Chapter 34
Sadie
By the time I reach Queens, I’m jittery and sweating, and there’s a tremor in my hand as I push through the barrier to exit the subway.
But the cooler September air soon makes me pull my cardigan around my shoulders.
I’ve been calling and messaging James with no luck, and I’m getting more and more worried.
I head down the familiar route from the station toward Jamaica Houses, and once I’m there, I start scanning across the open area between the buildings.
If Cady’s not in our stairwell, he’ll be around somewhere, at the bodega, or at the bar …
all the usual hangouts. But when I reach my mom’s building, there’s no sign of anyone.
I wasn’t expecting to find James, but Christ, where the hell is he?
The police? The hospital? I bite my lip.
Maybe I should have tried those places first. But, to be honest, if I can get some information from Cade, I’ll know where to go.
Jake doesn’t answer my mom’s door—I can’t bear to think of it as his place as well as hers—so I head back down the stairwell and knock on Cady’s mom’s door.
She leans against the doorjamb, cigarette dangling from her mouth, and tells me she has no idea where Cady is, but he’s been favoring the liquor store on Brewer recently.
So I walk between the apartment buildings, looking for any of the usual suspects hanging around, but it’s all quiet.
By the time I reach Brewer Boulevard, the sun has just disappeared below the horizon.
I head past the African market and the Deli & Grill, then left, where the Bravo supermarket’s shutters are down and several other stores are boarded up.
This is the continuing cycle of bust that seeps into the pores of everyone who’s trying to escape this place.
As I head up the street, I realize that I’ve never noticed just how many delis and laundromats there are on it.
A big sign above the events company proclaims, “We buy houses, all cash!” No real estate offices here, just predatory money men taking advantage of people in financial trouble.
As I scan up the road, a group of guys is hanging around outside the liquor store, and I recognize Cady’s bulk immediately. Am I glad I’ve found him or not? Well, at least I might get some answers now.
When I reach him, there’s a bottle of vodka tucked in his jacket. His eyes widen in surprise when I step in front of him.
“Sadie.” He lifts his chin at me.
The boys next to him are laughing, and one of them bats the other’s hand, who then gets him into a headlock.
“Heard you moved away,” Cady says, taking a swig out of his bottle.
I stare at him.
He scowls at me. “What you staring at?”
By rights, I should be scared, but it’s hard when you’ve known someone all your life and used to play in the playground together. I purse my lips. “A friend of mine had some trouble tonight, at my mom’s place.”
His eyes shift left, then right. “Don’t know nothing about that.”
Hmm. “Got into a scuffle, so I heard.”
He puts a hand on my shoulder, and I try not to flinch. “Don’t go getting involved in things that don’t concern you, Sadie, yeah? Told you before about staying out of trouble around here. You get me?”
“That’s a bit tricky for me. You see, this friend also happens to be my boss.”
Cady’s eyes widen. “That fucking young!”
Christ, he’d be terrible under questioning. He’s not even smart enough to deny that he ever saw him. He caves like a cheap lawn chair.
“Unfortunately, my boss isn’t the kind of person who’d let something like this go, which puts me in a difficult position.” It’s a long shot, but … “Do you think he could pick you or your friends out of a lineup?” I wave my hand at the guys who are now trying to pull each other’s pants down.
He shifts against the railing. “No.” He scowls again, pulling his collar up around his neck.
He purses his lips and looks down the street, then opens his mouth.
“I heard that someone sold his laptop to Desree. You could talk to Desree, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you got an angle.
It’ll be wiped already, or so I’m told.” His hand goes to his pocket, and I shift backward, and a sly grin curls over his face.
When his hand comes out again, a phone is sitting in his palm.
“He dropped this as he was leaving the building. A bit careless of him if you ask me. If you persuade him not to go to the cops and give me fifty bucks, you can have it.”
Always on the take. Yeah, well, he wouldn’t have survived on the street if he wasn’t.
I step forward, right into his personal space. “What the fuck did you do to him?”
He puts his hands up. “Whoa! Whoa! Nothing, girl! He was pushed over, that’s all. He wasn’t injured.”
Jesus Christ. But you have to be careful who you challenge around here, and this is all low-level crook stuff. It doesn’t sound like James would need to go to the hospital. Would he go to the police?
“Where am I going to get fifty bucks from, Cade?” It’s worth a shot.
He scowls, no doubt at the use of his nickname. “Get it from your boss. His pants cost that, minimum.”
I make a face at him. “Thirty.” I’ve got to negotiate with him—that’s how this works.
“Na, Sadie. I can’t do that. Manny’d give me more than that.”
“Not sure your brother would be so thrilled to hear you were trying to screw me over, Cade.”
He hoots. “Screw you over! You’re mad, girl.”
I fake an unconcerned shrug. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m saving you a load of hassle here. Trouble with the cops, lineups, lots of questions.”
He frowns. “Forty. You can Venmo me.”
My lips curl up. Even low-level crooks use Venmo? “Okay.”
He scowls but pulls another phone out of his pocket and gives me the details, and I set up the transfer as he studies his screen, his buzz-cut head bent close.
Once it’s transferred, he presses James’s phone into my hand, and I turn and start heading off up the street.
The precinct is a twenty-minute walk—it’s a bit out of my way, but I can drop in on my way to the subway.
“Don’t come asking for favors no more, Sadie, yeah?” Cady shouts at my retreating back.
Maybe he needs another reminder of what I did for his brother. I swing around and shoot a fake gun at him with my fingers like we used to when we were kids. “I’m sad you think your brother’s life is worth as little as forty bucks, Cady.”
He flips me off, glowering. I never thought I’d be using the promise he made me, but now it feels like a valuable thing to be holding on to.
Who knows when I might need it again?