The Streets

31. Suspicion And Explosion

A/N: One of my favorite chapters I've written. Get ready for it.

-Tay

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Cole's POV

"Will you two hurry up?" Trish exasperated into her phone. We were waiting for The Twins to get back from their garage that they have. I had never seen it before and none of them mentioned it to me. "I didn't know they had a garage." I voiced my thoughts.

"Yes. We have parts of town that we've claimed. We tend to stick to our other business instead. Though it is good to have some parts of town under our wing." Theo explained.

"How come you stick to other business instead of getting more areas of town?"

"We don't see the point in it. It just ends up getting into wars and it's a hassle. If property gets damaged or vandalized, we have to fix it."

I nodded, only understand a little bit. It seemed important factor in gang life. I was beginning to see that The Mischiefs or Trish, didn't run things the way other gangs did.

"The Twins are here." Trish said.

We made our way downstairs and into the fresh evening air. The Twins, were perched on their motorcycles, engines running. Trish and Dakota both got onto the backs, leaving Theo, Thayer and I. There wasn't enough room in Dakotas Corvette so I had decided to use my Dad's SUV.

The thought of riding with Thayer made me nervous. I wasn't sure if he was going to fight me at any time or kill me in my sleep because I lost his car.

The ride wasn't long to get the gift. It was in a storage unit in our side of town, in a sketchy area. I looked at Trish and Jacob out of the window to see them talking to an employee who worked there. She pointed behind her, her lips moving in answer to whatever Jacob asked her. Trish gave her a small smile before wandering back to where the girl had pointed. A few minutes later, they appeared, with Jacob carrying a medium sized box.

What I didn't expect was Trish opening the door and Jacob putting the box beside me. "Sorry Cole, we forgot the backpack so we'll have to put it here." Trish told me. There wasn't enough room on the motorcycle.

I nodded as we drove off. I could hear Thayer's music being behind him so I started to think to tune it out.

Could it really be a gift? I thought to myself. I didn't like Wiz and by the way the rest of the Mischief's describe East Side people I knew they were arrogant. Is Wiz arrogant enough to put something dangerous inside? I had no clue. But with the audience he gathered just for us to get instructions was unnerving. If there was something dangerous inside, it would attract attention. But what would he put in there that could be dangerous? I continued to sit there and think until I thought of one.

Bomb.

Immediately I tensed up at the thought of the deadly device beside me. Could it be a bomb?

Yes.

I remembered Wiz saying that it was an I'm sorry gift to the people he had let down. These people he said were in very high places. Would he be insane enough to kill these people he let down? Is it because he was trying to prove a point? Was he trying to get other people in high places? Maybe he was just doing this for himself, or he was sending an message out saying not to mess with him.

Or it's nothing harmless and you're the crazy one, my inner voice said.

I shook my head. I had no idea what to think. There could be something dangerous inside, or not. There was only one way to check.

I slowly but carefully lifted my my right hand off the wheel and placed it on top of the box. My hand, on the top felt a flat surface inside, feeling a smaller box inside the larger one. Slowly, I moved my hand down the side of the box. Whatever was inside, was almost as big as the box it was contained in. I had no idea if it was a bomb or anything dangerous. I was going off the things Trish and the crew had said and my own observations.

I moved my hand off, seeing we had arrived. I quickly but my head on top of the box. I couldn't hear anything.

"What are you doing Jock Boy?"

I whipped my head off the box and saw Thayer looking at me from the opened door. He was were giving me an odd look.

"Earth to Jock Boy."I turned back to look at Thayer his look even more odd than before.

"What were you doing with the box?" Thayer asked.

I blinked at him. This was the first time he had talked to me in almost a week.

"If you don't answer me I'll gladly finish the beating I was beginning to give you the other day."

That snapped me out of my state.

"I wasn't doing anything."

"Fucking white people." Thayer muttered quietly. I rolled my eyes. He took the box out of the front seat and handed it to Jacob.

I watched them as they walked into a professional building and sat back in my seat. I didn't have the chance to tell them my suspicion. They were gone for a full ten minutes. People were mulling along the streets unaware of the potential danger. With each passing minute, I was ready to get out and run. But I kept telling myself that I didn't have any proof that there was anything bad inside. Just before I was going to open my door and tell Thayer and Theo my suspicion, the door to the building opened. Trish walked out with Jacob by her side. There was a rare smile on her plump lips because of something Jacob said.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Then there was an ear splitting noise. I felt the ground tremble as I looked to see the building that Trish and Jacob had just come out of, explode from the inside. I saw, with absolute horror, both Jacob and Trish going flying outwards from the blast. Pieces of the building rained down, crushing other cars. Glass rained down, hitting the cars and asphalt, people screamed and ran away in horror.

I looked to see the building that was standing only a few moments ago was now nothing but rubble.

I was out of the car and was covering my head as debris still rained down on me. I looked left and right, looking for Jacob and Trish. The only thing I saw was them propelled forward but not where either of them landed.

I passed a back end of a car that was crushed, when I saw a hand around the corner of the car. I ran around, to see Trish. She was sitting up, her clothes and skin blackened from the explosion. Her face, was blank and her eyes dazed.

"Trish!" I called to her and dropped down to her. She didn't look at me but just continued to sit there. I picked her up, not trying to get her to talk. I ran with her in my arms and gently placed her back in the backseat of the car.