slimy as the slick smile he gave Webster, revealing a missing left incisor.
“Just walking here, man,” Webster said, doing his best to ride the line between rude and cowardice.
“Thor. But you can call me Daddy. All my boys do.”
The laughter from the other men around the table made it clear that they were not the ‘boys’ the man—Thor?—referred to. “That seems like a very generous offer but I’m good. Thanks.”
He stepped over the leg in front of him but another appeared. Webster turned and faced the table. Fuck it, if this was how he died, so be it. It would probably make life easier for all involved, especially him.
“Are we gonna have a problem, man? I’m not fucking interested in holding your pocket or whatever it is that happens around here.”
The man’s hands tightened to fists on the table in front of him as he leaned forward. “You think their kind give a fuck about you? You need friends in here. Friends that look like you. Your own people.”
Webster frowned, his words leaving before he could second-guess them. “Those are my people. Cyrus is my brother.”
The guy beside Thor made a dick-sucking gesture. “Can I be your brother, too? I promise I’ll be more gentle than your other…brother. Unless you use too many of those teeth, then I might get a little rough with you, but those bruises tell me you like it. That it, boy? You like being used by their kind? You embarrassed to be white?”
Webster mentally watched himself dig his own grave. “I would literally rather have you beat my ass than listen to your KKK eugenics master race bullshit. Half of you don’t even have a full set of teeth. Why don’t you just suck each other off?”
“Oh, damn,” Jay muttered from two tables over.
“Yeah, you tell ‘em, Poindexter!” Iggy shouted.
Thor stared at him hard, and then a cold smile spread across his face. “We’ll talk again soon. Somewhere more…private.”
“Yeah, sure. Can’t wait,” Webster muttered.
When he walked past Iggy and Jay, they made room for him to sit down at their table. Webster took the invite, dropping onto the metal bench, no longer wanting to navigate the stairs with his legs shaking. He could still feel their eyes on him but did his best to pretend they weren’t there, focusing instead on Iggy and Jay.
“You’re a dead man, Poindexter,” Iggy said around a laugh as he dealt Webster in on their card game. “Like, that motherfucker gonna kill you.”
“You’re a crazy dude, man, but Iggy’s right. You’re fucked,” Jay agreed.
Webster fanned out his cards, not even sure what they were playing. “Thanks, guys. I appreciate the support.”
Jay perked up as if remembering something. “Hey, if you get shanked in the shower, can I get your commissary?”
Webster avoided Thor and his crew out in the yard, feeling strangely exposed without Cy there to watch out for him and hating himself just a little for wanting him there to protect him when he’d spent most of his adult life protecting others.
Cy’s friend was there, though—the one everybody called Preacher. He watched Webster with a mix of suspicion and curiosity, which did nothing to quell his nerves. After a time, the man sat down beside him, not looking at him, just surveying the yard as if it was his territory.
“What’s good, kid?” Preacher asked.
“Nothing comes to mind, if I’m being honest,” Webster admitted.
He gave a dry chuckle as if Webster amused him. “Heard you got into it in the common room with Thor.”
Webster shrugged. “Who told you that?”
“Oh, you know, they,” Preacher said vaguely, his gaze falling on Thor and his crew, who Webster imagined watched him closely, even if he couldn’t see them without his glasses.
“They do like to gossip, don’t they?” Webster said, trying to match Preacher’s wizened tone. “Did Cy ask you to babysit me?”
Preacher gave a dull shake of his head. “Nope, just trying to figure out your deal.”
“My deal?”
“Yeah. I can’t figure out if you’re full of shit or not.”
Webster gave him a hard side-eye. “I suppose that depends on the context.”
“Cy is putting his ass on the line for you out of some misguided sense of loyalty, and I’m just trying to decide if you’re worth it or not. You could cost him everything. He’s in here because of you, yet, somehow, he seems to think he owes you a debt.”
Was that it? Was that really why Cy had decided to protect him? What else could it be? They didn’t even know each