I don’t know what her deal is, but I’m also not sure I want to be a part of it. My parents left me to stay with a friend and never came back. I don’t even know if they’re dead or alive anymore. I don’t know how much I care either. I’ll never admit it, but the thought of going to juvie scares the shit out of me.
“Fine,” I agree. “I’ll do it.”
“When you come back, there’ll be some changes, Atlas. You don’t have to live up to your name and carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. No one deserves that.”
“Whatever.”
“Okay. Well. Glad we had this chat and came to an agreement.” She stands and heads toward the door where an officer is waiting. “Oh, by the way,” she says over her shoulder. “Seth said you’d be too prideful to hear me out, so he just lost two hundred bucks. Seems it’s a good day to be me. I get to be right, and a hundred bucks richer.” She laughs as she continues out of the cell, patting the officer on the shoulder as she passes.
Who thehell is this woman, and what did I just sign up for?
Agreeing to her stipulations was hard as shit. I was still angry at everyone, but she gave me space for a while. Emma never let up on me or the guys, no matter what happened.
She bought a punching bag, mat, and a pile of different books, and told us to find hobbies. We thought she was nuts. Some forty-something, five-foot-tall woman telling a bunch of teenage boys what to do, but we sure as hell listened.
We initially experimented with the bag, unsure of what we were doing, but Seth quickly took to it. He’d spend hours beating the shit out of that thing, and when he started getting bigger, the girls noticed.
Kash and Rhett spent more time on it then. I gave it a go one night. Almost broke my hand until Seth saw me struggling. He tried to step in and help, but I got pissed and punched him instead. Even when he turned eighteen and aged out, he chose to stay. I thought for sure he’d beat my ass, but instead he told me I hit like a bitch. From then on, I spent more time with him and sparred until I thought my arms would fall off.
Emma made us get jobs. She said we had to be ‘contributing members of society,’so I got one at a local hardware store. They weren’t very busy, so I took to doodling in my downtime.
One night, a guy came in, covered from head to toe in tattoos. I didn’t see him approach the counter and nearly jumped a foot in the air when he asked, “Think you could draw me an octopus? Something mean wrapped around a trident?”
My head shot up, and I stared at him. He gestured to the paper I was doodling on. I was sketching a shark eating a surfer, board and all. “You’ve got some skill, kid. You ever think about drawing on people?”
It never crossed my mind, but after that, it was all I could think about.
I remember how Emma’s eyes lit up when I told her about my plans. “It’s perfect for you, Atlas. Let me know if you need a guinea pig. I always wanted some ink,” she told me while looking at her bare arms.
I thought she was joking, but it turns out she wasn’t. When I was an apprentice, she let me practice on her. Most of the tattoos on her arms were done by me, but she eventually added some from the guys as well.
Stealing that car and ending up in a jail cell was the best decision I ever made.
Chapter Five
Cora
Pulling my jacket over my shoulders, I hear Noah hopping down the last of the stairs. “Hey, kiddo. You ready to go?”
“Yup.” He’s holding the new bag we picked up after school. Matt wasn’t kidding when he said they didn’t need much. We grabbed some shin guards and a water bottle, and then Noah spent thirty-five minutes deciding on cleats.
“Okay. I’ll drop you at the park for practice, run to the store, and then Matt said he’ll bring you home. I’ll have dinner ready by then.” I glance at my watch. If we don’t leave soon, we’ll be late. “Let’s go, bud.”
Locking the front door, I shiver as the wind picks up. It’s going to be an early winter if this keeps up. Rushing down to the car, I’m relieved to see Noah in his seat, waiting for me.
“Are you warm enough? Will you need a coat? Do you know where the park is?” I ask before I back the car out.
“Yes, no, and yes. Dane said that it’s not far from the coffee shop. They have a climbing wall and everything. Can we hang out after?”
“Not today. Remember, Matt’s bringing you guys home, and thenI’ll feed everyone. We can always do it another day. I think we have a little time before it gets really cold.”
“Okay,” Noah agrees quietly. There’s a beat of silence until Noah asks, “Is Matt your boyfriend, Cora?”
“No! Why would you think that?”
He shifts nervously. “I just wondered. He likes you. Dane says he talks about you a lot.”
Matt’s always friendly to me, but I thought he was that way with everyone.How do I explain this to a seven-year-old?
