Deion knew that Alister wanted to ask him about what just happened, and he was glad he didn't. It's not like he wouldn't share it with Alister if
he did ask, he was just glad he didn't. Not yet, he wasn't ready to share that part of him yet. And somewhere inside of him, he knew it was because he didn't want Alister to see him any different than he did an hour ago. An hour ago, when they were laughing, speeding down the streets recklessly on stolen motorcycles.
Luckily, the police hadn't connected the two yet. Or if they had, they didn't care enough to search for them. Either way, Deion was happy. Until...
"What the hell just happened back there?" Alister finally asks, breaking their ten-minute silence.
"What money was he talking about?" Alister asks and Deion whistles. "Nothing gets past you, does it, Pretty Boy?" Deion says in an 'oh so very observant of you' kinda way.
Alister shakes his head.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Alister says with a shrug.
"But I wouldn't judge you if you did," He continues, reaching into his pocket and lighting a cigarette.
"Damn," Deion swears as the police sirens grow louder behind them.
"We gotta leave em," Alister shouts and grabs the other boy's arm as they take off running again.
They don't stop running until they reach the car seven blocks down.
They get inside the car and duck down as the cop cars speed by, driving further and further down the highway. It surprises Deion when Alister bursts into laughter. Heavy, body shaking, doubled over kind of laughter. He laughs for the first time in years, and he doesn't stop until two minutes later.
"We just ran away from the cops!" Alister shouts and Deion gives him a funny look. A look Alister now recognizes as his 'I don't know if I should laugh or hit you' kind of look.
"Laugh," Alister says and Deion does. They laugh, and laugh, and laugh. They laugh until they're both doubled over and have stomach cramps from laughing so hard. They laugh until it brings tears to their eyes. And Alister is still giggling when Deion finally looks up and smiles at him. A very affectionate kind of smile. Something Alister hasn't seen in a very long time from anyone.
"My brother owed those guys money before he... before he killed himself," Deion says after another few minutes in silence. Alister tilts his head to observe the boy sitting next to him.
"We lived in a pretty rough neighborhood. They came to the house, in the middle of his funeral, demanding the money. They came when my mother and sister were left alone. They beat up my mother and made her watch as Ric raped her," Deion rushes out, he sucks in a breath, but it gets stuck in his lungs and begins to choke. No matter how much air he breathed in, his mind didn't register it as oxygen.
"They said if he didn't get the money, they would kill my mom and my sister, and I believed them. I still do," Deion whispers, and tears slip down his cheeks. Without thinking, Alister reaches over and catches each of them on the tip of his fingers, and wipes each one away with his thumb.
"I've been doing some pretty fucked up shit to get back the money Mateo spent," Deion continues and Alister begins to move away, but Deion catches his hand before he can completely leave.
"Stay," Deion says. He whispers the word like a plea for help, and Alister answers. He remains exactly where he is until Deion is ready to let go.
YOU ARE READING
You Make Me Sane
Romance"Sometimes you just know. You just know when you belong with someone. Maybe it's how perfectly you seem to match your imperfect parts. Maybe it's the feeling of being sane for the first time in your entire insane life. Maybe it's all the moments you...
