chapter thirty four
——ethan's pov
february 19th, 2019
"where the hell are we going?"
"have you learned nothing yet?" madeline asked, turning around and walking backwards to face me. "when i'm in charge, you get to know until you know!"
a freezing cold wind whipped her hair in front of her face. she and faith giggled and walked ahead again, looping their arms together. hammond cursed under his breath. i kicked black snow from the curb onto fourteenth street and got cursed at by some crazy dude on a bike. it was fifteen below outside. no one should have been out in the city—on foot, on a bike, or at all. but for some reason, we had let madeline talk us all into driving in and going to paddy b's, this one bar in the village that cresties had been going to since the dawn of time because they didn't card. all of us except kylie, who had some big family event tonight. i didn't get what the big urge was to hit paddy b's all of a sudden. we'd been there before christmas, and we could have gone again when it wasn't cold as a witch's butt cheek.
and now, after an hour of drinking beer and playing pool, we were out on the street following madeline to do god knows what. only the idiot triplets, including grayson, had stayed behind at the bar, wanting to finish a game of darts with a couple of nyu dudes who had challenged them. we were supposed to swing back there and pick them up after we completed madeline's latest mission. whatever the fuck it was.
madeline and faith suddenly stopped in front of a brightly lit window. they peered inside, clutching each other, standing on their toes. "holy shit. it's him," madeline said.
faith doubled over laughing. "oh. my. god. come on. let's go in!"
hammond looked up from the turned-up collar of his coat. he stared at the sign, which read fifth avenue gourmet.
"oh, shit," he said.
"what?"
but he was already following the girls through the door. why couldn't anyone answer me? i grabbed the still-closing door and tromped into the warm shop. madeline had her cell phone out and was holding it up as if to take a picture as faith strode up to the counter.
"mr.ryan, oh my god, is that you?" she gasped.
my heart took a nosedive. mr.ryan as mackenzie's dad? fuck. this is not good. this is not good at all. we needed to get the fuck out of herethe man behind the counter was tall, slim, graying, and stunned. he wore a white shirt, a stained black apron, and a matching visor. he was getting paler by the second. mackenzie's father. i was looking at mackenzie's father.
"hello faith...madeline, how are you girls?" he looked at madeline, who was still holding up her phone. "are you—is that a camera phone?"
"no," madeline said, waving her phone around. "i just can't seem to get any bars in here."
my fingers clenched into fists at my sides. suddenly i realized what she was doing. she was recording this. and he had no idea.
"hi, mr.ryan," hammond said, walking up to the counter. "sorry to surprise you like this. madeline didn't tell us where we were going," she glared at her.
"what? i didn't know he worked here." her acting was completely believable. "do you actually work here?" she turned the camera back to him.
"well yes. i do. i have...for about a year now," mr.ryan said, looking suspiciously at the phone. "kylie's father was kind enough to give me a job while i get back on my feet. i've been trying to get my old job back."
"yeah? and how's that working out for ya?" madeline said, leaning her elbow on the countertop and keeping the lens trained on him. "i mean, it's gotta be tough after you cheated dozens of people out of, what, millions of dollars?"
his lips clamped together, and he looked like he was about to hurl. "it...it wasn't like that," he said. "it's complicated. you kids couldn't understand—"
"well, why don't you try explaining it to us?" faith said snottily.
he slipped his visor off. bowed his head. mopped his brow with the back of his hand. "i didn't...i never meant to..." he started to choke up. that was it. i couldn't take this anymore.
"all right. that's enough." i deepened my voice.
madeline whirled around, surprised. it was like she'd forgotten i was there. i grabbed the phone out of her hand and exited camera mode.
"what's your problem?" madeline asked.
"excuse us, sir," i said, clamping my arm around madeline's shoulders. "we were just leaving." i dragged her out of there, feeling her tense under my arm.
"i just wanted to say thanks a lot, mr.ryan," faith said behind me. "if it wasn't for you, my parents wouldn't be getting divorced."
unbelievable. this was why we'd come into the city? to torture mackenzie's dad?
"faith, i'm so sorry," he replied. "i didn't—"
"whatever."
we were back out on the cold sidewalk, but my skin was so heated, i didn't feel it anymore.
"what the hell was that?" madeline shoved me away with both of her hands. "you don't get to throw me around!"
"maybe if you weren't being such a bitch i wouldn't have to! what the fuck, maddy! why would you just ambush him like that?"
"why not? he ambushed us when he stole all of our money?"
"he's right, mad. that was not cool." hammond joined us.
"of course you too would defend mackenzie's dad." she scoffed.
"what the hell does that mean? hammond blurted.
"are you forgetting what that guy did to us?" madeline said, ignoring his question. "so what if seeing us made him feel bad for five minutes? i feel bad every fucking day of my life thanks to him!"
"she's right. he deserves it," faith put in, shoving her hands into the pockets of her white coat. her nose was all red and her eyes watery, but i couldn't tell if it was from the cold or because she was upset. "i can't even believe kylie's dad would give him a job."
"not to mention a place to stay," madeline said, looking up at the apartments over the deli. another stiff wind nearly blew us all off our feet. "what a traitor."
"he's not a traitor," hammond spat, turning up the collar of his coat again. "he saw a friend in trouble and helped him out. any one of us would do the same for you."
"yeah, madeline," i said. "you of all people know that it's not all black and white when it comes to friends."
her eyes flashed, and she glared at me. we both knew i was walking a fine line, talking about the hammond/kylie/mackenzie situation right in front of the others. but i was right. i knew i was.
"what i don't get is, why tonight?" hammond asked. "kylie spilled back before christmas. why the sudden motivation to come find him?"
madeline shrugged. "oh, i don't know. something happened after the game last night that inspired me," she said, looking me right in the eye.
"what's that supposed to mean?" i asked. was she doing this because she thought i liked mackenzie? trying to remind me that the norm wasn't worthy because her dad worked in a deli? how shallow did she think i was?
"whatever. i'm over this conversation," madeline said. "let's get the hell out of here."
she turned around and grabbed faith's hand, speed walking down the street. hammond and i looked at one another, sighed, and followed. all i could think about for the rest of the night was the look on mr.ryan's face when he'd seen faith. he looked scared. like he was watching his life pass before his eyes. i knew the feeling. i'd seen mackenzie's dad. i knew right where he was. where he worked, where he lived.
the question was, what the hell was i going to do about it?
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[1385 words]
-m
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