"Don't wanna live as an untold story. "
M I L E S
When I walked through the front door, my sister had the house phone to her ear as tears streamed down her cheeks. Her face went pale as soon as she saw me. I stumbled over the mat and limped my way to the couch, not offering a word of explanation to her.
Maddie screamed. It made my head pound more violently.
"Where's mom?," I grunted.
My sister took a seat next to me, her mouth slightly agape. "Where the hell were you, Miles? What happened to you?," she sobbed.
I shook my head, coughing. "I'm fine. Where's mom, Maddie?"
Her hands were shaking as she shrugged. "In her room," she said quietly.
I nodded, ignoring the flare of hurt. "Good, you can't tell her. She'll worry."
"I'm worried!," Maddie screamed. "Did Liam do this to you?"
"Would you keep your voice down?," I asked, eyeing the staircase.
Maddie's eyes softened, then she said, much more quietly, "Was it him?"
I coughed again, feeling my left ribs burn. "No," my voice was hoarse. "It-it wasn't him. Go get me some ice."
Maddie leaped from the couch, and when she returned with a pack of frozen peas, I placed it to my jaw, savoring the coolness.
"Grace has been calling non-stop," she said. "She was hysterical, she told me there were guys with guns at the party."
I eyed her warily. "Is she okay?"
"That's not my main concern right now! Your face is bloody and you look like you've been through hell, Miles. Tell me what the—"
"I got caught up with some guys at the wrong bus stop," I said, wincing as I adjusted my position. "Pretty sure my ribs are broken."
Maddie's expression became calculated. "We're going to the hospital. Get up."
"No, no. We can't."
"Shut up, Miles. I'm not a doctor, but I know that you look terrible," she said sternly as she helped me up from the couch.
There was no arguing with her. So, I sighed in defeat, earning a whine from my ribs.
••••••••••••••••••••••
Apparently, there was no remedy for fractured ribs. No surgery. Fractured ribs healed on their own with
proper treatment. The emergency room doctor gave me a bottle of pain relief medication and applied three stitches to my face. What came as a shock to me was that my right hand wasn't broken, or fractured, just severely bruised from where I had punched the gang member in the face.
Punched a gang member in the face. Punched a gang member in the face. Punched a gang member-
"You're not going to school tomorrow," Maddie said, stirring her coffee.
It was now Sunday and my mother was nowhere to be found. I enjoyed it that way, because she'd only want me to head to the club—and I felt much too torn to do that now. Maddie and I sat at the kitchen table.
"I have to. I have things to do," I muttered.
She pointed at the tea in front of me. "Drink."
I rolled my eyes, but obliged.
"Grace called," she said, sipping her coffee.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," she said, smiling slyly.
"What," I demanded.
"She likes you, M."
Although the pain medication relieved the sharpness in my ribs, it did nothing to slow my headache.
"Shut up, Maddie."
"I know she-," Maddie started, but was cut off by my mother coming through the door.
She took one good look at me and her brows drew together. "This is why the money wasn't on the counter last night? Someone jumped you for it?"
I gulped.
"What money?," Maddie said, carefully looking between my mother and I.
"I'm sorry," I said, my voice small. "I'll have it tomorrow night."
Looking at her graying auburn hair and dark chestnut eyes, I wanted to believe she'd take care of me. But, no. My heart twisted as her face stayed emotionless. After finding her keys, my mother slammed the door shut.
I got up from the table and pushed my tea aside. "I have homework to do," I said, quietly.
Maddie yanked at my hand. "What money, Miles?"
I shook free of her hand. "Mads, I love you. I do. But, don't push me right now," I said, evenly.
A stung look glazed through my sister's eyes and she nodded, going back to stirring her coffee. She was alone at the dinner table that was once full of laughter.
When I reached the bathroom, I vomited my emotions. They weren't tasteful.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••
I was sore all over. It was Monday, and I had to face Liam. More than face him, I had to help him.
"Miles, I don't believe you, you know," Maddie voiced as she pulled into the school's parking lot.
I leaned my head against the headrest and shut my eyes. "About?"
"Getting into a fight with some guys at the bus stop," she said, sternly. "That's a lie. Tell me what really happened."
I released a breath. Ever since Friday night, I'd been peering out the windows of my house and making sure to lock all the doors. Whatever Carl and his 'gang' wanted me for, it was serious. More than serious; I should've been dead. Liam should've been too, because unlike him, I didn't do the crimes that Carl accused me for. I wasn't a cheat.
Did they know were I lived? Where Liam lived?
"My head hurts and I have a long day today," I said, grabbing my backpack and opening the car door.
"Wait," Maddie said. I looked to her expectantly.
She had a look of conflict in her eyes, then she sighed. "What time are you going to be done being a teacher today?"
"I'm not his teacher, Maddie. I'll be done by 4:30," I stated. "No, no. Not 4:30, probably longer. You know what they say about blondes."
Maddie laughed, and before she could ask me anything else, I departed quickly. I inhaled the sharp morning air, and savored it because it meant that I was alive. Not in the clutches of Carl. I shivered just thinking about that grim time on the stone floor.
As I maneuvered through the crowd of students, my stomach growled. It wasn't that there was no breakfast at my house, it was that I couldn't seem to keep anything down lately, even if I was hungry. It exhausted me. I read somewhere that failure to digest was a sign of gastric cancer.
"Miles!," a sweet voice sounded through the halls. It was none other than my lovely Grace. She bounded into my arms and it caused me to take in a sharp breath, earning protest from my damaged ribs. I fought it, for all I wanted to do was hug her. She smelled like honey, kind words, glittering smiles and strawberries on a summer night.
"You scared me half to death. Where the hell were you? You didn't answer any of my calls," it sounded like she was crying, so I pulled her closer. My ribs screamed at me. Hot pain.
As she pulled her face from my chest, I spotted Liam watching me with a predatory glance from across the hall. His golden hair was messy and he was sporting colorful bruises. It was infuriating that he still made his injuries looks classy, and graceful. A king descending from his throne. He had an arm draped over Daisy's shoulders. Diego, Frank, and Sam were also near, but none of them made a move to torment me.
They hadn't seen me. Only Liam had. I looked down at Grace again and saw she was wiping tears from her face. It dawned on me that I still had my arms wrapped around her waist, I hastily let her go.
"You're going to tell me the truth, Miles Medley. Or I'm going to kill you," she said, crossing her arms.
"Not here," I said, grabbing her hand and dragging her to a more secluded area. Out of Liam's line of vision.
"Would you believe me if I told you I gambled for money?," I went right out with it. I couldn't keep dodging the truth. Not to Grace.
Grace had an expression of confusion on her face; but when it registered, her face turned stern. "This is for your mom, isn't it. She...she needs money," she stated quietly.
I nodded solemnly. "For her stupid fucking drug addiction," it came out more aggressive than I'd planned. Grace looked startled.
"Sorry," I muttered. "It's just—."
"How did you get the bruises? And what about the guys with the guns? What happened that night?," she pried, her brown eyes shining. "And Liam—why is his face only slightly better off than yours?"
It felt like a nightmare, like I wasn't kidnapped by large men with pistols and I wasn't almost beaten to death. Liam didn't kill a man. In reality, however, he did. To survive.
"They took us," I confessed, drawing closer to her.
Grace scrunched her brows together.
"The guys from the club I gamble at, they had some sort of problem with me. They think I'm a cheat," I scoffed. "I'm not."
"But they accused you of being one," she concluded.
I nodded. "And Liam, well, apparently he was associated with them, too, in a different way. I didn't know. He was stealing money from them...I think." I shook my head frustratedly. "I don't really know. All I know is that they beat the hell out of us and to get out...we had to do some very not good things."
"Very not good things?," she asked. "What would that consist of?"
The bell.
Grace sighed. "You have to promise to tell me later," she said.
"I'm tutoring Liam today," I said, hating the taste of the words in my mouth.
"Call me then," she said, before hastily kissing my cheek.
She was gone.
I rubbed the spot where her lips touched my cheek. All I could hear was Maddie yesterday, "She likes you, M."
Grace was my friend. My best friend. I wouldn't let anything happen to her, but she couldn't love me like that. I was convinced that she didn't, because if she did, we'd fall apart.
••••••••••••••••••••••••
"You know we don't have to be here. We can always go to your house," he propped his legs up on the desk and smirked. "I'm sure your sister will be pleased to see me."
I leapt out of my seat and charged at him, but Mr. Wicks dashed into the near-empty classroom. "What is going on here?"
Liam rose a brow. "I don't know, sir. Maybe you should ask your star student."
I struggled to control my breathing. "It's nothing, Mr. Wicks."
"Behave yourselves," he said, sternly, before he grabbed his work bag and waddled out the door. I caught the look of concern he casted at our tainted faces.
I wished it was me walking out of the door instead.
"Doesn't that old man have a wife?," Liam huffed. "He should do better things with his time."
"Like stealing?" I hummed.
Liam snapped his attention to me. "Watch yourself, sweetheart," he growled.
"I get my own pet name?" I voiced amusedly. "Daisy should be jealous. Does she know you're a thief?"
"Does Grace know you're a gambler with a druggie for a mother?," Liam spat.
I gulped and focused my gaze on the physics sheet in front of me. "Now it's your turn to watch yourself, Coleman."
Liam laughed. "Always do."
"Unlike you, I didn't do the deed Carl accused me of. I'm not a cheat, but you, you're every bit the thief they said you were."
He shrugged. "I steal things sometimes. And when Carl left me unattended, I would steal some of his cash from the club. He's a stupid man."
"How did you get into a club like that? How the hell did Carl employ you?," I asked, skeptically.
"I wandered into the wrong side of town one night," he explained, setting his legs down from the table. "I needed a distraction, and working with Carl offered me that."
What could he possibly need a distraction for?
"What did you do for him?"
"Steal. Spy," he said, shrugging with simplicity.
"Spy?," I asked, giving him a look.
"At other clubs," Liam elaborated. "See what kind of people were Carl's competition. It was all about the money for him. For me, it was just...well I don't know, fun."
A laugh shook my chest. "Look at you. Liam Coleman," I said, exaggeratedly. "Criminal of the year."
He gave me a dark look. "Not anymore. He doesn't know where I live, and I don't plan on going back, so it ends there."
As an afterthought he added, "you're not going back either."
I scowled at him. "I gamble there. It's where I get my money."
Liam crossed his arms. "Find another club. If you go back, Carl will kill you. Before he kills you, he'll make you give up my residence. Game over."
"I don't take orders from you," I stated.
"Yeah?," he challenged. Before I could bolt from my chair, he grabbed me by my shirt roughly, scowling. "If you go back, I'll fucking kill you myself. Do you understand me?"
I didn't say anything.
He tightened his grip. "I said, understand?" His voice was deadly and I gulped. I couldn't breathe.
"Okay," I whispered.
He released me immediately and sat back in his chair. "You're no use to me sitting there doing nothing. Teach me something."