Renegade Path

“Where’d they send him?”

“I don’t know.” His bony shoulders lifted in a sad shrug. “They don’t tell us stuff like that.”

My heart broke at the note of acceptance in Pip’s defeated voice. I understood, though. He’d probably gained and lost many friends while in foster care. My brain refused to accept the harsh reality of the situation. The connection Roman and I shared was special. Our futures were already woven together.

I wouldn’t abandon him at the first bump in our road we encountered.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Roman

There was nothing regal about the Castle Correctional Center. The gladiator-like environment had a different set of rules than the Pine Bluff home.

This was more like a prison. To prepare us for where most of us would end up once we were released from the state’s “care.”

In fact, we weren’t far from the county jail. When kids acted up—pretty much every day—and the counselors didn’t want to deal with it, they dialed 911 and let the cops cart us away.

It was a place designed to turn broken children into monsters.

I was isolated from the rest of the inmates—I mean kids—for the first week. That was fun. First, I’m kidnapped from “home.” Everything normal in my life stripped away. Then, I’m shoved in a room by myself for my “safety.”

Every nerve in my body was on edge. What was Juliet doing? Thinking? She must be so worried about me. Would she go to the house? Ask what happened? God, I hoped not. I couldn’t stand the thought of someone telling her I was a thief.

She’d know it was lies. We were so deeply connected, she’d have to know I’d never do anything that would pull me away from her.

After five days, I finally wrangled a pen, envelope, stamp, and piece of paper from one of the counselors.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Dear Juliet,

I can’t imagine what you’re thinking right now. But know this—I was set up. Probably by Janet and Squire. I never would’ve purposely done anything that would’ve taken me away from you.

You can write me here, just know someone will read your letters before I see them.

Please look out for Pip if you can.

Love,

Roman

I sobbed with relief when I opened the mailbox and spotted Roman’s familiar, blocky handwriting.

The envelope shredded under my eager fingers and I carefully tucked the pieces back together so I didn’t lose the return address.

He was okay.

I ran up to my room and quickly wrote my own letter. If I hurried, I could run to the post office and mail it before they closed for the day.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Dear Roman,

I’m so happy to finally hear from you! Pip explained what happened. I’m so sorry and angry.

Don’t be embarrassed, but I spoke to Mrs. Shields. I don’t want to give you false hope, because I’m not sure how things will turn out, but she talked to her lawyer. They are working on getting her approved as a foster parent, so you can live with her. Wouldn’t that be amazing? You could come back to school. And we’d see each other every day.

I’ll be here waiting for you.

All my love,

Juliet

Sadly, Juliet’s letter gave me no hope. Sure, I got choked up thinking of Mrs. Shields going through the trouble on my behalf. Did I think it would work out? Nope. Nothing in my life had ever gone in my favor. Why should my luck change?

“Letter from your girl?” my new roommate asked from the top bunk across from mine. So far, we had the room to ourselves, but there were two more spaces left. I dreaded who they might place with us. Griff was around my age and seemed to have the same fuck-off-and-let-me-do-my-time-in-peace attitude I’d developed. He wasn’t an orphan, but from the brief things he’d said about his parents, he might as well have been. He’d already been at the Castle for a few months. As soon as I got tossed in his room, he took on a big brother role. It annoyed me almost as much as I appreciated the protection. His concern gave me some breathing room to get used to my surroundings.

“Yeah,” I answered.

“Nice.” He held up his own small stack of mail. “It’s nice to know someone gives a shit, right?”

He tore into an envelope and tugged out a piece of notebook paper with a 4x6 photo tucked inside. Girlish writing in various shades of purple and pink filled the page.

“You got your own girl writing you letters?” I asked.

His face broke into a grin and he chuckled. “Nah. My best friend’s baby sister.” He reached down, placing his hand next to his knee. “Known her since she was little.” He shook the neatly written page. “She writes me letters like this when I’m home, too.”

“They live far away?”

He laughed even harder. “No. I live right around the block from them. She just likes writing letters. Has a thing for colorful pens.” He waved the page at me again.