All the Little Secrets (English Prep 2)

“You have some explaining to do.”

And it seemed Ollie did, too.

Chapter Thirty

Ollie

The trailers that lined Pike Valley Trailer Park were something out of a horror film. It was hard to believe that people lived in conditions like that. The first one on the right was yellow and drab with a few broken pieces of siding hanging loose off the side. The next one was just as bad. It was gray in color, but I was pretty sure it hadn’t started out as that shade, and it had several broken windows with cardboard duct-taped over them. They were all like this—run-down, dirty, and full of filthy people who were barely surviving.

It made my skin crawl thinking back to when Piper was stuck inside Tank’s bathroom. The second I stepped foot in his trailer the other day, it was like cold water being dumped on my head. Chills ran over my flesh. A place like that wasn’t a place for her. She was too clean, too delicate.

While I was there, I couldn’t even stomach looking in Jason’s direction. After all, he was the reason Piper was in the trailer in the first place. When Tank asked me to sit down beside Jason, it took everything in me not to reach over and punch his crooked nose.

But I knew I had to keep my cool. I needed to act unbothered by the entire situation.

Sure, Tank, ol’ buddy, ol’ pal, I’ll throw the race on Saturday so you can cheat more people out of their money. I’m on your side, bro.

Men like Tank were weak. They liked to scare people into following their command so they could have some sort of control in their lives. But those who followed others purely out of fear weren’t true followers.

Plus, couldn’t Tank sense that I wasn’t a follower? I was a leader, and soon, he’d understand that.

The clock on my dash read 4:05, and just like every day this past week, Tank left his house and climbed onto his shitty motorcycle and sped down the gravel lot, pebbles flying in every direction as he zoomed away.

I had approximately forty minutes to get this over with.

As I climbed out of my Charger, hidden just behind a few older, broken-down v

ehicles, I felt the warmth from the sun on my back. The nice thing about Cali in the winter was that it was still somewhat warm during the day, but cooler in the evening. I cracked my knuckles as I walked past a few dying plants in broken and chipped pots and jogged up the rickety porch stairs. The door to the trailer creaked loudly as I opened it, and it slammed with a thud the second I was through the threshold.

The inside of the trailer was filled with stale smoke; a hint of weed lingered there, too.

I found Jason immediately, sitting on the couch, slumped back, relaxing in a stretched-out T-shirt and ripped jeans. His brownish-red hair was long, covering his ears. He’d definitely seen better days.

“Out,” I said to the other people in the room, keeping my fists closed by my sides. Intimidation wasn’t my strong suit—at least not compared to my brother.

Unless, of course, Piper was involved.

Piper caused me to morph into something else entirely. My blood spiked with adrenaline, and if I had to use my height and strength—thank you, football conditioning—to pound the hell out of the few other people in the room just to get Jason alone, I would.

“Who the fuck are you?” The guy standing in the corner of the room jumped to his feet.

I was hoping I didn’t read the situation wrong the other day when I was here, and he wasn’t packing a gun or something. Although, I was sure there were weapons somewhere around this filthy shithole.

The other guy sitting beside Jason sat up a little taller, answering the question. “He’s the one that was here a few days ago, talking with Tank about the race on Saturday. He’s makin’ him good fucking money right now...” He chuckled, flicking his hair-cut-to-the-scalp head to Jason who was now unmoving as he stared at me. “Because of this idiot.”

“Get out,” I demanded again.

The smile dropped from the man’s face. “Who the fuck are you to come in here uninvited and demand we leave? We have orders to stay right the fuck here with this pansy bitch.”

Ah, right. Jason is their little pet.

My feet carried me farther into the room. I knew I was potentially outnumbered, but confidence was the key in this situation. I laid it right out for them. “Here’s how this is gonna work. You two are going to go outside for a few minutes so I can talk with Jason.” I paused as the guy standing in the corner crept around the couch and headed for me. I easily had a foot of height over him and could probably take him down easily. “Or…I can get my guy who’s currently waiting down the street to come arrest you two fucks on drug possession. I know very well that you both have drugs in your system, and you”—I smirked at the one sitting beside Jason with his shoulders tight around his neck with fear—“are currently holding a little baggy of something in your jeans pocket. Am I right?”

His face turned white. Bingo.

“You’re bluffing, and you have three seconds to get your little rich fuck-boy ass outta here before we call Tank, and he can deal with you himself.”

“I’m bluffing?” I shook my head and chuckled as I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Eric. I put it on speaker for everyone to hear.