Rock Chick Renegade (Rock Chick #4)(19)

“Done talkin’,” Roam said.

“Roam, let’s talk with Law. Come on,” Sniff approached him too.

Roam looked down on me. “You saw him lyin’ there, in a f**kin’ alley, f**kin’ shit and trash all around him. Trash, Law. Trash. You and me and Sniff, we all saw Park lyin’ in the f**kin’ trash,” he said to me and I knew the vision of Park’s dead body was burned on his brain too.

I swallowed then said, “Yeah, Roam, I saw him.”

“We was gonna go to California, learn how to surf. We was gonna go to Alaska and wrestle polar bears,” Roam told me, for the first time confiding the teenage boy dreams he shared with Park.

“Polar bears are mean motherf*ckers. I saw that on some nature channel,” Sniff informed Roam, trying to be helpful.

“Stop saying motherf*ckers,” I said to Sniff then turned again to Roam. “Let’s get a burger. Come on.”

“Park’d do it for me,” Roam said, still not letting it go.

I wanted to touch him, hold him, put my arms around him but I knew he wouldn’t want it. He was a teenage boy and he was a street tough standing in front of a posse of the biggest badasses in Denver. He’d freak if I tried to mother him. Not to mention, he’d never had a mother who’d touched him, held him and put her arms around him in a loving way. He wouldn’t know what to do.

So instead I smiled at him. “Yeah, Park would do it for you and I’d be just as pissed at him, nagging him and getting in his face because it just isn’t smart.” Roam took a deep breath, maybe to say something, but I didn’t let him. “And then he’d listen to me and let me help him get his life sorted out.”

Roam stared at me.

“You know he would, Roam. Think about it. You know it,” I told him.

“He would. He thought Law was the shit, even before she actually was The Law,” Sniff added.

Roam kept staring at me.

“For God’s sakes, are you boys hungry or what?” I asked, throwing my arms out and pretending to sound exasperated.

“I’m hungry,” Sniff said.

“You’re always hungry,” I told him.

Sniff grinned. “I’m a growin’ boy.”

“I hope so. You need to fill out. The inspectors come to the Shelter and look at you, they’ll think we’re starving you all to death,” I said.

“’Specially if they look at May. I swear, she eats most of the pudding cups,” Sniff returned.

“That’s not nice,” I admonished.

“It’s true,” Sniff retorted, his grin growing into a smile.

“Okay, maybe it’s true,” I relented, giving him a subtle wink.

“Would you two shut up? I want a double beef burger with cheese, giganto-sized,” Roam cut in.

I nodded to Roam immediately, trying my damnedest not to look as happy and relieved as I was that whatever it was that had a hold of him, he’d let go.

I turned to take the boys out and stopped dead.

Everyone was watching us, including and especially Vance.

His eyes were on me and there was something in them I couldn’t read, something familiar, even precious, something I remembered from a long time ago but hadn’t seen in so long, I didn’t remember where I saw it in the first place. Before I could figure it out, the look disappeared.

I nodded in the general direction of everyone. “Nice to meet you all,” I said then started to shove through but Vance caught my bicep and stopped me.

“Your place, six thirty,” he said, his eyes serious.

I just gave him a look. He released me and the boys and I walked away.

“What was that about?” Sniff stage-whispered to me.

“They got a date,” Roam answered, too quick for his own good (and mine).

“No shit? You got a date with Crowe? Holy f**k!” Sniff yelled.

I rolled my eyes. Now this would be all over the street in an hour.

“Keep your voice down, Sniff. And don’t say shit or f**k. Don’t you boys ever listen to me?”

“No,” Roam said and grinned at me.

For the first time that day the sky of my life brightened and I grinned back at him.

Just as the door closed behind me, I could swear I heard, “Now I’m thinking Law’s the shit.” This was said in an unfamiliar man’s voice so it had to be Mace who hadn’t spoken.

“You ain’t wrong about that, Sugar,” this was obviously Daisy.

I ignored their words, got the kids in the Camaro and we went to get burgers.

It wasn’t until after we were sitting eating burgers that I tasted my latte and, even cold, it was the best flipping thing I’d ever tasted in my life.

Chapter Five

Nick’s Third Degree

At six thirty when I was supposed to be nervously anticipating Vance’s arrival at my duplex, I was in Heavy’s garage, wearing silvery-gray sweatpants with two black stripes running up the sides and a white t-shirt with the arms cut off with Gold’s Gym on the front in black. I was jabbing a punching bag and sweating like a pig.

“Jab, Jules, f**kin’ jab!” Heavy shouted at me, sitting on a bunch of boxes stacked at the side of his garage, working through his second double pack of Ding Dongs. “You jab like a girl. Keep your leg back, aim for the kidneys. Jab!”