Miss Connie from down the street stood in the doorway making moon eyes at Dad. He held the door so tightly, blocking her from coming in. His knuckles had gone white.

“Thank you, but you really didn’t have to,” Dad said.

“It’s no trouble. I felt like baking, but I really shouldn’t eat it. Keeping my figure.” She giggled.

What was a figure?

“I got to get Gavin ready for school. So I should go.”

“Okay, sorry to disturb you.”

He closed the door on anything else she might have said. I went back to eating my cereal when he glanced at me.

The pie landed with a thud on the counter. Dad let it fall from his hands like it burned him.

I couldn’t keep a straight face any longer. “She wants to kiss you.”

Though I laughed, Dad looked like he’d bitten into something sour. “What do you know about that?”

People kissed all the time on TV.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s not going to happen,” he added.

He eyed the pie like it might explode. It smelled like heaven to me and brought back memories of a better time.

“Because of Mom?” I asked.

Dad only looked over at me briefly before busying himself with putting the cereal box back in the cupboard.

“I told you I don’t like to talk about your mother. And Connie is a good woman. I won’t let them use someone else against me.”

I’d heard that before. It was the reason I couldn’t see my grandparents or my aunt. Dad didn’t want them to get hurt by the people who’d killed my mother.

“And you remember to hide if they come around. I don’t want you on their radar.”

I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

His phone rang and his sour look returned as he glanced at the screen. When he answered, he shifted so his back was to me and started pacing away. I could only hear what he said, but it was enough.

“Yeah.”

He’d made it to the front window while he listened and peeked out.

“I can’t. I’m pretty sure someone is watching the house.”

As Dad turned, I scooped more cereal in my mouth and focused on the library book I had opened next to me.

“No.” Dad’s voice sounded firm. “He’s too young. I won’t do—” The call must have ended, because he said my name next. “Go get your backpack.”

I hadn’t finished my breakfast, but when he spoke like that, he didn’t want an argument.

I hopped off my stool, walked down the short hallway to my room, and grabbed my backpack from the floor. When I came back into the front room, Dad had his hand out. I gave the bag to him.

“Finish eating.”

Dad opened the door that led to the small basement. It was where he did all the work for the bad people. It’s also the place where he hid money in the walls. We had a lot of it, but Dad explained we couldn’t spend one dollar of it. That was the reason I had thrift shop clothes and shoes that were too tight.

There was no way I could eat. I put my bowl in the sink and filled it with water. I washed it and turned on the garbage disposal to hide the evidence. Hopefully, Dad was too busy with what he was doing downstairs to notice.

I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth and got ready to go. I walked back in thinking I had time to watch some TV, but Dad stood as if waiting for me.

He held out the bag. I took it without saying anything and ignored the fact that it felt heavy like he’d added bricks to it. I tried not to flinch as I managed to get it on my back. Dad sat on the arm of the couch, putting us eye to eye.

“You are to go to school—”

“But I still have ten minutes,” I said.

“You are to go to school, now. Enter the front and go out the backdoor to the big tree by the swings. Stand behind the tree so no one in the school can see you. Jimmy will meet you there. Give him the bag from your backpack and don’t look at it. Just get back in the school. Don’t speak to anyone until you’re done. Got me?”

“But—”

“Repeat it back to me.”

I did, almost word for word. I had a good memory. That’s why I did so well in school.

He stroked a hand down my head like I was a puppy, then did something he hadn’t done since Mom’s funeral. He kissed the top of my head and brought me in for a hug.

“I’m sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I’d only wanted a better life for us. And I promise this is the only time you’ll do this. I swear.”

He pulled back from me so fast, I almost lost my balance.

“Now get out of here. Don’t stop for anyone.”

I nodded. When I reached the door, I hesitated.

“Don’t stop for anyone,” he repeated. “And don’t look back. This is just another day, okay?”

I sucked in air, determined to do what he asked. I opened the door and then closed it. I was smart enough not to look around for whoever Dad said was watching the house. I scooped up my bike, a BMX. Dad had gotten it at a yard sale. It had been rusted out, but together we’d cleaned it up and painted it. I’d added some decals to make it my own, although I was almost too big for it now.

He hadn’t specifically told me not to struggle with the weight on my back, but I knew not to. I got on and had to stand to get the pedals turning before I settled back in the seat. School was only about four-and-a-half blocks away. I was almost there when a man stepped into my path.

“Hey, kid.”

My heart nearly stopped. He’d come out of nowhere, scaring the piss out of me. I didn’t stop. I darted into the street and a car honked at me. I kept going the final block to the school. I practically jumped off and left the bike to fall, not bothering to lock it up.

That was real smooth. If it wasn’t obvious already that I was up to no good before, now it was clear I was probably doing something illegal. Still, I moved fast past the principal. She said my name with a smile.

I wasn’t exactly popular—I was the poor kid who couldn’t afford new clothes and ate free lunch. Some days I wanted to tell them my dad had more money than God. But I’d always been good at keeping secrets.

I almost stopped. Ashley, with her pretty brown hair and big smile, walked by and waved at me. She was the cutest girl in school and had always been nice to me. I waved, but kept going, darting down an empty hall to the backdoors. A teacher came out of a room and said something, but I slipped into the boys’ bathroom to avoid her. I breathed a few seconds, wondering if I’d be followed. Dad warned me not to stop, but she would follow me outside if I’d kept going. I peeked out and she was gone.

The doors weren’t locked and I pushed through them. No one was out back and I ran to the tree like I’d been told and hid behind it. I sank down and sat, determined to look at what was in my backpack even though Dad had told me not to. I had a right to know what I was doing. If anyone caught me, I’d be punished, not Dad. I had my backpack partly unzipped when a familiar voice rang out.

“Hey, kid.”

Bear—Jimmy, as Dad called him—loomed over me. I didn’t like that and scrambled to my feet. Somehow though, I kept the hate from my eyes. I promised Mom in my prayers every night before I went to sleep that I would avenge her one day.

I sank my hand blindly into my pack and easily felt the paper bag that didn’t belong. I yanked it out and handed it over, never once meeting Bear’s eyes lest he saw how I really felt about him. I didn’t wait for him to respond; I fisted the top of my backpack, sealed it closed, and ran back to the school. Bear’s chuckles followed me until the door closed me inside and sealed him out.

“Mr. Volk, what were you doing outside?”

I looked up into the principal’s expectant gaze.

“I lost something yesterday and thought it might be there.”

The lie came too easily from my mouth. I hadn’t had to think about it.

“Well, next time, wait. It’s not safe for you to be on your own. Anything could happen.”

Anything had happened.

“Yes, ma’am.”

She nodded, satisfied with my response.

Later I would have time to think about lying and why it came so naturally to me. Then again, I would find out that my dad was just as good at it. Because his promises meant nothing even if he wanted them to. That would be the first and not the last time I was brought into what Bear would call the family business.