Ryder

by Hope Stone

  “You know why. Anyway, I thought I could just spend the night after. If that’s okay.”

  I was reapplying my lipstick and said, “Sure, that’s fine. Maybe we can get dinner before the concert or something. Does she drive?”

  “I don’t think so. She’s sixteen but hasn’t gotten her license yet. We talked about doing it together.”

  We headed out to the dining room and I said, “Sounds good Bailey. Just make sure I know about this kind of stuff before I hear about it from Mom and Dad.”

  She hugged me and said, “Thanks, Paige. You’re the best.”

  Seventeen

  Ryder

  I could hear the shouting and things crashing as soon as I turned off my bike. I locked it (never forget to do that) and ran to the door.

  “I’m not goddamn kidding, Chaulpa. Shit is missing and I’m not gonna stop until I find it.”

  I heard a huge crash and some glass shatter. “Padre, stop! There’s nothing missing! I took inventory myself.” Chalupa sounded desperate.

  “Padre.” I used my most commanding voice. “What is going on?”

  The man that looked back at me was not the man I knew. His hair was wild and out of control and his dark eyes showed panic. The shop was completely trashed, with tool cabinets dumped out and shattered glass everywhere. At least the customers’ cars seemed to be untouched.

  I went over to him and grabbed his arm, gently but firmly. “Padre. Let’s go into your office and talk it through.”

  “You think I’m going to trust you?” he said.

  “Padre. Ryder just wants to talk.” Chalupa stood there running his hands through his hair.

  At that moment, Swole walked in, and behind her was Moves. Our private security team. “Padre. Listen to them. You need to stop.”

  “The fuck I do. This is MY shop and I’ll be damned if people are stealing from me.” Padre lunged for another tool box and Swole and Moves rushed to grab him and pin him back.

  It wasn’t until Yoda came in the back door that Padre stopped struggling. “Paul,” he said, using Padre’s given name. “Let’s go for a walk.”

  He nodded to me to come and to Swole and Moves to let him go. Yoda walked to the door and said, “Come on. The fresh air will do you good.”

  The day was warm and sunny, and if you didn’t know what had just gone down it would seem like another perfect day in Southern California.

  I stayed a few paces behind; close enough that I could hear what was being said, but far enough that they could talk just the two of them. We walked down Berry avenue in the direction away from the Blue Dog.

  “What’s going on, Paul?”

  “My people are stealing from me, Ming.” His voice sounded gravelly and upset.

  ‘How do you know?”

  “Things aren’t where I left them. I go to look for a tool and it’s not there.”

  “Have you talked to the guys about it?” His tone was compassionate.

  “I did, but they just lie about it. I won’t tolerate this kind of thing, Yoda. You know that.”

  “Of course. Can I ask why they would steal from you? You’ve been nothing but loyal to everyone at Ortega and Outlaw Souls.”

  “I know. That’s the thing. I just can’t believe it.”

  “Is it possible you’re mistaken?”

  He stopped and looked at Yoda, totally unaware that I was there. I stopped, too.

  “It is possible. I’ve noticed some…changes.”

  “What kind of changes?”

  “In me. In my mind and my memory and stuff. I get so mad. Just explosive rage over stupid shit. I turned my television upside down when some guy won on Wheel of Fortune when he shouldn’t have.”

  “Have you been to a doctor?” Yoda started walking again, slowly, and Padre and I did too.

  Padre shook his head. “No. I don’t wanna know. My mom lost her mind and I don’t want it to happen to me.”

  “Paul. There are all kinds of medications and things nowadays. You can slow the progress, even if you can’t stop it. Not finding out isn’t going to make it better.”

  I couldn’t believe my ears. I knew something was up with Padre, but I had no idea it was possibly Alzheimers. But it made perfect sense. I just hoped he’d get help before someone got really hurt.

  “Where is he now? Pin was sitting to my left. “We don’t want him walkin’ in.”

  I’d called an emergency meeting of the Outlaw Souls, and we were in the back room of the Blue Dog. Everyone was here except for Padre, because he was the subject of the meeting.

  I had the two prospects Kimberly and Carlos outside guarding the door, and we had a signal for if Padre walked into the bar. I didn’t think he would be there, honestly. He’d had a rough day.

  “I think he went home. We cleaned up the shop and it was a lot of physical labor. He’s gotta be tired.”

  “So, what are we gonna do about Padre?” Hawk asked. “We can’t have a president who loses control like that.”

  “I know. It’s a tough situation. I think we have some time, though, before we have to confront it directly. He promised Yoda he’d see a doctor and we have the Vegas run coming up. Plus, we’re doing security for that concert down at the convention center next week. We have a lot to keep him busy with. Let’s just make sure that one of us is always with him, except for when he’s at home. This way if he starts thinking crazy shit, we’ll be able to talk to him. Or at least alert each other.”

  It was a temporary solution and one that I hoped would work. Time would tell.

  Eighteen

  Paige

  My alarm went off, and for a moment I had a sinking feeling of dread. Another day waiting tables at Tiny’s.

  It wasn’t that I hated the job. It was honest work, the customers tipped well (although not as well as the ones Rocky got for letting them grab her ass), and it wasn’t exactly hard. I just felt I was wasting my passion taking orders for today’s special and lemon pie. As much as I hated to admit it, my parents were right that I didn’t get a degree from USC to be waiting tables at a diner in North La Playa.

  Almost as soon as the dread set in, though, it lifted as I remembered. My alarm wasn’t for work, it was for a job interview!

  A couple of days ago, Rocky asked if she could pick up a couple of extra shifts. She wanted to save up for concert tickets and needed the extra money. I called Elizabeth Maroni at the Californians for Social Justice job and finally rescheduled that interview and got Rocky to cover my shift. It was some kind of miracle that the position was still open and that Elizabeth was willing to still consider me after my missing the interview with no warning.

  I practically leapt out of bed. Even the mess of Banner Manor couldn’t ruin my mood today! It took just a few minutes to shower, fix my hair and makeup, and put on my interview outfit. I’d already stopped by FedEx Kinkos last night to print out my resume, and so I downed some coffee (being really careful not to spill!) and headed out the door.

  The office was in downtown La Playa, not far from city hall and the convention center. As was typical for La Playa, traffic was a mess this time of day. But I didn’t care. I was interviewing for a job!

  By the time I finally got to the building (GPS took me to the wrong place), the regular parking lot was full and I had to pay $20 to park three blocks away in one of those valet lots. It was a warm morning and I wasn’t exactly thrilled about having to walk that far in my heels right before a job interview. But what else could I do?

  The sun was shining and there were seagulls cawing as the ocean breeze took a bit of the warmth off my face. If I got the job, this would be my workplace every day. That would be a Subway sandwich place I could go to at lunch. There would be my new Starbucks.

  I really wanted this job.

  The sign over the doors that said “Californians for Social Justice” was small. It was clearly not a big-budget place. I didn’t care. It was better than Tiny’s.

  I pushed open the glass door and went inside. Th
ere was a small reception desk, but no one was at it. The walls of the waiting room were covered in posters about making a difference in the community. There were old magazines strewn about and a few metal chairs lined up against the wall.

  I wasn’t sure what to do since no one was at the desk, so I stood there for a few moments. When no one came out, I said, “Hello?”

  No one answered and so I said it again. “Hello?”

  I looked at my phone to see if maybe Elizabeth had called or texted to reschedule. Nothing. Maybe this was her way of getting even with me for standing her up? I doubted she would be that childish.

  So I just stood there, looking around, wondering what to do.

  Finally, a small woman holding a plastic box full of papers came walking in the room backwards. Her brown hair was in a braid and she was wearing a long denim skirt with flats. She appeared to be struggling with the box, so I said, “Here. Let me help you,” and started to walk over to her.

  Evidently I must have startled her because she jumped and said, “Oh!” and then dropped the box, spilling the papers.

  “I’m sorry,” we both said at the same time.

  “I didn’t hear you come in,” she said.

  “Yeah, I called out but no one was here.”

  “I was in the back getting these…” she spread her hands out and looked at the floor. She then looked up at me. “I assume you’re Paige Anton?”

  I nodded. “I am. Can I help you clean this up?” It was a rhetorical question as I bent down and started grabbing papers.

  “These are all our old rejected grant applications for the past five years. We’re in the process of re-applying and wanted to pull some information off of them.” She looked at me, “You don’t have any experience in grants, do you?”

  I shook my head. “Not really. I’m a fast learner, though.”

  “No, we need someone who has experience getting grants. Our funding is running out and we need to source additional grants if we’re going to stay afloat.”

  We finished putting the papers back in the box and she turned and started walking away. Was that it? The whole interview?

  She then turned to look at me and said, “Come on. Follow me back here.”

  I did as instructed and followed her down a small hallway that led to a room that looked like it used to be a single office. There were four cubicles stuffed in it, one on each wall. It was insanely cramped and not at all what I’d been expecting.

  “What did you get your degree in?” she asked, setting the box down on top of several others just like it.

  “Sociology. My GPA was…”

  “Too bad. We really need someone with a business background. Everyone on staff has a MSW.”

  That was the exact degree I’d been thinking of getting. But maybe a Masters in Social Work wasn’t such a good idea after all.

  “Okay, so no grant experience. No business background. Do you know anything about fund raising? Or accounting?”

  “I took an accounting class one summer in high school.” This was not going very well, I could tell.

  “I seem to recall reading that you grew up in Verde Hills. Do you have any contacts up there that might be a potential donor?”

  Honestly, even if I did, I wasn’t exactly going to call them and hit them up for money. I got that this place seemed to be hard up for funds, but I wanted to make a difference in the community, not raise funds for some organization. My goal was to work hands-on with young people.

  I was starting to think that maybe this wasn’t the job for me after all.

  “No, I’m afraid I don’t.”

  Elizabeth stood up and we both realized that the interview was over. “Well, Paige, as you can see we are really short-staffed and we need to find someone who can help get us the funding to stay afloat. We would welcome you as a volunteer, but…”

  I smiled and extended my hand to shake hers. “Thank you for the interview and the opportunity, but I think I’ll keep looking.”

  She nodded in understanding. “All right, then. Best of luck to you, Paige.”

  The smile faded as soon as I turned my back to walk out the door. Tears threatened to come and my heart sank. Maybe I should just quit and go home to Verde Hills. Maybe my parents were right, and this whole thing was a huge mistake.

  Nineteen

  Ryder

  The church clock was gonging, telling me it was midnight. The church down the street from our apartment complex had this bell that went off every half hour. It was supposed to stop at night so nearby residents could get some sleep, but evidently the timer was broken so it gonged every half hour all day and night. While most people would find it irritating, I found it kind of soothing. Sort of a reminder that we were being watched over day and night by a higher power.

  But tonight, I wasn’t thinking about that or feeling soothed. Seething was more like it. Lily had said she and a friend from school were going to a movie that was supposed to get out at ten. The theater was literally three miles from here, so either they went somewhere else after, didn’t go to the movie at all, or she was out with Scorpion again.

  If it were the latter, that little shit better realize how close he was to being seriously injured by me. I was not kidding when I told him to leave Lily alone.

  I stretched and then got up off the couch to turn the TV off. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep until she got home, but I was sick of just sitting there waiting.

  I went to the fridge to get a bottle of water when I heard her key in the door. That familiar feeling of relief and rage surged again. I just turned around and waited.

  “Oh! Ryder. I didn’t think you’d still be up.” She came in, but didn’t meet my eye as she put her keys in the bowl.

  One whiff of her told me she’d been with Scorpion. Not too many sixteen-year-old girls were chain smokers.

  “You know I can’t sleep when you’re out. You’re late.”

  “Oh, yeah. Hannah and I went to Baskin Robbins to get some ice cream after the movie.”

  She was lying straight to my face!

  “I see.” I turned my back and went to put the bottle in the recycling. “How was the movie?”

  “Oh, it was good.”

  “Did the dog die in the end?” I knew the answer to this question because I’d accidentally read a spoiler about it online.

  “Thank goodness, no. You know I hate movies where the dog dies.”

  I had her. “That’s bullshit, Lily. And you know what’s worse? You’re lying straight to my fucking face. You know I hate it when people lie to me.” My heart was pounding in anger.

  “I’m not lying to you, Ryder. Why would you accuse me of that?”

  Now she was lying to me about lying. But I could tell by the look on her face that she knew I’d caught her.

  “You are really off track, Lily. You’re hanging around that asshole and you’re going to get hurt.”

  “If you’re referring to Scorpion—who I was not with tonight, by the way—he is not an asshole. He loves me. And if you would just take the time to get to know him before you judged him—”

  “Oh I know him, all right. I was him. You think I don’t see the hickeys on your neck? It’s you who doesn’t know him, Lily.” I rubbed my face in exasperation. “Maybe we should just leave La Playa. Go somewhere where you can find people your own age to hang around with.”

  “I do have a friend my age. We’re going to a concert together. The one at the convention center? She got tickets and invited me.”

  She was crazy if she thought I was going to believe her at this point. “What friend?” Those tickets were expensive. No one around here would be able to afford them, unless they were not a teenage girl or were into some illegal shit.

  “Her name is Bailey. She doesn’t live around here. We met at Southgate one day and started texting. She’s really cool, Ryder. Not like the jealous bitches that go to my school.”

  That actually sounded believable. “The only way you’re going to that co
ncert, Lily, is if I drop you off and pick you up. With your new friend.”

  “Fine. I want you to meet her anyway. She was saying something about getting dinner first. Maybe you could come?”

  For a moment Lily looked like a hopeful young girl. It was the way she looked before the accident.

  “Okay,” I said. “But let’s go somewhere other than Tiny’s.” I did not want to risk running into Paige.

  Twenty

  Paige

  It had been a rough week, and I was ready for it to be over. After things went downhill with that job interview, I’d gotten really discouraged. I’d gotten crappy tips at Tiny’s, dealt with loud neighbors smoking weed day and night, and couldn’t stop thinking about Ryder. I didn’t really have a reason to be avoiding him, but I felt like such a loser at the moment that I wasn’t up for starting anything with someone. I needed to figure out my life first.

  Which is why the timing of this concert for Bailey was so unfortunate. I had to drive all the way up to Verde Hills in the pouring rain, deal with my parents and the third degree, then drive all the way back to La Playa and have dinner with Bailey’s new friend and her brother of all people. How I’d gotten roped into dinner with some girl and her pimply-faced brother, I did not know.

  I figured I’d just drop them off at the concert, and she said the brother was going to give them a ride back here.

  I checked myself in the mirror before heading out the door. I’d taken a nap after work and didn’t bother to brush my hair, so I stuck it up in a messy bun. I wasn’t going to bother with makeup either, since I really didn’t care what Bailey’s friends thought of my appearance. My parents would probably judge me, but they would do that no matter what. I threw on a Victoria’s Secret Pink tracksuit and headed out the door.