Beware of Brooklyn *Beware of the Parker Boys Sequel*

Chapter Ten

Two days had passed since the incident with Monica's father, leaving time for gaps to be filled.

We had contacted the boy's father, Steven, and informed him of the current situation going on with Monica, and of course the kind man had not objected to her staying at the house with us.

Word had quickly traveled around town about what had happened, even with Monica and I holding ourselves up in the house tightly. The boys had returned to school yesterday, but Monica and I decided to allow ourselves one more day of recovery before we, ourselves, returned.

It wasn't really recovery that we needed, it was preparation for what was waiting for us at school. The bruises had faded slightly, but they were still obvious. The ones that were on our faces were still a deep purple.

Neither Monica or I were ones to have the attention drawn to us, and that's exactly what was going to happen the moment we stepped foot in the hallways later this morning.

"Are you sure you girls are ready?" Rodger asks us as he comes the stand in the doorway of my room.

Monica tugs at the bottom of her shirt nervously, nodding slowly.

"I don't think I am ever going to be ready, but I can't hold myself up in here forever." She chuckles softly and Rodger spares her a small smile before turning to me, raising an eyebrow silently.

"I'm fine, I have dealt with this school after something drastic happened before, I used to this." I wave him away and he doesn't say anything more.

I slide my white tennis shoes on, the bottom of my dark wash jeans falling over them slightly.

I gab my backpack and we make our way downstairs, finding everyone in the kitchen.

"Monica, are you hungry?" Dalton asks her cautiously from across the kitchen and she meets his nervous gaze, her cheeks flushing slightly.

"No thank you, I'm fine." She says sheepishly and he nods quickly, making his way around the kitchen counter.

"You can ride to school with me, if you would like." He offers, grabbing his keys and flashing her a small smile and she quickly looks to me.

I raise an eyebrow, flashing her a questioning smile and she nods, keeping her eyes on me.

"Okay, that sounds fine." She manages and smiles nervously at me, silently asking me if what she had said had been appropriate and I laugh softly.

We all pile into separate cars and make our way to school. Rodger and I ride in silence until his phone buzzes in the cup holder.

"Will you check that for me?" he asks me and I pick it up.

"It's a text from Steve, asking if Monica and I are doing okay, and if we are returning to school today." I inform him.

"Tell him whatever you need to."

I tell Steven that Monica and I are fine, and that we are on our way to school now. I exit out of the messages from Steven and find myself in all of Rodger's messages. I am about to lock his phone back when one name catches my eyes.

Eva.

"What are these.." I say softly, clicking on the messages and Rodger's eyes looks to me and his phone.

"What's what?" he asks me casually, returning his gaze to the road, waiting for me to answer.

My heart stops when I scroll to the top and find who sent the first message.