Grabbing Hold (The Motorcycle Kid #1)

42. Of Surprises and Acceptance

"Juice?" Eileen offered the glass to Felipe, who gave her a grateful smile.

"Gracias, mi amor," he replied, taking a large gulp of the orange juice. "I needed that."

She leaned against the balcony railing beside him, staring out at the street below them. They were up early today, she and Felipe. It was barely seven in the morning, and South Side was just beginning to wake up, the smell of a dozen different ethnicities cooking up a storm of breakfast, the flickering sounds of children, black, brown and white alike, playing on their way to school. Car horns beeped loudly as the morning rush began.

For them, this was peaceful. It had been the first time an entire week had passed without hearing a gunshot, without some sort of crime being committed. And with Felipe out of prison, it made Eileen dangerously uneasy.

"What's on your mind?" Felipe's deep, gentle voice asked quietly. "Dime."

"We need to talk, Felipe."

His eyes widened at the sudden comment, but nevertheless, he nodded. "Claro. I'm listening."

Eileen stared at him quizzically. Felipe? Listening? It was rarer than one might think. The Cuban was headstrong, like his people, and always fought for the last word.

"Ryder's not here. If you're looking for him, you're not going to find him here."

Felipe turned to face his partner.

"Then where is he, Eileen? ¿Dónde es?"

"He's at my mom's," she replied quietly, waiting for the explosion to happen. After a few pensive seconds of silence, none came. Felipe was making Eileen more anxious by the second.

"Why?" he finally asked. "Why is he in Misty Vale?"

"He needed to cool off," she shrugged. "It seemed as fitting a place as any."

"Was that his choice?"

"It was more of an or else situation."

Felipe chuckled. "Don't tell me you threatened him."

"I did." Eileen's face was void of emotion. "I told him to go clear his head and sort his life out, or don't come back home."

The man beside her stilled. "What did he do?" he questioned timidly. "Was it...was it because of me? What he did?

Eileen released a dry laugh as if to say you know it was because of you.

"Ryder's fine. He's actually more worried about me than I am about him at the moment."

"¿Qué? But you're his mother-"

"I wasn't going to come, Felipe."

"What are you talking about?" Felipe took her hands in his, flinching as she wrenched them away. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong is that I keep doing this!" she suddenly exclaimed. She took a deep breath, the stuffy wind blowing the hair into her face.

"I've lived this cycle a million times, Felipe, and no matter how hard I try, I end up right back where I started. Exactly where I started."

"What cycle?" Felipe asked, growing more and more agitated.

"You." A surprising amount of disgust filled Eileen's tone.

"Me?" Astonishment filled his face, quickly followed by an expression of realization. He let his hands fall to the railing in front of him.

"Me."

"Yes," said Eileen firmly. "You, and everything that comes with you being out."

"I just told you this time will be different-"