Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
★
"HOW'S MICKEY DOING?" IAN asked Mandy, handing her off the cigarette as Amara did her homework that was due next period. They sat in the courtyard of the school, even though it probably wasn't even past forty degrees out.
"They still have him at the jail ward over at the county," Mandy answered.
"You been over to visit him?"
Mandy shook her head. "No. Those d*ke guards pat you down like amateur gynecologists."
"That's one way to get a hand job, I guess," Amara muttered, not looking up from the half finished worksheet she was still writing on.
Mandy chuckled, giving the cigarette back to Ian. "How's Kash?"
Ian scoffed. "A couple of neighborhood-watch ladies came by the store, offered to throw him a parade."
"How heartwarming," the brunette retorted, and Mandy teasingly nudged her shoulder, the two of them giggling.
Mandy clicked her tongue. "Kash had better move his family back to Baghdad before Mickey gets out."
Ian looked at her weirdly. "He's from Evanston."
"Won't be nearly far enough."
"Your brother is scary," Amara told her, flipping onto the back of the worksheet, groaning once she saw twenty more problems. "Jesus, so is calculus. When the hell am I ever gonna use this? Never."
A shadow fell over them, and she glanced up to see Lip taking the cigarette from Ian's hand, ignoring her annoyed look. "Mandy," he greeted.
"Lip," the girl replied back.
"That's a nice outfit. What is that, uh, pirate wrench?"
"Wow," Amara shut her book closed. "For a second I thought he was being serious. Shoulda known better."
Lip threw a rolled up piece of paper at her from out of his pocket, and she narrowly avoided it. The ball of paper landed a few feet behind them, but none of them made any move to pick it up.
"What's your third period?" Lip asked his brother.
"Health," Amara answered. "He has it with me. Why?"
"Good, I could use the backup."
"What?"
Lip put the cigarette out, stepping on it with his shoe. "I think we need to miss some school."
★
"Where'd you get the car?" Ian asked from the front seat, mirroring Amara's thoughts as she glanced around the interior of the vehicle.
"Borrowed it from Steve."
"Ah," Amara breathed, leaning forward so her head was on the console. "You borrowed an already stolen car. This isn't illegal."
