“Sometimes,” Roam said. “At King’s,” he went on.
“Stay at King’s,” Crowe returned and that was all he intended to say. I could tell because his eyes cut to me.
I could feel Roam’s disappointment, it filled the air.
“We need to talk,” Vance said to me.
“I’ll do what you say!” Roam continued and everyone looked at him because his voice had gotten louder, higher, more desperate. His body was tense, solid, and I felt my throat close. “Anything you say. I won’t mouth off. I’ll just do it. I won’t be a problem, I swear.”
“Roam?” Crowe asked and Roam nodded, confirming that was his name. “Get your diploma, get smart, once you do that, I’ll think about it.”
Roam shook his head, not letting it go. “Has to be now.”
“Roam, we’ll talk about this in the car,” I said to him.
Roam’s body swung to me. “It has to be now!” he shouted and my body jerked.
I’d never heard him shout.
His face was distorted with something, an internal battle the physical manifestation of which could be seen in his expression.
“Be dead in three years,” Roam continued and my heart stopped.
“Roam, don’t say that,” Sniff put in quietly.
“I’m gonna get ‘em. All of ‘em and I gotta know how to do it. If I don’t, they’ll kill me.”
I started to walk along the front row of the crowd to get to Roam and was just passing Vance when Roam started to back up. Vance stopped me with an arm around my waist and he pulled my back to his front. I didn’t fight Vance and didn’t try to get to the retreating Roam.
Roam backed up until he was against the wall.
“Roam, we’ll get back to King’s. We’ll talk,” I said softly.
“No. You’re after them. You’re doin’ it. I’m gonna do it too. They killed Park. They
didn’t shoot ‘im but they might as well have. Park was…” he stopped, his voice went hoarse. “Park wanted…” he tried to go on but stopped again.
I leaned away from Vance to detach his arm from me so I could get to Roam but Vance’s arm tightened and he pulled me deeper into his body.
“Best way to get them, Roam, is not to become one of them,” Nightingale cut in, his eyes sharp on Roam and I could tell he’d taken in everything.
“You don’t know,” Roam spat at Lee, taking (I thought) his life in his hands. I didn’t expect many people talked to Lee Nightingale like that, certainly not fifteen year old boys. “You have no f**kin’ clue.”
“My best friend is Darius Tucker,” Lee told him.
Roam’s body went still and his eyes grew wide. Mine did too.
“I do know,” Lee said with finality.
This hit Roam, I could tell, but he didn’t give up. His eyes went to me and Vance.
“I wanna be you,” he said to Vance quietly.
“You can’t be me. You gotta be you. And right now, you’re a kid. Be a kid,” Vance advised from behind me.
“I’m not a kid,” Roam protested.
“That ain’t a bad thing, Sugar,” Daisy put in.