen to them.”
“Rules are meant to be broken,” Haze said with a wicked smile. He and Gideon were polar opposites. Haze loved the thrill of getting in trouble and lived for getting into shit. Gideon was quiet and preferred to play chess or read a book. He wasn’t a punk though. Oftentimes Haze got into some trouble with other neighborhood boys, and Gideon didn’t hesitate to finish it.
Haze was the only friend he had. He was more like a brother than anything. If it wasn’t for him and his family, Gideon would have to spend a lot more time with his grandmother, who was mean as hell. She was his guardian since his father died two years ago. He never knew his mother. She left him when he was only a baby.
When Gideon moved to Desmore Bay from Ellwood, he’d been nervous of the new environment. Haze and his family took to him right away, though, and they made him feel right at home. Since they lived down the street from his grandmother, who lived in the rich part of town, he could easily stay with them as often as he wanted—their words, not his. He did make himself at home, though, respectfully, of course. Living with his rich grandmother who was stingy with her money and mean as hell to him wasn’t his idea of living good.
With the Laurent family, he finally got to see what it was like to be a part of a family. Haze had no idea how good he really had it. Gideon would much rather be at home with them than out there trespassing at the boardwalk.
Gideon stood back and watched as Haze spotted an abandoned forklift from the construction crew earlier that day. Like Gideon knew Haze would, he took off toward the machinery.
“Aw, man.” Gideon groaned as he reluctantly followed his best friend begrudgingly.
Haze had already climbed up on the large machine and was trying to figure out how it turned on.
“Man, the keys aren’t in here.” He kicked the metal from where he sat. “Come on. Let’s go home. Nothin’ to do out here anyway.”
Gideon nodded and watched protectively as Haze jumped down. One thing Gideon was going to do was make sure his people were good.
The ten-minute walk home was pretty much in silence. The boys had a long day at school, and even though Haze would never admit it, he knew they were both tired as hell and ready to eat something and get into bed.
When they finally walked into the Laurent home, Henry Senior was there with a mug on his face.
“And where the hell y’all been?”
“Aw, come on, Dad. We were just walkin’ around,” Haze said, trying to lighten the mood with his charming grin.
Henry had a rolled-up newspaper in his hand. He used it to reach out and pop Haze on the back of the head. Though Gideon hadn’t been hit, he flinched right along with his friend.
“You was ’posed to be home at seven. You’re fifty-three minutes late.” His gaze landed on Gideon, who instantly looked at the floor with guilt written all over his face. He knew they should have been back by now. He tried to get Haze to get there on time, but he was impossible to deal with most times. Plus, Haze was his best friend, so if he was rocking, Gideon was rolling . . .
His thoughts ran wild as Henry gazed at him. Gideon chanced a glance up, and he saw Henry fighting to keep a smile off his face. Finally, he shook his head and put his arm around Gideon’s neck. The boy was tall, but Henry was still taller and able to easily put him in a playful headlock.
“I don’t know why you hang around this troublemaker. You a good boy. Don’t let him tarnish you.”
Gideon hated being in trouble. With a weight lifted off him, he playfully swatted at Henry to get him to let him go. When he was finally free, Gideon said, “I won’t, Mr. Laurent.”
Henry grinned and looked toward his son. “And you, Junior?—”
“Come on, Dad. It’s Haze. Even Mommy calls me that.”
“I’m the one that gave you the nickname, boy. Only time you calm the fuck down is when I’m smokin’ that sticky and hotboxin’ ya ass.”
“I still don’t condone you doin’ that shit to my baby.” Haze’s mom walked around the corner. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed her husband’s cheek.
“Been doin’ it since birth, Charlene, and if I ain’t mistakin’, you was right there wit’ me doin’ it. Kid was restless unless we did that shit. It’s that ADHD in him.”
Charlene giggled. “Don’t do my baby.” She kissed his lips before her gaze landed on the boys. “You missed dinner. Where you been?”
