Clyde

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved when Mark finally appeared. I felt like I’d been waiting hours for him to get back, when it had barely been thirty minutes.

I wasn’t crazy about Caspar’s comment about me wanting to leave. Sure, it was true that I’d been antsy, but I wasn’t so much of a jackass that I would have ditched Mark at the mall without a warning. I would have at least called or texted him.

At least we were heading away from the mall. It was good to see it disappearing behind us. I should have felt safer there, with its public spaces and open field of view, but I didn’t. After all, I was one of the criminals that I wanted to stay protected from.

“How much did you get?” Eugene turned around in his seat, fixing Mark with an inquisitive stare.

Mark shrugged. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

“You don’t kiss at all.” Caspar snorted. He changed lanes a little too fast for my tastes.

So, I told Caspar. “Slow down. We’re too close to Steel City for you to pull shit.”

I could see Caspar’s gaze in the rearview mirror. He gave me a pointed look. “I think we’ve all told you to relax. Well—all except Mark. Mark, tell him to relax.”

Across the back seat from me, Mark turned away from the window he’d been staring out of. He frowned, and his eyes flicked to me. “He’s kind of right, you know. The cops have been crawling around Steel lately.”

Caspar’s long-suffering sigh was accompanied by a deceleration I could feel. For some reason, I felt like I should thank Mark, but that was stupid. Right?

Mark’s gaze was still on me. He was great at going unnoticed, with his dark brown hair and coffee-colored eyes. He looked like a runner; he was lean but muscled. Mark was just clean-cut enough to be any other teenager at the mall. No one ever looked twice at him. Except me, apparently.

I pushed the intrusive thoughts away. This wasn’t the time to be concerned with anyone but myself. Caring never got anyone anywhere. Worse, it usually ended in trouble. What had my mom taught me?

It wasn’t like my mom had said, word for word, that love and caring were pointless. I got the message, though. After the shit she went through, I was definitely wary of everyone. Even if I couldn’t help but notice little things, like the way Mark was steadier than some of the other Rapps. Or the way you could tell Eugene and Caspar apart at first sight by a distinctive little scar on the back of Eugene’s hand.

“Oh, look,” Caspar announced. “We made it. Alive. I’m shocked.”

I gave Caspar the finger. “We’re not there yet.”

Caspar echoed my motion. I was right, though—we were only just turning onto Nicana Lane. It was our main hideout and like most of the other places on the block, no one bothered to come around and check for activity. The big gangs were on the other side of town, as far away from us as possible. That was the point.

The house that sat on the side of the street had seen better days. It was two-story, with a basement. There was enough room for most of us. Those that didn’t fit usually had night gigs, anyway. We rotated in and out like clockwork.

It wasn’t like any of us had many possessions either. I could fit what I owned into my beat-up backpack. That was always on me, if I went too far from Nicana—otherwise, I shoved it away somewhere no one would find it. I didn’t have much but what I did have, I wasn’t about to lose.

“Hey. Straighten up for the boss.” Caspar slapped his twin’s shoulder absentmindedly as he shut off the car and unbuckled his seatbelt.

Eugene squawked in protest. “What? I’m fine. I look fine. Right, Mark?”

Mark wrinkled his nose at Eugene. “Shit, man, how should I know?”

“Zip it.” I shook my head and swung the car door open. I stepped out and waited for the others to get out. Once they stood by the car, I fixed them each with a heavy stare. “Keep it business. You know the drill.”

They did know the drill. It wasn’t like they were all new to this. We’d gone on runs dozens of times before. Mark and the twins knew I was in charge of us and I was the one that would talk to Link.

I led the way inside. The wood of the front porch was warped with age and weather; it groaned under our feet as we approached. We didn’t have bullshit passcodes or secret knocks. There was always someone watching out during the day. The boss probably already knew we were there.

Once the door was open, I could see some of the crew hanging around. Jace emerged from the kitchen as Mark shut the door behind us. Jace didn’t really pay attention; he was too absorbed by the jar of peanut butter in his hand.

“Hey. You’re not finishing it, are you?” Eugene frowned, half-ready to follow Jace.

I rolled my eyes and snapped. “Jesus, U. Boss is waiting. Remember?”

Eugene muttered some half-assed apology, but I was already moving again. I didn’t mind that Eugene was distracted, now. He was a kid and he had his brother to look after him. So long as he was a quick learner, I didn’t have a problem with him. It felt important to train someone, anyway. Like Link trusted me.

And trust meant power, and power meant money.

The basement door was at the back of the house. If you weren’t paying attention, you might think it was a closet. Link betted on that—his corner of the basement was right by a tiny window, so he could climb out and make an escape if hell ever rained down on the hideout. He was the boss, after all.

Nic bumped into me when I opened the basement door. He wobbled a little and frowned, waiting for me to move so he could leave the narrow staircase. “You’re back late.”

“We were only gone an hour.” I lied mostly because I didn’t want Nic to guess what we’d pulled off. He could always go and look out back, at the covered carport obscured by overgrown trees and bushes. He wouldn’t, though.

Nic shrugged. “Boss is in a good mood. You’re in luck.”

After the car, we really were. I didn’t trust that luck. In my experience, things always came in balance. If we had pulled off a slick heist with the car, it would be all too easy to believe that something equally shitty was about to happen.

I took the stairs two at a time. They complained, too. Behind me, I could hear Eugene and Caspar chatting quietly, but I couldn’t make out their conversation. I wanted to remind them to keep their mouths shut when we got downstairs, but I figured it wouldn’t do any good. Link liked them, anyway. Caspar was one hell of a getaway driver and Eugene…well. He was the baby. No one could hate him.

The left corner of the basement was the only part that was even remotely lit. The window did most of the work. Under it was a desk, snatched from some curb in a better part of town. It had drawers that locked and everything. The chair was also pilfered, but it was in worse condition.

The man in the chair was Lincoln Rappan. At twenty-one, he was the eldest of all of us. Mostly he was like a big brother; he joked and screwed around with the crew. Link was only really mean when it came to money, but that made sense. After all, a gang of kids used up a good amount of cash just to survive.

Link seemed preoccupied as we walked up, but I suspected he was paying attention to our every move. He was like that. The keys at his neck that locked the desk glinted a little in the light and his worn t-shirt was a little big for him.

“We’re back, no trouble,” I announced. Link was pretty easygoing about formalities. So long as he had your respect, he didn’t give a shit about being called sir. His primary concern when you showed up at the hideout was a report.

Link looked up from the papers on his desk and leaned back in his chair. He took a second to check out my crew, looking for signs of trouble. When he found none, he was content enough to finally smile. “Good deal. What’d you score?”

“Car.” I jerked my head in the direction of the carport. “I’d put it at early 2000s model. Toyota.”

“Nice.” Link was only a little impressed. Enough to make us feel good, but not so much we got big heads and decided to risk more. Link was pragmatic. “That all?”

“Mark hit up the arcade.” I shrugged. It probably wasn’t a big cut of money, but Link needed to know. He had to make sure everything was accounted for. Mark would get his cut back, once Link had taken care of business for the crew.

Link smirked at my answer. “Sounds about right. Hand over what you got.”

While Link flipped through his paper to a blank page, I turned toward Mark. He nudged past the twins and dug into his pocket. I was going to take it from him and pass it, but Mark leaned closer to the desk like he was going to set it down. We ended up closer than I’d anticipated. For a second, our hands bumped, and I felt his wrist brush against mine. It sent a shiver up my arm.

Mark’s hand jerked back. The stack of cash fluttered onto the table and the coins rattled jarringly when they hit. I tried to ignore Mark’s surprise the same way I tried to ignore the heat I felt rising to my face. What the hell was I blushing for?

It was adrenaline, I told myself. The adrenaline from the heist and embarrassment at looking like an idiot right in front of Link. I stared holes into the window behind Link and pretended nothing had happened. I didn’t miss the disapproval that flickered on his face, though.

Shit. The last thing I wanted was to piss Link off or make him think I was incompetent. What was I just thinking about karma? I knew the car heist we’d pulled off was good. Of course, I had to go and make an idiot of myself right after. Any respect I’d earned felt immediately tarnished.

Link raised an eyebrow and shuffled the bills in his hand. He stacked them up in piles, wrists flicking. He was practiced at this and it showed. “Not bad,” he commented, while he recounted the cash. “Have I mentioned the arcade was a good idea?”

“More than once.” Mark grinned. I could see it from the corner of my eye. I told myself to stop looking. Now, who’s distracted? I’m worse than Eugene.

“Well, don’t let it get to your head.” Link winked at Mark, but I could still see suspicion in his gaze. He was thinking about something else. I wasn’t sure what it was and that bothered me.

I was getting antsy again. I wanted to make another run, maybe to find some unlocked doors and lift a few things. I just kept thinking about numbers in the back of my mind. Money earned, money given to the Rapps, money needed. It was always about money.

Link finally stood. “All right. Time to take it to the chop shop. You know where to go.”

I nodded. Before I could walk away, though, Link pointed at the twins with two fingers. “You two can stay or do another run. Only takes two to turn it in.”

Caspar shrugged. “Sure, boss.” He saluted me cheekily and threw an arm around Eugene’s shoulder, probably to drag him off on another heist. “See ya ‘round, Clyde.”

“Keep it lowkey.” I waved the twins off. Once they left, I was uneasily aware that I was alone with just Link and Mark. And I was about to be even more alone, with just Mark.

“Well? Get going.” Link smiled, but I could tell he was still watching us curiously.

“We’ve got it.” It was unnecessary of me to say, but I felt like I had to end on a confident note. I turned and started to take the stairs two at a time, again. I didn’t look back at Mark. I trusted that he was behind me and I didn’t want to confirm whatever it was Link was thinking.

What was he thinking, anyway? You know what. I shook my head as I emerged from the basement. The sun was starting to set and the light that came in through the windows was more red than gold. I wasn’t going to be able to go out again, after we took the car to the shop. Just my luck. I’d have to get up early again just to try and make extra cash.

“I can drive.” Mark’s offer pulled me out of my head. He said it casually, like I hadn’t just been wistfully staring at nothing while I walked out of the house.

I shook my head. “No. I’ve got it.”

Mark didn’t argue. At least he was the one I’d been paired up with. He was the steadiest one I’d ever met in the crew. If I had to be stuck with someone while I was trying to figure out how to drum up enough money for the month, Mark wasn’t the worst choice. He was probably the best.

Except Link apparently thought we were up to something, and the last thing I needed was for the boss to come down on my head for shit I hadn’t done.

I climbed into the driver’s seat and fiddled around with the mirrors while Mark got settled. He didn’t push me to talk like the twins probably would have and he didn’t fill up the silence with useless crap, either. It was good to have a little bit of silence.

Then I turned the car on and the radio blasted suddenly, the speakers humming. I reached out to twist the dial and my hand collided with Mark’s again. Damn it. This time, there was no one to see us—but this time, I had to fight a blush all the same.

“Let’s get out of here,” I muttered. It was just more unnecessary words. I shouldn’t have been nervous, but maybe I was, sitting there in the car with the one other person in the Rapps that I thought I might be able to trust.

Mark shrugged and cranked the lever by his seat. It made a grating noise as he tilted his seat back. “You’re the boss.”

I wasn’t, but it was nice to hear someone say it.