Fighting for Rain - BB Easton Page 0,55

way.

It feels like I just kissed the shit out of Rainbow Williams.

I turn and take the sidewalk instead of going back behind the shopping center because, right now, I’m fucking invincible. Rain is still here. Nobody’s called the cops on her yet for saving Quint. And she’s not fucking Carter. I could tell the second that little bitch cleared his throat. If the two of them had hooked up, he would have come at me with his pop’s rifle, not some smartass comment and a side-eye.

The next thing I know, I’m standing directly in front of the shattered CVS door. No wild dogs. No bloated, dreadlocked corpses. No homicidal maniacs on motorcycles.

I look to the swirling sky and give a little salute.

I guess God likes me when I’m trying not to be a piece of shit.

I knock on the metal frame of the door with the barrel of my gun. I know there’s a chance some strung-out Bony is gonna blow my head off as soon as I peek inside, but I also know it’s possible that the place is open for business again. The mail is running—sort of. The power’s back on. Hell, Burger Palace never even fucking closed.

“Y’all open?” I call out, standing with my back against the bricks.

“Depends on how you’re payin’,” an apathetic adolescent voice replies.

I pull the door open and spot the Bony kid who saved my ass the last time I was here sitting behind the checkout stand, reading Gearhead Magazine. He’s wearing a black hoodie with neon-orange skeleton stripes spray-painted on it, but it doesn’t swallow him the way it did a week ago. He seems to fill it out a little better somehow, and the purple bruise around his eye has faded to a subtle greenish-yellow. I stop in the doorway when I notice that the .32 he used to blast his old man is sitting on the counter, aimed directly at me.

He lifts his eyes and does a double take as recognition wipes the apathy off his face.

“‘Sup, kid?” I lift my chin.

“‘Sup.” His tone and expression are guarded, but he hasn’t shot me yet, so that’s good.

“They got you mannin’ the place by yourself now?”

The kid lifts one shoulder in a half-assed shrug.

He’s alone. Good.

“Listen …” I take a few steps farther into the store. “I need a few things. I’m hoping, maybe we can work something out.”

The kid raises his non-bruised eyebrow. “You got weed?”

Fuck. Of course a fourteen-year-old kid is gonna want weed.

“No, but I think I know where I can get you some ammo for that .32.”

I’m pretty sure Rain’s dad had a small arsenal tucked away in the corners of that house. I just gotta dig a little more.

His eyebrow falls back into place, and he looks down at his magazine. “Nah. Got a full clip … except for one.”

He glances back at me with hatred in his eyes, and I know exactly where that one bullet went.

“I got something else you might be interested in.” I take another step closer. “I wouldn’t normally offer this to a kid, but you seem like a smart guy.”

I pull a bottle of hydrocodone out of my pocket and rattle the contents. I found it when I emptied Rain’s dad’s pockets before I buried him. I figured that bastard would have something with some street value on him.

The kid’s eyes light up at the sight of that little orange bottle, and I know I got him.

“This shit’s better than cash. You can get anything you want out there with this—as long as you don’t fucking eat it.”

The little punk rolls his eyes and hands me a plastic bag from under the counter. “Three pills to fill up a shopping bag. Five, and I’ll throw in a case of water.”

I laugh and shake my head. “Dude, I think you and I are gonna be damn good friends.”

Rain

I can’t believe I’m twenty.

I can’t believe Wes came back!

I can’t believe he’s gone again.

I hope he’s okay out there.

He’ll be fine. I’m the one who got beat up, and I stayed in here.

Q. What a bitch.

At least she’s letting us stay.

She’s gonna make my life a living hell though.

Not that it wasn’t already.

But now Wes is back!

But what’s gonna happen when he remembers how much he hates this place?

He’s gonna leave again, and then what?

I’ll die. I’ll fucking die.

Or I could go with him.

No, I can’t do that. I can’t even look out the window!

Shit. He is gonna leave again, and if I’m