Mess Us Up – Jaxson Kidman Page 0,43
he asks.
“Skatepark,” I say.
“What are we doing?” Aric asks.
“Getting to the bottom of the truth, bro.”
Taz grips the railing and looks ready to rip it apart.
Les is calm and collected.
Peg Leg Mikey is in on the conversation because I trust him more than I trust Ado.
Aric and Raf have to first collect their jaws off the ground from the shock of the story. And then the anger comes in a big wave.
“And we just sat there with him?” Raf asks.
“What the fuck, Mac?” Aric asks.
“Listen to me,” I say. “I know what we want to do. And there’s a way to make this right. We can’t rely on Mama the way we want to. There’s a plan in place for this kind of thing. This isn’t something where you just replace the cash, beat the fuck out of Ado, and toss him to the curb. And this is my fault. So I have to fix it my way.”
“How is it your fault?” Peg Leg Mikey asks.
“Ado was in the middle of a situation a while ago,” I say. “He wanted to overthrow me. Wanted to take control of BC. Not him, but other parts of the crew. He was honest and I kept him around.”
“It’s not your fault,” Aric says to me. “It’s Ado’s fault.”
“He wants to help his mother,” I say.
“Well maybe we should have her meet her grave earlier than expected,” Raf says.
“Fuck, bro, she’s got cancer,” Les says.
“I don’t care,” Raf says.
“I’m with Raf,” Taz says.
“Listen to me,” I growl. “I’ve got it worked out. You just have to trust me.”
“I trust my fists,” Taz says.
“Taz, cut the shit,” Les says.
“Come over here and say that to me,” Taz says.
Les takes a step and I grab his shirt.
“Stop,” I say. “I get it. This is a fucked up mess. But if we don’t do this the right way, it all comes crashing down.”
“What do you need from me?” Peg Leg Mikey asks.
“You just run this place tight,” I say to him. “Any bullshit and you call me. Make sure you work with Van and Clay too. This entire area needs to be safe at all times.”
“Done,” Peg Leg Mikey says.
“I fucking hate this,” Raf says. “All of it.”
“We all do,” Les says.
“I just want to…”
Raf walks by us and goes to the top of the halfpipe.
A skateboarder named Chimmy comes up the halfpipe and stops.
Raf punches him in the face.
“Raf!” Les yells.
“Let him go,” I say.
Raf grabs the skateboard and swings it at Chimmy.
Chimmy screams when Raf hits him with it.
Raf throws the skateboard down the halfpipe and then does the same with Chimmy.
“My turn,” Taz says.
He cracks his knuckles and jumps the railing.
“Before we go destroying the skatepark,” I call out. “Can I tell you the next part of the plan here?”
Taz looks back at me. “It better be good.”
“Trust me, bro, it’s fucking good.”
14
JOLIE
“Promise me you won’t say anything to anyone?”
Violet hurries to a window and opens it. “I’m talking to Jolie! She’s safe! I found her!”
“Violet,” I growl.
She starts to laugh. “Seriously? Nobody can hear me.”
“You’re tucked away in your princess-castle mansion,” I say.
“Don’t be jealous,” she says. “This is the benefit of your parents having you by mistake.”
I laugh. “You just love owning that, don’t you?”
“Hell yeah,” she says. “I get whatever I want when I want. Just as long as they don’t have to deal with me.”
“You realize how old you are…”
“I do,” Violet says. “I’m not sure they do.”
She walks back to her bed.
The video shakes and dances, making me a little sick.
She crashes to her bed and I look away.
I feel like I’m on a boat in a hurricane talking to her like this.
It’s the best I can do without seeing her in person.
“I can’t wait to see you again,” I say to her. “And just hang out like normal.”
“Normal? There is nothing normal about you anymore, Jolie.”
“Shut up.”
“It’s good though. I like it. So no more giant bathtub for you?”
“Not here,” I say. “The shower is nice.”
“That tub though…”
She wiggles her eyebrows.
“You just liked the attention,” I say to her. “Making Les and Taz go crazy.”
“It’s all for fun,” she says.
“Yeah, but the thing is… these guys don’t do fun, Violet. Everything is serious.”
“Serious… whatever.”
“You don’t…” I shake my head. “Never mind.”
“Oh, fuck, I forgot to tell you,” Violet says. “I went to a party two nights ago. Guess who was there?”
“Who?”
“Liam.”
I roll my eyes. “Really?”
“Don’t roll your eyes at me,” Violet says. “Liam… like… ohmygod…”
“So what happened to