“Enough of the nonsense,” Headmaster barks. “You know the rules. Any discussion, plans, or attempts at running away result in a week in the white house.”
My heart beats rapidly, and my breathing grows ragged. One minute in the white house was pure hell, a week is damn near unheard of.
“It wasn’t them.” Anthony steps forward, his hands in tight fists down at his side. “It was all me. I came up with the plan and was forcing them to do it. None of them wanted to go along with it.”
That was definitely not the truth, but I was too scared to speak. Too scared to stand beside him and take the blame with him.
Headmaster’s dark eyes narrow. Slowly, he walks up to Anthony. He stops right in front of him, glaring down into his face. Only silence fills the room.
“For your dishonesty, you’ve just earned them two weeks in the white house. Take the boy.”
“No,” Anthony shouts.
One of the burly guards rushes forward to grab a screaming Sergio. Lucas steps in his path and throws a punch, landing on the guard’s jaw. Another guard makes an attempt at Sergio, but Anthony shoves him away. However, the third guard quickly knocks Anthony down and grabs Sergio. I grab hold of Serg’s arms trying to pull him out of the guard’s arms. His small blunt nails dig into my hands as he screams and grips me tight. I lose track of the others as I fight to keep them from taking Serg.
The guard that Lucas punches backhands me hard across the face, causing me to let Sergio go and fall to the floor. I listen in horror as he screams and pleads with us to save him. He’s taken out of the room with Ms. Carolyn right behind him.
“You boys will learn that there is no escaping. The only way out of William Bone’s is through reformation,” Headmaster says.
We all fight as best as we can, but one by one they drag us out of the room, heading to what we assumed would be our final destination.
The memory fades, and I’m once again back in Mason’s office. From the first day I was tossed into that small room with him and Kaz, he’s been protecting me.
“We’re not those little kids anymore,” Mason sighs. “Maybe I don’t need to hold on to the reins so tightly.”
Shaking my head, I look him in the face as I reply. “Nah, I think you do. I think we need you to hold on for as long as you can.”
Tiffany was right that day in my office. I needed my brothers. And even though Mason was always going to overstep boundaries and meddle in our shit, I needed that too.
He dips his chin at me. It never took much for us to make amends. We’d argue, sometimes fight, but a simple sorry was all it took to put it behind us.
“Yo, yo.” Mason’s office door opens and Salv and Kaz walk in. “Have you two kissed and made up yet?”
I roll my eyes at Salv. “I thought I told you to give me at least twenty minutes alone before coming in.”
Salv takes the seat beside me while Kaz leans against the window to our right.
“What the fuck were you going to do, braid each other’s hair? Just say sorry.” He shrugs.
“So what’s this plan you got?” Kaz asks, redirecting Salv’s and my conversation.
I never got to explain the shootout or the pickup meeting I had with my runners because of the fight I had with Mason. I quickly run down the sequence of events and explained that Rome had come through with that meeting for the guns.
“You have a date and location?” Mason sits forward in his seat. “I’ll have Grant and my crew survey the area. Just in case they are watching for you.”
I dip my chin. “Cool, I already had Maseo pull up an aerial view. It’s an abandoned gas station off Highway 66. Not much out that way but trees and dead ends.”
“You got backup?” Kaz asks.
“My regular crew plus Rome and Axel.”
“Kaz and I will tag along for the exchange.” Salv grins. “We haven’t seen any action in a while, and it looks like you’re having all the fun.”
I shake my head at him. Only Salv would want to go where the bullets are flying.
“Speaking of, I want to talk to you about something that’s been bothering me,” Mason says, getting my attention.
A chime sound resounds around the room.
