“Is it that obvious?”
"Yeah. I get the feeling that you're not telling me something, that maybe it's time-sensitive?"
“You really should be a detective, Claire. What’s your major?”
I laugh. “English. You?”
He avoids my eyes and grabs his cup. “Um.”
I turn toward him. “I’m not familiar with that one.”
“I’m still undecided.” He seems embarrassed by this. “I’ve been a little preoccupied, and I pretty much failed my first year anyway. My second isn’t looking that great either.”
“What do you want to do?” I stare at him and try to predict what his interests might be. Is bad boy a major? Because he seems to have everyone there.
Except me.
“It’s not really important.”
“It is to me.” This conversation is totally going off the rails here, but I’m dying to know more about him and the person he is outside of the nightmare world he created for himself.
“Photography.” He side-eyes me and then focuses ahead.
“I can totally picture that.”
He laughs. “A pun? Seriously?”
I giggle too but grab his arm. “I’m sorry, it sort of slipped out. I think it’s perfect.”
“Sure.” He exaggerates the word.
“Let’s put a pin in that one and get back on track. You said I was on to something, right?”
“Yeah.” Johnny chews and swallows the last of his breakfast. “I have less than a week to find the package.”
“Shit.” Do I even want to ask what the consequences would be if he doesn’t locate it?
“And I’ve pretty much come up with no solid leads.”
“Whatdoyou know?” Or more like, what is he willing to tell me? I bite into my sandwich while he gathers his bearings.
He sighs. “Not much. A reliable source, that guy you saw me meet at the bar that night, he told me it’s probably an inside job. I’m not exactly on good terms with the guy running this operation, and he’s been trying to get me out since I started.”
“And to confirm, that would be a bad thing?”
“Everything I’ve done would have been for nothing, so yeah, not a good alternative.” He runs his hand through his thick brown hair. “There’s this kid…Billy—you’ve met him.”
My stomach clenches, the pieces of the puzzle all falling into place.
“His uncle, the guy he lives with, he’s mixed up with some shady people. Children are so easy to manipulate and use, because I mean, who’s going to suspect some ten-year-old to be doing this kind of shit? He was abusing him, using violence to force him to start making deliveries. I followed him one day to this slimy part of town, and it all sort of happened so fast, I didn’t stop to think it through, I just knew that I had to do anything I could to get him out of that situation. I, uh, I pictured it was me, you know? This innocent kid who needed help. I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.
“Anyway, I made this big scene, and the guy in charge, his wife was there, so he agreed to let me take Billy's place, but I knew he didn't want to; he only did it because she wanted him to. Now he has it out for me. He can't get rid of me easily, cause then she'd be upset with him, so he's trying to find some loophole where I fuck up and it makes sense to cut me loose. Then he gets what he wanted all along.” He pauses and turns toward me. “Billy.”
I let the shock of his confession settle through me. I had imagined that Johnny was doing this for some altruistic reason, but I never thought it would bethis. His actions are noble and entirely self-sacrificing, and I refuse to let him do this on his own.
My mind wanders to Billy, the sweet boy I’ve had the privilege of talking to on a few occasions. The sun-kissed kid with bright eyes and a love for books. I recall the times I’ve seen Johnny sitting with him, the instance when Billy thanked Johnny and told him he was the best. I had overlooked it then, at how Johnny might be impacting this kid, but now, everything comes into focus. The grumpy man I assumed was Billy’s dad is actually an abusive and manipulative uncle.
“Say something.” Johnny meets my gaze.