I need him to be there for me. I’ve never needed him more than this moment.

For the first time that I can remember, I feel my eyes welling up with tears. I swipe them away with the back of my hand.

The receptionist, Brenda, is a skinny girl with blond hair and bright red lipstick. I’ve been here enough times throughout the years that she immediately knows who I am—the boss’s troublemaker son. Hell, I don’t even mind the label, because it fits. It also makes the employees avoid me like the plague, which suits me just fine.

Before I even step up to the desk, Brenda is on the phone whispering something into the receiver.

Calm down, Vic. You can do this.

“I need to see my dad,” I tell her, stating the obvious as I try to stop my hands and voice from shaking.

She gives me a fake disappointed look. “I’m sorry, Victor. He’s in a meeting and doesn’t want to be disturbed.”

“It’s an emergency,” I tell her. “Please. Tell him it’s an emergency.”

She picks up the phone again. “He says it’s an emergency,” she whispers into the receiver. She covers the mouthpiece with her palm. “He wants to know what kind of emergency. He says to be specific.”

“I can’t.”

She puts the phone back in its cradle. “He says he’ll see you at home, after he leav—”

Before she can finish her sentence, I rush past the reception area and the security guard even as I hear their protests behind me.

I enter my father’s huge corner office without knocking. Four guys, all in pristine suits, are sitting around a long table.

As soon as mi papá sees me, he frowns. “Excuse me,” he tells the other men. “I’ll be just a second.”

He doesn’t introduce me as his son, but I don’t care. I follow him out of the room and into the hallway. He’s got a stern, pissed-off look on his face.

“I… I… need you,” I say, desperation laced in my voice.

He sighs. “What now?”

The words start to flow out of my mouth. “It’s Trey. We were doin’ drills at practice and somethin’ bad happened. Papá, I need help. I don’t know what to do.”

He regards me with the look of someone annoyed and bothered. “Victor, I’m in a meeting. I’m not surprised you did something bad. I’m tired of bailing you out. Deal with it and stop bothering me at work, something you wouldn’t know how to do because you’re too busy fucking up. Whatever you did, man up and fix it.”

“I can’t fix it.”

He rolls his eyes. “Then you’re useless.”

I stare at his back as he retreats to his office and practically slams the door in my face.

Reality is kicking my ass right now and I can’t deal with it. I need to escape, to pretend I don’t exist.

I run to Enrique’s Auto Body. Isa follows me up to her apartment.

“Can I stay here a while?” I ask as I sit on her couch and put my head in my hands.

“Of course. What’s going on?” she asks.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I tell her. “I can’t talk about it.”

“Want me to leave you alone?”

I nod.

When she’s gone, I gather up the nerve to call Monika. Her phone rings and my pulse starts to race.

“Hello?” she answers, her voice weak.

“It’s Vic,” I tell her. “How’s Trey?”

I hear a bunch of other voices. I can tell by the muffled sounds that the phone is being passed around.

“Vic, tell me where you are,” Jet’s voice echoes through the line. He sounds like he’s been crying. “Everyone is looking for you.”

“I’m fine. Tell everyone to stop looking for me. How’s Trey?”

“Tell me where you are.”

“No. How’s Trey?”

There’s a long pause.

“He didn’t make it,” he finally says. “I’m sorry.”

I didn’t think my mind could get to a darker place, but it just did.

My best friend is dead.

And it’s all because of me.

Chapter Twenty-six

MONIKA

The news about Trey’s death spreads like wildfire in our small town. Since I got home from the hospital last night, my phone hasn’t stopped buzzing with texts and calls. Most of them are comments asking how I’m doing and confirming that the school board chose to postpone the homecoming game and dance. I eventually turn off my cell and toss it across the room. It’s almost noon, and I haven’t picked it up.