BREATHE FOR ME

Chapter 17: The Rose Street Boys

"And you're sure he was middle aged? Not just some random post-pubescent senior off his head on drugs?" Lorrie asks as we wander left off of Marguerite Avenue and begin our walk up the street towards the pool hall. We parked the Chevy five minutes away from Federico's, in a safe house, so that no one could trace his car, and therefore Lorrie, to his exact location. He seems unnervingly familiar with the whole process of being traced and how to eliminate their leads. The walk, despite the humidity and mellow atmosphere of downtown Phoenix, has given us the perfect opportunity to talk about The Guy in more detail. In the car, we were both a bag of nerves. Lorrie seemed on edge the whole drive, determined to get away from May's as quickly as he could. We didn't speak until we'd parked up at the safe house and checked that we hadn't been followed. It wasn't awkward though, as every few minutes he kept reaching over and squeezing my hand. A silent way of saying: It's all going to be okay.

"Yes, definitely, his hair was greying and he was too tall to be a teenager." I say, trying to picture his face in detail again. All of his features seem to just blend into one incomprehensible mess now.

"I'm tall." Lorrie says, giving me a cheeky nudge despite the situation.

"I'd know if it was you douchebag." I roll my eyes, expressing my point. This encourages him to chuckle. "Seriously though, he was looking straight at us with this kind of purpose. Like he wanted to see everything that we were doing. It wasn't normal."

"I think I may have an idea about who it is. It wouldn't surprise me given the circumstances." He says, thinking deeply. Taking his eyes off of the dry cacti and trampled sand that line the cracked sidewalk, he lets out a sigh and stretches his long arms above his head. "But how about we talk about all of that on Monday huh? Let's just enjoy the rest of our night together. I'll come get you before school if you want and we can talk about it on the way over? Saves your Mom the trip as well as satisfying your need to spend time with me." he winks arrogantly, making me scoff.

"I'll have you know that I satisfy my own needs, thank you very much." I reply, forcing myself not to smile.

"Uh huh, I bet. So is that a no then?" he raises a brow.

"Um... will you bring the bike?" I ask, giving him a sweet smile.

"That kind of defeats the point of talking about it all." He takes one of my hands in his, trying but failing to hide the amusement in his voice.

"Well come over early at like seven and we can talk about it over breakfast. Then we can forget about it all on the ride to school." I reply reasonably, liking the idea of Lorrie and me eating breakfast together like a normal couple. He raises both of his brows, smirking slightly.

"I'll bring the bike if we can have those cinnamon pancakes that your Mom used to make?" he asks.

A warm memory of Maddie and me as children comes to mind. The sweet smell of cinnamon filling our old kitchen. Mom was wearing a floral dress and making plate loads of pancakes for Valentine's Day. They were in the shapes of hearts with little berries around the sides. I haven't had those pancakes in a very long time, but maybe change is good?

"Deal." I say, smiling as we stop outside of a single-story red building.

The red paint is peeling on the outside, revealing chipped yellow bricks underneath. It has three dingy windows and a large golden sign with FEDERICO'S POOL HALL etched across it. Over-grown, yellowing grass and cigarette butts line the perimeter of the building. Weird sounding insect noises buzz and tick from the ominous vegetation. The whole building looks like an under-the-radar drug den or something. A perfect place to kill somebody. How comforting when you're about to meet a group of trained mercenaries. Despite the doubtful feeling I get from my first impression of Federico's, I don't feel nervous and I definitely don't feel scared. Not whilst I'm standing hand in hand with Lorrie.