Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 111676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
“You’re not making it any better, Bell…” I mumbled. I could feel her crazy eyes burning into the side of my face, probably willing my head to spontaneously combust. I looked at her just as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
“Yeah.” I couldn’t help but laugh at the girl’s entitlement. “That you’re batshit crazy,” I said, watching a guy sign his name to the roster.
“Fuck you, Wolf!” Megan stormed around the side of the table in a flash of peroxide-blond hair.
Bellamy looked at me. “Seriously, dude. What in the hell were you thinking with that one?”
I wasn’t going to comment on that.
A group of guys approached the table, asking Petey a litany of questions.
Rogue passed the cashbox to Bellamy. “Take this.” He clawed at his arm again, which was getting redder by the minute. “I got to go to the clinic.” He stood up, grabbing his backpack. “I know it has something to do with those rats.”
Bellamy chuckled. “Pretty sure that’s Cassie’s doing.”
“Why?”
“There was a bottle of itching powder in my bathroom trash can.”
She really needed to get better at hiding evidence.
“I told him to expect hell from them.”
“Yeah, well…he’ll figure it out.” He clasped a hand to my shoulder. “Just like you’ll figure out whatever the hell is going on between you and Jade.”
“Nothing is going on between us.”
“Whatever you say, man. Whatever you say.”
After class, Jade met me at my truck. She was on the phone with her mom for most of the drive, and while I tried my best not to eavesdrop, it was nearly impossible. From what I picked up on, her parents were worse off than I’d thought. Pick-pocketing wasn’t going to cut it, and I had a good feeling she would be absolute shit at stealing cars. I could have just gone and stolen something by myself, but I knew Jade. She’d never take the money if she wasn’t involved. Which meant, I needed to come up with something that would be easy, quick money. Something a ten-year-old could manage.
Jade had just hung up when I turned off the highway into the Wal-E-Mart parking lot. “Why are we going to Wal-E-Mart?”
“To get rat traps.”
Her expression blanked. Jade had always had a soft spot for animals. Back in high school, she nearly wrecked her Jeep to avoid hitting a possum. When she asked if it was okay, I’d checked the rearview. The tire must have skimmed its hind legs, because it was dragging itself across the road. When I paused before answering, she pulled over and tried to catch the damn thing to take it to an animal shelter. If she were willing to save one of God’s ugliest creations, she’d want to save a rat.
I swerved into a spot. “Don’t worry. There aren’t any rats,” I said, and threw open my door. “It’s just to make Rogue calm his eccentric ass down.”
Jade got out and rounded the back of my truck. “Seems like a waste of money then.”
“Trust me. Five bucks is worth my sanity.”
We headed across the lot toward the automatic doors. They slid open to ice-cold air and the scent of fish displayed at the front of the store.
Mrs. Seaton stood at the entrance in her blue greeter’s vest, placing a sticker on a kid’s shirt. When she noticed me walk in, she smiled and shuffled over to give me a hug. “Well, ain’t this a pleasant surprise?” She stepped back, her attention drifting to Jade. That weathered smile deepened. “And who’s this you’ve got with you, Mr. Wolf?”
“Jade.”
“Well, it’s mighty nice to meet you. I’m Bernice. I watch Mr. Dog for Wolf from time to time.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Mrs. Seaton’s attention was back on me. “Speaking of. When do I get to see that rascal again?”
“Maybe next week?”
“All right. I’ll make sure to have all the treats for him.” She glanced at the entrance, already fishing in her vest pocket for more stickers. “Gotta get back to work.”
“She seems nice,” Jade said as we headed toward the buggy corral.
“She is.” And, with my dad and mom gone, the closest thing I had to something that felt like family.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and snapped a picture of the blue-and-white logo behind the shopping carts, then sent it to Hendrix in a text with a middle finger emoji. He responded immediately.
Take a shit on the condom aisle in my honor.
Like a stamp, Hendrix was here in spirit.
“Hendrix still banned?” Jade asked over my shoulder.
“Yep.” Laughing, I crammed the device back into my pocket and wrangled one of the beat-up shopping carts free.
“You know, there are levels, and getting banned from Wal-E-Mart really is rock bottom,” she said.
He’d had a good streak, though. Ten straight years of shoplifting random shit from his favorite store, and he didn’t get caught until he got cocky. “You know, when it happened, he cried for a week.”