Cassandra stands up to her full height, and fire blazes in her eyes. “It’s the thought that counts. Are you going to question the methods of our dead mother?” With that, she snatches the tennis ball away from the agent with a hiss.
That is my girl right there.
Mine.
I could kiss her so hard right now.
The agent takes a step back and shows her palms in surrender. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it. Of course…of course, you can go.”
At this point, I’m keeping my face down. If I dare make eye contact with Cass or Herc, I will bust a gut trying not to laugh my ass off or piss myself in fear over lying to a federal agent.
By the grace of our lord and savior, Serena Williams, the agent somehow lets us go and walks back to help her compadres continue raiding the primary residence.
The three of us pals load that dusty old trunk full of tennis balls into the bed of my truck, and we drive away.
I thinkmyballs don’t descend back out of my body cavity until we’re halfway to Pine Mountain.
THREE
Cassandra
My adrenaline thrumsthrough my body as we barrel down the hill, away from the only life Herc and I have ever known. With nothing but the clothes on my back and a trunk full of daggum tennis balls.
It could be worse. I’ve already shipped some of my things to a storage locker that the three of us are sharing near the school. But who’s to say there are no federal agents there right now, seizing my items?
In the cab of the pickup, I’m squeezed in between my brother and Titus. Every time Titus downshifts on our steep descent on this mountain road, his hand brushes my leg.
Because of my lifelong crush, you’d think this touch would send ripples of excitement all through me. But it doesn’t. Instead, I feel oddly warm and calm. Titus makes me feel strangely, pleasantly tethered. Everything is going to be okay.
I turn my head and look at Titus. His angled jaw is set, and his eyes are focused. For all his lighthearted ways, he seems scared. It is a somewhat treacherous drive for the inexperienced. But he’s done it a million times.
And then it hits me.
“Oh god. Titus. You could be in real trouble. Aiding and abetting…whatever it is that we just did.”
He snorts, and a wry smile pulls at his lips. “I didn’t do anything. It was tennis balls. Agent Stephens saw the whole thing for herself. She had no reason to think I was doing anything wrong.”
I have to tell myself to breathe. I’m worried for no reason. There’s nothing valuable about the tennis balls.
“Still. Thank you for coming to get us. I don’t know how we’ll even pay for college once we get there, but thank you.”
“You’ll figure it out. We’ll figure it out.”
“Seriously, you’ve done enough.”
Softly, he replies, “It’s the least I could do.”
I don’t know what that means, but his tone makes me feel strange.
I have to look away from Titus now. I turn to my brother.
His big, muscled arms are cinched close to his sides, his hands planted on his thighs, making enough room for all three of us. He’s squished against the door, being the biggest in the group. It almost looks comical, but I’m worried about how he bottles things up. His face is pale.
“You okay, Herc?”
He nods slowly.
“Are you breathing? Do you need some water?”