We Come Alive 4

Collateral

Wednesday evening after a long day at school, a three and a half hour football practice of drills, plays, working out, and football tapes, Ethan got back to the facility and did all his chores he needed to do. His Uncle and Aunt had an meeting with the warden tomorrow so he wanted to look extra good in the eyes of the facility workers.

Ethan hobbled into his room and pulled himself up onto his bunk. He could hear Zane having night terrors under him, but he didn't even bother to wake him up. Last time he did, Zane punched him in the thigh in fear.

Ethan didn't even have the energy to take off his shoes and just laid down fully clothed. He didn't have time to even think about going to sleep before he heard a set of footsteps coming into the room.

"Hey, Smash Williams." Craig's voice said, pulling himself onto the bed and sitting his butt between Ethan's body and the wall with his legs over Ethan's back.

"Hi." Ethan murmured. "What ever happened to Justin? Your best friend when I got in here."

Craig chuckled as Ethan felt him untying his shoes and taking them off his feet. "He snuck cocaine into the facility one day while you were at school or something. Had to do the detox than one day he disappeared. Guard said he went to jail. I got over it."

Ethan didn't reply verbally as he kept his eyes closed and his face buried in his pillow. He felt Craig shifting around on his bed before settling in a comfortable position.

"How's football?"

Ethan gathered up all his energy to speak a simple, broken sentence. "Third playoff Friday."

Craig nodded his head even though Ethan couldn't see him. He reached down and poked Ethan in the cheek, but didn't get a response. "You're that tired? I saw you cleaning up and stuff. You're trying to get a reward."

Ethan nodded slowly as he yawned and started to fall asleep. He heard Craig chuckled before he laid down next to Ethan.

"Mind if I crash here? My new roommate just got out detox and is a pain in the ass." Craig whispered.

Ethan opened his eyes to see Craig's face inches from his own. "Zane has loud night terrors. He's not much better. Plus if you're looking for something, I got a girlfriend."

Craig rolled his eyes and gently punched Ethan in the side. "I ain't tryna fuck ya. I just need a place to crash. But your girlfriend know you stuck in here or you lying to her?"

"She knows." Ethan answered, closing his eyes. "Doesn't care. First real relationship and I'm not tryna ruin it by starting it off lying to her. That's dumb."

Craig snickered and turned over so his back was to Ethan. The Spanish boy didn't take long to drift to sleep and fall into a nice, peaceful slumber where he stayed for as long as he could.

~**~

Meanwhile a few neighborhoods away, Ricky was walking home after he went to the store to grab some supplies his mom needed for work. He carried the white plastic bag in his hand, remembering that he a few more days until his licenses suspension was over.

Ricky ran his fingers through his dark brown hair that was flopped down over his head and onto his shoulders. He looked through his eyelashes at the dark Dallas streets as he passed a street light every once in a while. He glanced around him every once in a while seeing other people walking around him, but every street it seemed the people got fewer and fewer.

Ricky remembered these streets, the darkness, the eerie feeling you got when you walked alone by yourself. But he remembered how he was never alone. He was always followed whether he wanted to be or not.