17. Relic

Chapter seventeen

Relic

N o sidewalks on the main road, so I kept in the grass and walked in the opposite direction of traffic so I could see the cars racing toward me to make sure I didn't get hit. I had put reflective tape on the pack I carried on my back, but I didn't trust drivers to notice me.

A car honked and I glanced over to see Marsh waving at me from the driver's seat. Thank whatever God above, because after working all day in the two-million-degree heat, I was exhausted. I hopped into his car and flipped his air conditioner to the highest setting.

"What's up, brother?" Marsh asked as he took off, going eighty in a thirty-five.

While I loved him, I said, "You're a jackass."

Not even denying what he did, he grinned ear-to-ear. "You mean me helping you out snagging Macie Hutchins? You're welcome."

"You're welcome?" I echoed. "You told her I had a crush on her."

"Sped things along, didn't it? I saw you two kissing. A girl like that isn't going to give in without the idea of feelings involved. And it's about time you worked her out of your system."

"What do you mean work her out my system?"

"It's what you do—kiss the girl and move on. It was one thing for you to have a crush from a distance, but with hanging around her all the damn time, it's now a problem. I'm hoping you're good now. You've kissed her and moved on, right?"

I stayed silent and Marsh let out a steady string of curses. "She's dangerous and you know it."

If I was one to roll my eyes, I would have. "Macie is the least lethal thing on the planet."

"Fuck that. Macie Hutchins is hemlock."

We drove in silence the rest of the way, and when Marsh pulled into the parking lot of my apartment complex, he turned and looked at me. "You need to let this one go."

"I need a ride from her for work, and the amusement park is the only place that'll give me a job knowing what I've done."

"You could ride buses."

"It would take me two hours to get to work and then two hours home."

"Then you and me will work on your car. We'll get it running again."

"I don't have the money for the parts."

"Let's go jump the fence to the junkyard now, steal what you need."

Anger rushed up and through me. "Why are you pushing me so hard?"

"Because you're falling for her, and a girl like that is going to tear you up from the inside out and leave you in shreds."

"I'm not falling for her. Macie and I are friends."

"Friends who kissed like you did tonight? That's rich."

"Macie and I have an understanding."

"I'm not buying it. Girls like Macie don't do friends with benefits, and you don't break the rules you have in place about kissing the same girl, yet it looks like that's going to happen."

"Stay out of it."

"I'm not staying out of anything. Only reason you aren't your dad is because you have made every choice opposite of the ones he did. No drinking. No drugs. No sex. Not even working for Eric when you know the money is good. I look at you and see that maybe one of us is going to survive past the age of twenty and get out of this neighborhood. That girl is going to mess it all up for you."

"What does any of that have to do with my dad?"

"Your dad fell in love with some girl who had a college scholarship, didn't he? Wasn't your mom all brains? She was out of his league, but he fell anyhow. What happened when she got a few years in and figured out she couldn't be happy with a guy like him?"

She left. I punched the hell out his glovebox then tore out of his car.

"I'm not done," Marsh called out behind me.

I rounded on him as if I were willing to knock him in the jaw. "Walk from me, Marshall."

"You're my best friend. My brother. I don't walk from you, and you don't walk from me. I'm laying out hard truths, and you're mad because you know I'm right."

"Laying out hard truths?" I challenged. "How about you shouldn't be working for Eric?"

"I know that shit, but I'm desperate. I'm trying to save my mom's life, but you can get out of this place. Stay the course. Stay focused. Don't be your dad and screw it up by falling in love with some girl who will leave you. Once she sees where you come from, that's going to freak her out and then she won't see you for who you really are. She'll make assumptions and leave."

I swung away from Marsh and rammed my fingers through my hair. How did I crash from heaven to hell so damn fast?

"You're setting yourself up for a hell of a fall. You're only a bad boy fling for her. Is she going to care for you when she sees where you live? When she finds out how you spend your nights in Dumpsters? That your dad is a drug dealing ex con? The point is, she's going to leave you because a girl like her isn't capable of understanding us or our world. You know this. I know this. Don't fall like your dad and screw up the rest of your life."

I winced as each of his words slashed me in the gut.

"Relic," Marsh kept coming at me. "Are you going to stop seeing her?"

Could I? Did I want to? No. But how could I say that to Marsh? He was right. I was wrong, but she was the only peace I had in the shit storm that was my life. I could lie to him, but Marsh knew me better than anyone, and he and I didn't lie to each other. Everyone else, maybe, but not to each other. There was one grain of truth that he could hold onto, one facet of our relationship he would approve of, but I hadn't been sure how to play it out yet without upsetting Macie. "No."

"Fuck me," Marsh started, but I cut him off.

"I'm hoping Macie will let me in. I'm hoping she'll tell me what happened to her, and then I can claim the fifty-thousand-dollar reward."

Marsh's phone rang. His mom. He immediately accepted the call then said to me, "We're not done talking about this yet."

But I was done with the conversation. Hopefully, forever.