Shattered (Anderson Special Ops #4) - Melody Anne Page 0,28

with a frown.

“They started taking turns, warming up their arms, and by the dumbest luck ever, Tyrell found just the right rock, and he had the perfect release point, and then he watched his rock disappear over the railing. I’m sure they were both shocked to see it make it that far up but not nearly as shocked as when they heard a car’s tires start screeching to a halt.”

“Smoke,” Avery gasped as she looked at him with a bit of horror.

Laysha continued. “Tyrell and Cordell were frozen in fear until the driver of the car jumped over to the railing and started screaming at the boys that they’d hit his car, and he was coming down there to teach them a lesson.”

“Smoke, no wonder you run so fast,” Green said.

“You have no idea,” replied Smoke.

“Well, Tyrell, or Smoke as you like to call him, turned just a half-second before Cordell, and they were sprinting like the devil was on their heels away from the scene of the crime. As fate would have it, Cordell’s dad was coming down the sidewalk just as Tyrell rounded the corner. The two of them collided. Cordell’s dad, seeing the fear on Tyrell's face, grabbed hold of Tyrell and demanded to know what was wrong. Instead of fessing up to his action, he said, and I quote, Cordell was throwing rocks on the overpass and hit a car, and I think it caused a wreck.”

“Smoke, you didn’t?” mocked Brackish. Chuckling from the crowd ensued.

“Oh, he did. As if blaming his friend for something he did wasn’t bad enough, once Tyrell got free, Cordell rounded the corner of the building and slammed straight into his dad’s chest. The climax of the story — Cordell had a stuttering problem, and it was terrible when he was scared or nervous. His dad was standing there yelling at him, asking him what in the hell he’d done, and all Cordell could say was It . . . it . . . I . . . it . . . my . . . it . . . I . . . just as his dad pulled him around to give him one hell of a spanking. Cordell looked up at Tyrell with a plea for him to come back and save him,” Laysha said as she gave Smoke a look.

“What? Smoke, you let someone take the fall for you?” Eyes asked.

Before Smoke could answer, his mother continued with the story. “Smoke turned and ran away, then holed up in the apartment until I got home. As soon as I walked through the door, he came running up to me crying, telling me the entire story, and he felt horribly guilty for what he’d done. I told him he could be a man and apologize to his friend while also telling Cordell’s dad the truth, or he could go through life blaming others for his actions. I also told him I’d love him no matter what his choice was, but this moment could define who he chose to be for the rest of his life. I think everyone here knows the choice he made.”

Nothing but silence drifted on the late afternoon air, and a flash of eye connection between Smoke and his mom told Smoke the crack was on its way.

“He saved his friend?” Avery said in a questioning but hopeful tone.

Laysha laughed. “He decided to stay home and play in his room for the rest of the summer.” Then laughter erupted from the depths of her soul while she raised her hand, waving it to indicate she wasn’t serious, but so pleased with her own joke she couldn’t get the rest of the words out.

Her laugh was loud and gregarious, which made others start laughing, and soon the entire group was mirroring her. Many one-liners were thrown out about Smoke hiding in his room or being the opposite of the fall guy, which got more laughs. Many minutes passed before anyone could talk again without setting off another fit of laughter.

“Of course he did the right thing. He’s a man of honor,” she said, clear pride shining in her eyes. “He made a decision that day to be a man, and that’s when I knew he’d be a great asset to society, and he’d make his mama proud for the rest of her life.”

“You raised me with love, intelligence, integrity, and loyalty,” Smoke said as he leaned down and kissed his mother on the forehead. “There was no