An Aces Christmas (The Aces' Sons)

Draco looked at me. “He had it comin’,” he replied.

Charlie picked up the bat as we left, hurrying toward the car.

“He’s calling the cops, D,” she said, glancing behind us. “Shit.”

“Come on,” Draco said emotionlessly. “We need to find Curt and get the fuck out of here.”

“Why?” I said, my tongue finally coming unstuck from the roof of my mouth. “He’s just an asshole. Why would you—”

“It’s over,” Draco said, grabbing my hand as he forced us to move faster.

“But it’s not,” I said, swallowing hard. “He’s calling the police. He’s—”

“Where were you guys?” Curtis called out as we got to the parking lot. He was sitting on the trunk of Roxanne, his feet resting on the bumper. “I thought you were takin’ the girls home.”

“Change of plans,” Draco said, tossing Curt his keys. “Let’s go.”

“The fuck happened?” Curtis asked in confusion.

“Where the hell were you?” Draco snapped, rounding the car. He threw open the passenger side door and motioned for me and Charlie to climb in.

“I was waitin’ for Sholes,” Curtis said. “Let the air out of his tires so he’d have to stay after.”

“Good plan,” Draco said as I scrambled into the back seat.

“I saw that you guys hadn’t left, so I came over to see what was up,” Curtis said as he and Draco got into the car. “Someone want to tell me what the hell happened?”

“I took care of it,” Draco said. “Go. Our house.”

“You took care of it?” Curtis asked, his voice dropping. He stared at his twin.

“Man, I’d like to make it home before the cops get there, yeah?” Draco snapped. “Get fuckin’ movin’.”

“Oh, Jesus,” Curtis said, firing up the Chevelle. “Did you kill him?”

“No,” Charlie said, crossing her arms over her chest. “He was crying like a little bitch when we left him.”

“The coach said he was going to report it,” I said, staring at the back of Draco’s seat. How the hell had things spun out of control so quickly? “Maybe he just meant the principal,” I said hopefully, looking up at the back of Draco’s head. “Maybe it’ll just be a suspension.”

No one answered me, so I kept going.

“I mean, it was just a fight, right?” I said. “Fights happen all the time. They don’t call the police. It was just a fight.”

“That wasn’t a fight,” Charlie replied grimly, running her hand lightly up and down the bat. “Travis didn’t hit him back.”

“But he—”

“He hit him with a bat, Kara,” Charlie said, so quietly that I barely heard her. “Just stop, okay?”

I could feel my heart beating at the base of my throat as her words sunk in.

“I told you to let me handle it,” Curtis said angrily to Draco, his hands so tight on the steering wheel that his knuckles were white. “I could have fuckin’ handled it.”

Draco didn’t respond.

The rest of the short drive was silent and I fought the urge to cry. By the time we got to the boys’ house, my hands were shaking.

“Mom’s home,” Curtis announced, pulling to a stop.

“Good,” Draco replied. “Let the girls out on your side.” He was out of the car and striding for the front door before Curtis had even parked the car.

“You guys okay?” Curtis asked as he pushed the front seat forward so we could climb out.

“We’re fine,” Charlie said for both of us. “I really could’ve used your help back there.”

“Well, if I’d known he was going to go after Travis himself, I woulda been there,” Curtis replied as we walked toward the house.

“You really thought he’d leave it to you?” Charlie asked in disbelief. “Give me a break.”

“I thought he’d make sure that Kara was okay,” Curtis replied, glancing at me. “I thought he was bringin’ you guys home.”

“That was my fault,” I said quietly, regret making my limbs feel heavy. “I didn’t want to go home early and freak Rose out.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Charlie argued, shaking her head. “Even if he’d drove us to your house, he would’ve been back by the end of school anyway.”

“What do you mean the cops are on their way?” the boys’ mom Trix was saying as we entered the house. “Why the hell are the cops coming here?”

“Call Dad,” Draco ordered Curtis when he saw us. “Tell him to come home.”

Curtis nodded and pulled out his phone as Trix looked at each one of us.

“Someone tell me what the hell is going on.”

My tongue felt swollen and stuck to the roof of my mouth. I didn’t even have enough spit in my mouth to swallow when her eyes met mine.

“Long story, Ma,” Draco said. “Let’s just wait for Dad, alright?”

Trix grabbed Draco’s face, her hand wrapped around the underside of his jaw as she turned it this way and that.

“You’re okay?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” he replied. He reached up and patted her shoulder, and I knew the exact moment that she saw the torn and bloody knuckles on his hands.