Aggro - CoraLee June Page 0,37

information about Lex but didn’t know if Kai would be suspicious if I asked about him.

Kai turned out of the parking lot and started barreling down the winding road that hugged the coast. I pressed against the back of the cloth seats and clenched my fists. He drove like he surfed: aggressively. “You can expect to stay by my side the entire time. Don’t leave my sight for a single second.”

I rolled my eyes. “Why are you so scared, Kai?”

“I’m not fucking scared,” he snapped. “I’m trying to be smart about this. Lex is a fucking tool. He likes to act like a big shot New York mobster, but he’s nothing more than a drug pusher. He can’t do shit. He’s just...unpredictable.”

Drugs. Okay. At least now I had more of an idea of what I was walking into. Or, at least I had what I knew from books and movies, for whatever that was worth. I wasn’t ignorant, but the majority of my experience with drugs was the pot people smoked at parties and the Xanax Violet sometimes stole from her mother’s stash. I wasn’t a fan of anything that made me feel weird.

“Okay, I’ll stay close,” I promised. I wasn’t planning on going off on my own anyway.

We rode in silence the rest of the way. Kai gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning whiter the longer we drove. We drove over train tracks to the opposite side of the island. More locals who couldn’t afford the prime real estate lived here. I didn’t come over here often since just about everywhere I went was within a fifteen-minute bike ride away. So it was easy to forget that our little island was actually much bigger than it seemed, and not all of it was like the slice of paradise we called home.

By the time we pulled up to a mobile home whose best days were behind it, Kai’s mouth was a thin white line matching his knuckles. I reached to undo my seat belt when Kai caught my hand.

“Stay close, Breeze. I’m serious, I need to be able to see you,” Kai repeated firmly.

“I know. Trust me, I’m not about going solo and socializing on my best days, so I got it.”

“And no matter what Lex says, don’t give him a reaction. Okay? Nothing.”

“Fine.”

Kai let go of my hand, and I finished unbuckling the belt and maneuvered my way out of the tall truck. We walked up to the front door together, and after he rapped on the door, he wound his arm around my shoulder.

The weight of his arm, mixed with the scent of the ocean still on his skin, calmed my nerves. I took a deep breath to center myself, and the door opened. Instead of being greeted by the smell of grilling meat and sweet barbecue, I was slammed with the musty smell of mold and rotting food. It was a lingering smell that permeated the air and didn’t leave.

“Breeze. I’m so glad you could make it. Come in,” Lex cooed.

I glanced nervously at Kai and stepped through the door. Once inside, I could see at least one source of the smell. The trash can was overflowing and looked like it hadn’t been emptied in weeks. Garbage was piled precariously on top and stacked on the surrounding counters. The sink was equally as full of dishes with caked on food.

I smiled politely at Lex as he led us through the trailer. He was playing tour guide and pointing out the different areas, which were all as dirty and dilapidated as the kitchen. I said a silent prayer for my bladder, willing it to hold out until we could leave this place. I did not want to find out what the bathroom looked like. Why the hell did Lex want me to come so badly? Did he really want me to see this?

We finally reached the backyard. It only took us a few minutes, but it felt much longer. There were several men standing around. One was manning the grill, and the others were sitting in lawn chairs, drinking beer. I noticed that there were no women here. I briefly wondered about Kai’s mother when Lex started to introduce me to a tall, shirtless man with dark tattoos covering every inch of skin.

“Hank, this is Breeze,” Kai said in a monotone voice.

Hank broke out into a big smile, revealing that his front tooth was rotten. “Hello there, Breeze. It’s nice to meet you.” He wiped his