“Looking brighter by the day.” I met Finn’s gaze as he handed me a plate.
He rolled his eyes.
I sank my fork into the ice cream. “I’ll endeavor to do right by Finn, if that’s what you’re asking.”
She nodded as she swallowed. “I suppose that’s all I can ask for. I just want Finnegan to be happy. I want him to be with someone who will treat him properly.”
And my misjudgments of the past meant I might be a bad bet. I understood her skepticism. I wouldn’t be able to sweet talk my way out of this mess. “I’ll do my best.”
“See that you do.”
“Mom.” Complete exasperation. Finn sat on the couch next to his mother with his plate of pie. “Don’t make me regret inviting you.”
I chuckled and it didn’t sound too fake. “All good—we’re just getting to know each other.”
Valerie nodded her evident approval.
I’d passed muster.
At least for the time being.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Finn
“How could you be so stupid?” I glared at Michael, one of my rec teenagers.
He glared right back. “It’s not what you think.”
I jutted my chin. “That very much looked like you were buying drugs from that guy. Who was he? Why was he on school property? And, like I said, how could you be so stupid? David died of a drug overdose. You want to wind up like him? Dead?” I was full of steam and ready to go all night at this.
“He wasn’t selling me drugs.” Even as Michael made the denial, though, he couldn’t meet my gaze.
“Is he hassling you? Do you want me to tell Mr. Clayton? He can make sure the guy isn’t at the school again.” Except the principal couldn’t be everywhere at once. And nothing was stopping Michael from crossing the street and buying drugs from some random person sitting in a car on the side of the road. If he wanted drugs, they wouldn’t be hard to find.
Between Giancarlo just not showing up for his shift today—without even calling in sick—and now interrupting Michael buying drugs, my whole day was going sideways. Badly. “Look—” I took a deep breath. “Are you addicted?”
“Is this an intervention?” Said with all the sarcasm a teenager could manage.
“Does it need to be? You know I can call in a guidance—”
“I’m not an addict.”
“So you were just buying drugs for the hell of it? Have you heard about the tainted drug supply? You can never be sure what’s in the drugs or in what quantity. Dying is really easy. Drug dealers don’t care about whether you OD or not—they’ll always find another buyer.” Which, to me, was a fault in the logic. Except it proved true over and over again. People died. And yet drug dealers never went out of business.
“Can we just play ball?” The teenager tipped his chin up at me. In defiance, most likely.
I hadn’t witnessed enough to go to the cops. At most I had suspicions with a very generic description of a very generic guy. Nothing I could swear to. Nothing that would help them put an end to the drug trade in Mission City, that was for certain.
Rue and Leroy stood off to the side—watching us intently.
Finally, something broke in me. Not acceptance—more like resignation. “Yeah, let’s play. And promise me you won’t do anything so monumentally stupid as buying drugs—okay?”
“Yeah. Okay.”
I didn’t really believe him—but I’d done everything I could.
That night, as I ate leftover pie, I was surprised to get a text from Ulysses, asking if he could come over. The answer, of course, washell, yes.
