From fists, I realized. Or maybe bats. But definitely not from the car.
I cursed myself, hating that I knew the difference.
“Oh, shit,” he said with a laugh. “I thought you’d figured that out. I thought that was why you were mad.”
I thought about it carefully. “You sliced my tires? Why?”
He scoffed. “I don’t know. I saw the guys circling the bar, realized we were in trouble. Thought you were the best bet to get out of their safe.” He coughed suddenly, a wet sound that rattled his ribs. “For old times’ sake…”
I tightened my hands into fists. If I didn’t have Rory waiting on the other side of the door, I might have lost my shit right there and screamed every foul thing I could think about at him. “Not fair, Daryl.”
“Whatever.”
I fumed in my chair but tried to pull myself together.Stay strong, I thought.Stay smart. Just think about Franklin and Rory. Think about how they see you.
“I need to know I’m going to be okay,” I said. “Are those guys looking for me? Are the police?”
Daryl grabbed the plastic cup of orange juice on his tray, then drank from it. “No one even knows who you are. And the cops aren’t on this at all. Chill.”
“How are the cops not on this?”
Daryl rolled his eyes. “We pay them, dude. Why do you think?”
A chill went across my body. It was like another layer was pulled back, revealing not only who Daryl really was, but how deep the work we did ran, too.
I stood up. My side still ached from the accident, but I ignored the pain when I straightened my back and cast my eyes straight down at Daryl. “Don’t call me again,” I said. “Don’t come to my house. Don’t say my name. Do you understand?”
“You say that,” he scowled. “But you’re just scared. You’re just a fucking scared little baby.”
I wanted to scream until my face turned red, but still, I held it back, drawing on all my strength to keep my cool. “I hope you can find a different way,” I said. “This doesn’t have to be your life.”
Daryl turned on his side, hiding his face from me. “Whatever,” he said again.
My heart ached as I looked down on him. He had been the center of my life for years, but that couldn’t go on any longer. For my own sake, I had to say goodbye.
“Keep your head up,” I said.
“Keep your head up,” he repeated softly.
I turned and exited the hospital room, tears stinging at the edges of my eyes. I was ready to run, to pretend the whole thing had never happened. I stopped dead in my tracks, however, when I saw the scene down the hallway.
“What do you mean, you know Asher?” the woman demanded. She had on square glasses and one of those business suits made for women. “Why would you know a twenty-five-year-old miscreant like Asher?”
They both turned to look at me, and my blood turned to ice. “Mrs. Pearson?”
“Asher?” she asked, clearly confused.
A thousand childhood memories came rushing back. I remembered when she caught Daryl and me kissing in junior high. Not only did she send him to a military camp to toughen up for the summer, she called my family and told on us, too, resulting in a fresh round of beatings from my father.
I remembered when she used to yell at us both in high school, telling us we were good for nothing if our grades weren’t perfect, saying I was no better than the rest of my criminal family.
And more than anything else, I remembered when my father died in the shootout.
You get what you deserve in this life,she told me.That’s what happened to your father, and that’s what will damn well happen to you, too.
My legs got wobbly, and rage and sorrow surged through my body. “Why are you talking to Rory?”
Rory stepped forward. “Asher,” he said, his brow wrinkled with concern. “Are you okay?”
