Court Kept (Court High 3)

“Ramses Mallick,” I said, waiting for his opinion about that. He seemed to always have that. “Mayor Mallick’s kid? We’re friends, been hanging out.”

Dad acknowledged that, his head bobbing once. “That’s good. That’s nice that… well, that you’re hanging out with him.”

Not Royal Prinze’s biggest fan after all, and with what I assumed about him working with Royal’s dad, that didn’t surprise me. I wanted to ask him about that, but at the present, I definitely didn’t care enough.

Instead, I grabbed my coat off the coat rack, then pushed myself out the door.

“Happy to have you back,” Dad said, giving me pause. When I faced him, he smiled a little. “And have a good day at school.”

He said that my first day of school, things so different now. We’d gone from no trust, to a little trust, to this.

I guess it was what it was.

Eleven

December

Ramses kept the engine running of his Benz after he parked at school, the ultra-sleek ride I was finally taking notice of now that I wasn’t killing it. It definitely stood the hell out and even in this parking lot with the wave of Audis, Beamers, and Range Rovers. He also drove a Mercedes when we lived in Arizona, but as I too had been inside that one, I noticed this one was slightly different, nicer even. Noticing me playing with all the various dials and knickknacks, Ramses chuckled.

“A gift from my pap,” he said, doing a weird Southern accent with it. He really was himself again. Dressed to the nines, he had himself pressed and polished, his orange and navy uniform tie, dare I say, making him look very handsome behind his black wool coat. And did I mention he put some product in his hair? He actually managed to tame those normally wild curls of his. I decided to mess with them, and he grabbed my hands.

“A gift from your pap, huh?” I jostled, leaving him alone when he whined like a baby about all the time he took on his hair. He really had, and it did look good.

He flipped out his lapels. “Yes, and he’s very proud of the son who finally got on board with his legacy.” He put a hand on the dash. “A peace offering.”

Well, it was a hell of one. That was for sure. With this thing, I could pay a full four years of college easily. I smoothed my hand over the chrome finish for a second, and only stopped when I realized Ramses was watching me. He sat in silence, thoughts behind his eyes, and reality hit. All jokes should probably be gone right about now. He wanted to meet for a reason this morning, his first day not only back but as an official member of Court. Today would mean something.

“So what’s the plan?” I asked, ready for it. I mean, I moved back home after all, didn’t I?

“This morning go okay?” he questioned, asking about it. He grabbed his book bag from behind the seat, sliding mine over too since it was back there. “Nothing crazy with your dad?”

It maybe could have been if I allowed him to get his hooks in. I shrugged. “He’s fine. We’ll be fine.”

He nodded, almost looking a little relieved by that, and maybe he was. I didn’t let on about the issues my father and I had, but it wasn’t a mystery. Ramses was probably happy the transition hadn’t been as bad as it could have been for me.

He chewed the inside of his cheek. “Well, that’s good. As far as the plan, let’s meet at my car after school. Put to use those Windsor House keys? We can keep things casual, but we should probably start making some appearances. The more people we interact with, the more we can determine who we can get information out of it.”

This was a good idea but would be different from the few times I’d been to the house. The first couple I’d been dragged and definitely not by my own terms, and the last I’d been so angry. I was angry now, but at least this time, I had some control. I would be going there with my own objectives.

And this time, I wouldn’t be intimidated.

Seriously, each and every time I’d allowed the likes of Royal Prinze and crew to get into my head. I’d allowed Royal to get in my head, but this time I was in charge.

“Okay,” I said, more confidence in my voice than I probably had. It was time to start the show and be the boss I knew I could be. I had to be for my sister, her drawings in my bag for strength. I’d take her with me today and everywhere I could, a reminder of what I was doing and who I was fighting for. I’d share her story. I’d get revenge, and I’d do it any way I knew how.

Ramses was doing that thing again, staring at me, and when I asked him about it, he mussed his own curls. He spun those long fingers in his hair and everything.

“There’s something else too,” he said, doing more of that cheek-chewing thing. “And it’s completely optional, but I think it’ll be our best chance at going at this undetected. Actually, it’ll make us completely invisible if we do it right.”

He was holding his bag, almost rocking with it.

He played with his hair again. “Again, let me emphasize this is optional—”

“Dear God, what is it, Arizona?” Though this was his name for me, I called him that too. That was our thing, a shared place we had between us. It connected us in ways in those early days I didn’t think either of us would anticipate. It linked us much like these moments now. This kid and I had a shared trauma because of this town, this boy and I.

That very boy finally got his shit together and opened his bag, reaching in to bring out something I’d seen before. It was that red box I’d picked up from the jewelry store, the one with the missing key.

It seemed Ramses had the key all along when he pulled out his wallet. It’d been inside there, falling into his palm when he shook the wallet a little. The thing was so tiny, and he handed it out to me.