Chapter 2

The hospital waiting room smelled of antiseptic and stale coffee. I sat numbly, staring at the scuffed linoleum floor while Andrew was in surgery. The doctor' s words were a blur of medical terms: shattered tibia, fibula, torn ACL, PCL, MCL. He said Andrew would be lucky to walk without a limp, let alone play football ever again.

The door swung open, and Wesley Fowler walked in, flanked by two of his large, thuggish friends. He still wore his football pants, spattered with my brother' s blood.

He didn't look sorry. He looked annoyed, like this was an inconvenience.

"Look, Johns," he said, his voice dripping with condescension. He pulled a crumpled wad of cash from his pocket and threw it on the table in front of me. "Here' s five hundred bucks. For the trouble."

I stared at the money, then at his arrogant face.

"My father said to tell you your brother should have known his place. He got in my way."

"His place?" I stood up, my voice shaking with a rage so cold it surprised me. "Your place is in a jail cell."

Wesley laughed, a short, ugly sound. "This town doesn't have a jail cell big enough to hold me. Take the money. Be grateful."

I swiped the cash off the table. It scattered across the floor. "Get out."

His smile vanished. "Big mistake."

He turned and left. I followed him out into the hallway, my mind screaming. I had to do something. As I stepped outside the main entrance to get some air, his friends were waiting.

They cornered me against the brick wall.

"Listen to me," one of them growled, his face uncomfortably close to mine. "You and your brother are nothing. Trash. You think anyone cares about a dead soldier's kids?"

He shoved me hard against the wall. My head hit the brick with a dull thud.

"My dad owns the cops. He owns the school. He owns this whole damn town," the other one said, his voice a low threat. "You push this, and we'll crush you. We'll make what happened to your brother look like a fucking scraped knee. You understand?"

He grabbed my arm, his fingers digging into my flesh. "Your family is worthless. You can be erased."

They let me go and sauntered off into the parking lot, laughing. I slid down the wall, my body trembling, the pain in my head nothing compared to the terror that was now flooding my veins. They weren't just threatening me. They were making a promise.