A Sound Like Hope (Fallen Tuesday #3) (5 page)

Trent pushed by Jake and kicked the
door open. He hated always doing the right thing. It felt like all those years
ago, standing there, tuning his bass, watching Chloe wrap her arms around Jake
’
s neck. Kissing him. Flicking
her tongue at his lips, teasing him. Yet when she did that, her eyes were
always upon Trent. It was as though she pleasured Jake while keeping Trent on a
short leash.

He really hated Chloe, yet he
couldn
’
t get her out of his
mind.

(4)

Emily started to pull into the
driveway but stopped when she saw Nicholas with his skateboard upside down,
doing something to it. That was one thing that kept Nicholas distracted. It was
also one more thing Emily couldn
’
t
relate to. She didn
’
t get
the appeal of skateboards and she did not have the balance or coordination to
skateboard. The couple times she got on Nicholas
’
s
skateboard when he wasn
’
t
looking, she fell to her ass.

Nicholas looked up at Emily, swinging
his head to move the blonde hair out of his eyes. He had dark brown eyes. He
was such a handsome kid and Emily wanted him to have so much more than the hand
dealt to him. Emily hated the long, greasy hair but knew that she needed to
pick her battles. She could deal with the hair if it meant Nicholas would stop
getting into serious trouble.

The driveway was long enough for
Nicholas to get a good start before jumping up on the curb, and then down onto
the street, with the skateboard. He sped off down the road. Emily pulled into
the garage and got out of the car. She stood at the back of the car with her
hands folded, waiting for Nicholas to come back. Sometimes she watched him
skateboard away and wondered if he would just keep going. She used to step forward
and stand on her toes, feeling anxious.

Now, Emily just waited.

She learned that showing any kind
of weakness in front of Nicholas only gave him power. The kid was only ten, but
he was smart. Very smart. Even in school, for as bad as he was and the trouble
he got into, he never flunked a class. He was a scary and dangerous kind of
smart. The kind of kid that could manage to survive on the streets if he chose
to live that way. It bothered Emily because she had hoped to take control by
being needed by him. But Nicholas had managed to stay in his shell and she
hadn't been able to crack it yet.

The sound of the wheels on the
pavement got closer. The momentary silences were when he was doing jumps. He
had no fear. The skateboard would hit the ground with a thud and the wheels
would turn. He didn
’
t miss
a step and never fell.

The skateboard cut left and
Nicholas stepped off the skateboard, kicked it into the air, and caught it as
he walked up the driveway. He tossed his hair to the side again and looked at Emily.

“
Hey,
”
he said.

“
Come
here,
”
Emily said.

Emily reached down and moved his
hair out of his face again.

“
Stop
it,
”
Nicholas said.

“
You
really need a haircut.
”

“
What,
are you my mother?
”

Emily did her best to ignore the
jab.
“
I talked to the
lawyer today.
”

“
Cool.
”

“
It
’
s not cool,
”
Emily said.
“
You
’
re really close to getting into a lot of trouble,
Nicholas. I hope you understand that.
”

“
Whatever.
”

“
What
were you thinking? When you set that fire?
”

“
I
was thinking
…
Hey, I
want to set a fire
…
”

Emily swallowed. She wished someone
was there with her to help. But what man would take this on? The thought of
explaining the situation alone was enough to make Emily avoid dating all
together. At least for now.

“
I
told you to stay inside today,
”
Emily said.

“
Oh
well. I wanted to skateboard. I need the practice. There
’
s a competition coming up
…”

“
Where
’
s your helmet?
”

“
No.
”

“
Yes,
”
Emily said.
“
No helmet, no skateboard.
”

Nicholas laughed a cocky, boyish
laugh. He was being a punk smartass, thinking he could get away with anything.

Emily saw an opening and took a
chance to steal it. She reached forward and grabbed the skateboard from
Nicholas
’
s hands. She put
it board side down on the trunk of her car and then folded her arms.

“
I
’
m not playing around,
”
she said, trying to sound
serious.
“
No helmet, no
skateboard.
”

Nicholas squinted his eyes and his
nostrils flared. When he did things like that, she actually feared for her
safety, and for his. She knew everyone had a breaking point where they could
act without proper understanding.

“
Give
me it back,
”
Nicholas said.

“
Go
get your helmet,
”
Emily
said.

“
Give
me
…
the goddamn skateboard,
Emily
…”

Emily sucked in a breath.
“
You don
’
t talk like that. Not to me. Not in my house. Go
inside, Nicholas. You
’
re
done for the day now.
”

“
Yeah?
You can just boss me around?
”

“
I
’
m not bossing you around. I
’
m teaching you. How dare you to
think you could just burn down some man
’
s
barn like you did. Do you understand what that did to me? How scared I was
…
for you? Do you know how many
times a day I
’
m on the
phone with a lawyer, trying to help you? Do you know how much it costs?
”

Emily felt her bottom lip starting
to quiver. She couldn
’
t cry
in front of Nicholas. That would ruin everything she had been saying. Then
again, the blank stare Nicholas offered back told Emily no matter what she
said, it wouldn
’
t stick.
Not that she really expected it to stick.

“
And
you know what?
”
Emily said.
“
There
’
s no competition for you,
Nicholas. You
’
re not going
to think you can just do what you want and get away with it. There
’
s punishment in this house and
there
’
s even greater
punishment out there in the world.
”

“
I
hate it here,
”
Nicholas
said.
“
And I hate you.
”

“
That
’
s not nice to say.
”

“
I
don
’
t care.
”

Nicholas made a small jump at
Emily. She gasped and stepped back, bumping into her car. Nicholas laughed and
just like that, he had all the power back. Nicholas grabbed his skateboard from
the top of the trunk.

“
I
’
m going inside,
”
he said.

“
Get
your helmet,
”
Emily said.
“
You are not allowed back outside
without it.
”

Nicholas laughed and looked back at
Emily.
“
I won
’
t be here much longer. You
’
ll be alone again soon.
”

“
What
does that mean?
”
Emily
asked.

“
My
dad is coming back. I know he will. He just had to go out and take care of
business. That
’
s what he
told me.
”

Moments like that proved how
innocent of a child Nicholas truly was under all the rebellion and pain. It's
what kept her hopeful. She sighed and shook her head.

“
Nicholas,
what your father told you
…”

“
Was
the truth,
”
Nicholas said.
“
That
’
s why I
’
m
just hanging here for a little while. You don
’
t
have to be such a hard ass on me, Emily. I
’
ll
be gone soon.
”

“
It
’
s not that simple,
”
Emily said.

“
It
is. So just leave me alone. Okay? You
’
re
not my father and you
’
re
not my mother. You
’
re not
my parent and never will be.
”

Nicholas walked to the front door,
opened it, and slammed it shut. It took all of Emily
’
s strength not to collapse to the ground. She
turned and hurried to her car as her knees started to give way. When she looked
at her trunk, she saw scrape marks from the skateboard. Emily rubbed the marks,
hoping they would come off.

They wouldn
’
t.

Just another reminder of what
happened to her life.

Emily put her head down and let the
tears fall from her eyes.

Inside Nicholas, there was a hurt little
boy that was still innocent and still needed love. Emily had love to give, but
she knew one thing
…
she
couldn
’
t do this alone.

*

Trent drank an entire bottle of
water in one big gulp. The little jam session turned into an almost full blown
Fallen Tuesday concert. The only thing missing was the twenty thousand
screaming fans. There was one fan though that showed up halfway through and sat
in the front row and smiled after every song.

“
Frank,
”
Trent said as he shook hands
with the band manager.

“
How
’
s it going?
”
Frank asked.
“
Well, I guess that
’
s a dumb question. Looks good up
there to me.
”

Trent sat down next to Frank and
got right to the point.
“
I
want an interview. I want to clear the air on all this.
”
Trent looked at the band still on the small stage.
“
So we can move on. It
’
s not fair to them up there.
”
He looked back at Frank.
“
Or to the fans.
”

“
I
agree with you on that,
”
Frank said.
“
But not the
interview. You
’
ll get eaten
alive. And if something gets said the wrong way or twisted the wrong way, fans
will turn on you. If they turn on you, they turn on the band. The rockstar bad
boy image can only go so far.
”

“
Screw
that,
”
Trent said.
“
I have no image, Frank. I
’
m a bassist. I
’
m a rockstar. I could have done
worse
…
if I had done
anything wrong to begin with.
”

“
And
what are you going to say?
”
Frank asked. He crossed his legs and put an arm out, stretching across the top
of Trent
’
s chair.

The question seemed so damn easy to
answer but it wasn
’
t. Trent
knew anything he said would sound like a pathetic excuse. Trent put the lid on
the water bottle and hit it against his leg.

“
I
’
m going to come across like an
ass,
”
he whispered.

“
Yes
you are. The best way to handle this is to let it be personal. It
’
s your job to figure it out. Not
with the fans though, Trent. They
’
re
all behind you and the band still. Once you guys finish up the album and get
back on the road, this all fades away. You weren
’
t
drinking and driving, and there
’
s
no proof of it. It
’
ll be
handled with the lawyers.
”

“
I
still feel I owe it to be there,
”
Trent said.
“
To be on one
of the radio shows. To play. Sing. Talk. Show that I
’
m not in some damn rehab center. I got bombarded at
the airport.
”

“
Opinions
will always be opinions,
”
Frank said.
“
And to be
honest, I
’
m not really
thinking about anything outside the band right now.
”

Trent raised an eyebrow.
“
What does that mean?
”

“
You
and Jake.
”

Trent tossed the empty water bottle
into the air. He missed the catch and it hit the floor. He let out a deep
breath and eyed Jake on the stage talking to Mack. Jake
’
s hands were moving all around as he talked, his
face lit up with excitement. It made Trent think of the first time he met Jake.
For some reason, there had always been tension, but the mess with Chloe really
brought it to the surface.

“
I
don
’
t know what to say
about that,
”
Trent said.
“
That
’
s an old demon.
”

“
That
demon is still alive and snooping around.
”