Free Cruiser by Dee J. Stone Page A

freshman.”
    “Yeah?” He lifts his eyebrows.
    “Nah. I don’t go for that. What is she? Fourteen? Man, I got morals. Maybe not loads. But I got some.” I open my drawer, rummage around for some jeans, and pull them on.
    Rey laughs again. Yeah, I guess in a twisted way I’m not all that bad. I sit down in my swivel chair. “Game?”
    “ELVIS!”
    I freeze. Damn, Mom sounds as mad as the time I took a baseball bat and cracked all her expensive china. Accidentally, of course.
    Stomping up the stairs. Heavy footsteps coming down the hall. We look at each other. Geez, what did I do this time? Rey’s eyes ask me the same thing.
    She’s at the door. Mom in her full rage-possessed glory. She thrusts out her palm. A joint sits there. She holds it like it’s poisoning her skin. Her gaze bites my face. “Can you explain this, Elvis?”
    Shit. Where the hell did that come from? I stopped smoking once I stepped foot in New York.
    Rey.
    I look at him. His face is whiter than my bed sheet, and he’s gripping the edge of my pillow so tight the feathers will burst out any second. Sweat shines on his forehead. He stares at the opposite wall like he’s waiting for an anvil to hit him on the head.
    “ Yeah, it’s mine,” I say.
    Rey’s eyes widen. He’s swallowing like a golf ball’s stuck in his throat. The pillow is seconds away from total destruction.
    Mom marches into the room. Stands near me—over me like I’m a serial killer about to get interrogated by the cops. “Are you doing drugs again, Elvis?”
    Damn. Did I flinch?
    “Answer me, Elvis Dalton. Are you doing drugs again? ”
    “It’s just pot,” I mumble.
    Her eyes burst with fury. “Just pot? We don’t do drugs in my house, Elvis Dalton. I will not see you down this road again. Did you change anything while you were away?”
    I look out my window. Need to focus on something. Anything but Mom’s voice. It’s pounding on my skull. Gets louder as her voice raises an octave. She says she has no idea what to do to with me. Maybe she should listen to Grandma Dorothy and send me to Cayton’s. Let someone else deal with me. She thought a change of scenery would be good for me. Thought being away from all the pain of the accident would fix me. But I’m back to my old ways. Not working hard in school. Hopping from one girl to the next. Now it’s pot again, and soon I’ll be a drug addict or a drug dealer. And then she’ll find herself bailing me out of jail.
    Shut up. Just please shut the fuck up.
    “He won’t do it again,” Rey whispers. I barely hear him.
    Mom clamps her mouth shut and stares at him. Yeah, who would have ever thought someone would stick up for me?
    “He was feeling down,” Rey continues lying. “He just needed it.”
    She’s still staring at him. After a few seconds, she blinks and brings her gaze to me. “If I find this or any other illegal object in my house again, I am going to throw you out. Do you understand me? I don’t know what to do with you anymore.” She marches to the door, stomps out of my room. Down the steps. I want to slam the door after her.
    “Geez,” Rey breathes. Covers his face. Stays in that position for a few seconds. He lowers his hands. “My God, Cruise. I have no idea how that happened. I thought I got rid of all of them. One must have fallen out of my backpack.”
    I think I see tears in his eyes. “Don’t sweat it, bro.”
    “I’ll tell her. I won’t let you take the blame.”
    “Nah, let me take the fall.” I reach for the tissue box from my nightstand and toss it at him. “If you tell them it was you, it’ll screw things up more. They’ll say I have a bad influence on you and ship me off to Cayton’s. I don’t mind taking the fall—it’s for the best. Yeah?”
    He slowly nods. “Yeah. I’m just…I’m sorry, Cruise. I’ll make it up to you.”
    “Don’t worry about it.”
    He bites down on his lip. Punches a fist into his other hand and mutters under his breath. Apologizes