Hanging On

Forever

Alrighty then, my beloved readers. Enjoy!!!!

“So, before I go, I need to know that this kid is alright to be here.” My mom said, giving me a look. I smiled and nodded, sipping my orange juice.

“He’s good, don’t worry. He and Tucker grew up together.” I said, and my mom nodded.

“One more thing; I assume this boy’s parents won’t be…worried about where he is?” she asked nervously. I was relatively sure that she was correct, so I nodded.

She said good bye and left eh house. She would be gone and though Tucker and I had initially planned on doing something…else, we now had a guest, not to mention we needed to discuss.

I sat on my bed while Tucker pulled a shirt on. He looked over at me.

“What’s up?” he asked, coming to sit next to me. I picked at my shorts and then looked at him. I adjusted his hair so he didn’t look like he had just rolled out of bed, even though that was exactly what he had done. We got to get a later start on chores this morning, seems as my mom had asked George to get the morning chores done for us.

“We need to talk about what Jake told us.”

“What about me?” Jake asked, walking into the room just as I spoke. He sat down in my chair as we stared at him.

“What? Was this one of those moments? Should I put some head phones on and go down stairs?” he asked innocently. I couldn’t help but laugh, and Tucker snorted.

“No, nothing like that. I was just saying that we need to talk about what you told us yesterday.” I said, and all traces of joking left his face.

I could see the familiar look that occasionally haunted Tucker’s face on Jakes. His poker face wasn’t as good as Tuckers. The look that reminded me that behind all of his joking and teasing, Jake had see some bad stuff and been through rough times.

I folded my legs under me and looked between Tucker and Jake before speaking.

“We need a plan.” I said, and Tucker raised an eye brow.

“Syd, this isn’t exactly a Scooby doo case.” I glared at him.

“You know what I mean. You and I both know that you leaving wont protect me and my mom anymore than if you stayed. It would make it worse.” I said, knowing that the thought had crossed his mind, not because he wanted to leave, but because he wanted to protect my mom and me.

I could see how frustrated he was. I knew this was not an easy time for him. The man that had killed his mother and send Tucker himself to jail was looking for him. He was dangerous, and he knew where Tucker was. Jake was right. If Jake could find him, then this guy could too.

“The police?” Jake suggested, and Tucker snorted.

“Yeah, that’d work.” He said, and Jake nodded.

“Yeah…probably wouldn’t go over too well.” He said, and I frowned.

“Why not? They could do the surveillance thing, ambush, you know?” I suggested, Jake shook his head.

“What evidence do we have that he’s actually going to come here? All the police will see is two kids fresh out of prison and on probation making random claims. They cant do anything.” He explained, and I felt my face fall. He was right.

I knew better than to suggest Mr. Savage. He hated Tucker already, and I doubted he would take to well to Jake either.

“What do we do? Just wait for him to come to us?” I asked, feeling defeated. I looked at Tucker. I could see the anger boiling just beneath the surface, and I could see what he must have been feeling. I wouldn’t lose him. Butch was trying to take him away from me, to hurt him. I wasn’t going to let that happen. Over my dead body. Even if it came to that. My mind couldn’t even compute the thought of a world without Tucker. It just…was not compatible with my mind. I couldn’t see it. He needed to be here, preferably with me. I looked to Jake.