Page 114 of Anarchy at Prescott High (The Havoc Boys 4)
“I hope it hurt,” I tell her, grinding my heel into her back as she screams. When she stops to take a breath, drool leaks over her lower lip and ruins her lipstick. She doesn’t steal the right kind then because it isn’t waterproof; it’s cheap. I step back and crouch down beside her as Kali Rose whispers in my ear.
“You’re not good enough, Bernie. Even after everything, you couldn’t do it. You couldn’t hurt me the way I deserved.” Kali laughs as I grab the girl by her hair and lift her head up so she can look at me with mascara running down her face. Callum just stands there and lights a cigarette while he watches me.
“The Charter Crew is gone,” I tell her as she sniffles. I recognize her as one of their nameless lackeys. “They are all dead. Do you want to die as well? Because if you’re that faithful, that loyal to your crew, then we can make that happen.”
“Please, please,” she whispers, sputtering and sniveling. “I didn’t mean anything by it, I swear to god. I swear, I swear, I swear on his name.” I shove her away from me and rise to my feet, accepting the cigarette that Cal hands me.
“She isn’t Kali,” he reminds me as I lift my eyes to his. I think mine are watering, but my makeup is legit as fuck. I only steal the best, sometimes only after checking reviews online.
“I know,” I whisper back as the girls help their friend to her feet and the trio takes off. “And I know what you said, that killing isn’t exactly a virtue, but I can’t shake her. Cal, she follows me everywhere.” I look past him to where Kali’s standing, but she’s only there in my mind. When I blink, she’s gone.
“You let her get inside your head,” he tells me, pouring the rest of his Pepsi over the small bloodstains on the pavement. The sugary syrup washes them away like they were never there. Doesn’t hurt that the sidewalk was already wet, that the sky looks like it might crack in half and drown the city. “You’re doubting yourself because of her. Because of people like Coraleigh. Or Trinity Jade.” He looks up at me and tries for a smile. It lands just right, turning his face into something very pretty for a moment there. “Us taking care of your list doesn’t change that. You have to exorcise your own demons.”
He takes out another cigarette, his hood pulled up as usual, blond hair covering his forehead.
“What about your demons?” I ask him, knowing that he’s still got them and that maybe he wants them there.
“I just feed mine to keep them quiet,” he tells me, lifting his head up as Sara Young’s Subaru drives past and she slows down when she sees me. I salute her with my cigarette, frowning as she continues on and leaves us in peace.
I’m dragging my feet here because I don’t want to go home and think about Victor going on a date with a rich girl.
“I still don’t trust Victor, I guess,” I say to Cal, standing there as the first bit of drizzle starts to fall from the sky. Doesn’t seem to bother him, so I pull my own hood up to protect my hair. I’m wearing my pink leather Havoc jacket over a hoodie, so no problems staying warm out here. “If I did, I might not be so …” I gesture loosely with my hand, making a fist and then opening it up again. “Cagey.”
“You should,” Cal assures me. “Because we all know just how to take care of you.” He moves up to stand beside me, cupping the side of my face with cool fingers. I lean into the touch and Callum smiles. “We’ve been doing it for years. Let us keep on doing it.”
“What’s going on with my mother?” I ask as Cal drops his hand to his side and then flicks his cigarette into a puddle. He chuckles at me and then turns away. I figure we came this way just to beat the crap out of that girl, but then Callum starts to back up into one of the yards, gesturing for me to follow after.
“Come in, Bernie,” he tells me, turning around and heading across the grass in his boots, shorts, and hoodie. When he pounds up the weathered front steps, I find myself drawn after him. My cigarette’s gone out, but I tuck the rest of it back in the pack for later. Can’t waste it, even if it tastes like shit the second time around.
I find Cal waiting at the top of the steps, the front door open in front of him. He gestures for me to go in, so I do, pausing in a small entryway and looking around at a house that seems frozen in time. There are pictures of Cal as a kid on every wall, but none from the last ten years or so. The place smells clean, but there’s this musty undertone that makes me think of dust and quiet places.
