The Streets

29. Confrontation

Trish's POV

I felt a surge of excitement for Cole as he sped off around the corner. The audience The Raiders brought with them tonight cheered while others chased after Zeke.

"You think he's going to win?" Theo asked quietly. His eyes moved to the people gathered.

I nodded my head to answer his question. "If he doesn't win, something went wrong.

"Taze, isn't that the guy who started this whole war again?" Thayer asked as I whipped my head around to see who he was talking about.

I followed his line of pointing to see it leading across the road. There, on the other side, was the scrawny looking kid I was all too familiar with. He was the boy who was constantly at Zeke's side. Almost like a pet. He had two girls on either side of him and he turned to whisper in one of their ears. The girl, a redhead threw her head back in laughter.

"Come on." I called to the rest of them. We made our way across the street, forgetting the race and solely focused on him. Thayer and Paul pushed people out of the way as we made our way to him.

I stopped a few yards in front of him and cleared my throat. He didn't seem to hear me or he decided to ignore me. It wasn't until I cleared my throat for the third time did he look up.

"Would you like a cough drop ? I'm in the middle of something." He spoke revealing his messed up teeth.

"I think whatever you're currently 'in the middle of' can wait." Thayer stated as he grabbed the guy by his arms. The girls who were by his sides moved away from him, giving us evil looks as we dragged him away from the road and into an alley.

"Hey what the hell? You better stop man handling me. My bro-" he stopped talking when he realized who we were.

"H-Hey guys long time no see ." He smiled slightly.

"Shut the fuck up. We ain't here for you to toy around with. We're just here to leave a little gift." Theo spoke as he pounded his right fist into his left palm.

I saw him pale slightly at Theo's action.

"W-What for? You don't want to miss the rest of the race do you?" He asked as he took a small step back.

"Nothing much to see. All we want to see is our boy cross the finish line, that's it. According to my math skills, that won't be happening for a bit." Jacob said as he leaned casually against one of the alleys walls.

"So." I said slowly as I began to walk towards him. As I got closer I could see how tired he looked. More tired than the mental picture Cole gave me as he described him awhile ago. His teeth were discolored, as if he hadn't bothered to brush them.

"How much did The Raiders pay you to bribe the judges?" I asked.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." He stuttered, giving himself away.

"Really?" I mused. "Then why are you cowering in a corner?"

His eyes widened before saying "It was me." I turned slightly to the rest of my crew. That was easy. Too easy.

"Answer our questions and you won't get hurt." I told him.

"It was Zeke who paid me to bribe the judges. It wasn't that much." He answered as his eyes went from person to person.

"How much?" Dakota hissed.

"Three hundred."

I couldn't help but laugh. East Side people were selfish with their money.

"Was there anything else?" Dakota pressed him. I saw his eyes flicker to me before quickly darting away. "No. That was all."

"Bullshit. We all saw your eyes go to her and quickly away." Thayer menacingly forced him back into the corner.

"I swear that's all!" he protested

"Lies!" Thayer yelled, his voice bouncing off the wall.

He opened his mouth, whether to tell the truth or not when loud cheering sounded from behind us.

Jacob swore, forgetting he was supposed to go back to his lookout position. We forgot the guy and raced back out to see what had happened.

The crowd was all around Zeke. He stood on the roof of the car, telling the crowd to cheer louder. We pushed through the crowd, ignoring the insults and jabs thrown at us. I broke through first, to see Cole who looked crestfallen.

My eyes moved from his face to Thayer's car. The left side of it was dented all along the side seeing Zeke had rammed into him.

"I-I don't know what happened. I was in the lead and then he was." Cole stuttered.

"I'm going to kill you, you son of a bitch!!" Thayer roared as he saw the damage to his car. He lunged at Cole, who was caught off guard and fell.

"Thayer!" I yelled, trying, unsuccessfully to pry him off Cole. The Twins saw me struggling and helped pry him off Cole.

"Thanks for the new ride!" Zeke called from Thayer's used to be car. He grinned as Thayer went to lunge at him before The Twins stopped him.

"Street fight!" Thayer yelled the loudest he had tonight. "After New Years."

"See you then." Jasmine called as she made way to her car and they all drove off.

"I'm sorry." Cole mumbled, looking at us.

"Sorry doesn't bring back my car!" Thayer spat at him.

"Shut up Thayer!" Theo scolded him.

"Enough." I breathed before Thayer could say anything. "Let's just go home. It's been a hell of a night."