Between Now & Never Read Online Free PDF Page A

hang around for a bit. Watch my back.”
    Whoa now. “Watch your back?” I repeat, not liking the sound of this.
    My eyes sweep the interior of the car. Doors unlocked—check. Empty chip bags, some tinfoil, BIC pens with no ink barrel or tip, and a car jack that could be used as a weapon in a bind.
    We turn down Power Road heading north. Away from Connor’s.
    The car accelerates and so does my pulse. Vic darts a glance at the setting sun, his fists clenching and unclenching on the wheel.
    I piece together the two odd items: tinfoil and pen barrels—a straw.
    Ah. “What kind of stuff are you doing, Vic?” I ask. “Weed? Meth? Coke?”
    A bit of the apprehension dissolves from Vic’s expression and his gaze meets mine with eager curiosity. “You got a preference esé , because I can hook us up.”
    It hits me hard: Vic’s raw talent, his height and strong build. A rare combination of size and offensive skill. He’s a good jumper, too. Huge, and yet he has a soft touch. Everything a ball player should be. And all for this ?
    “No, Vic. Just . . . no. You’re shooting up?”
    “Hey, I’m no needle junkie.”
    I glance at the foil and straws. “Smoking.”
    “Yeah, man. You in?”
    I close my eyes. Let out a deep breath.
    “Some foil and a straw, and bam, ” Vic says, “we’re set. You got a lighter?”
    “No.”
    “We’ll snag one at the store on our way back.”
    “Our way back from where ?” I ask. “Where are we going?”
    Vic pulls behind a store not far from the Superstition Springs Center. Kills the engine.
    I grab the door handle in case.
    Bushes and a low brick wall line the alley. A streetlamp puts off a weird glow. No other cars in sight. No eyes. Only me and Vic and whoever else is on their way here. I swallow hard. Ready to split.
    “You seriously never been smacked, have you?” Vic asks.
    Smacked? I almost laugh. “No desire whatsoever.”
    “That’s what they all say. Just wait esé . These dudes got the good stuff.”
    I think about Vic and the list of basketball scholarships he’s already been offered, offers I’d kill for: Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Oregon, Texas A&M, Utah, Virginia. I look Vic square in the eye. “I’m gonna walk home if you don’t start the car back up.”
    Vic jabs at my arm like I’m teasing. “Come on, man.”
    “Get out of here, Vic,” I say, one last attempt to talk some sense into him. “You don’t want this.”
    Vic shakes his head, one elbow on the door, his thumb brushing his chin, his other hand still holding the wheel. “Nah, nah, man. I got no choice. I gotta get the money to them, bro. They’ll come for me.”
    “Wait, what ?”
    “The money. This was my first time selling and I didn’t get enough dough.”
    I didn’t think this could get any worse. “You’re using and selling?”
    “Yeah,” Vic says, sounding like I shouldn’t act so surprised.
    I pull out my wallet. “How much do you need?” I pull out one twenty. Two. Three. “I got sixty bucks.”
    “Try a grand.”
    I stuff the cash back in. “A grand.”
    Vic lowers his forehead into his hands and stretches the skin above his brows with his palms. Like he can make it all go away if he pushes hard enough. “Yeah, a grand. I got about three thou. I owe them four.”
    I massage my own forehead. “Vic, come on. Let’s get out of here. Talk to the police—”
    “Psh,” Vic mumbles a sound. “Cops? You serious? And get myself into more trouble than I’m already in?”
    “Why did you need the money so bad in the first place?”
    Vic regards me with disbelief. “You ain’t holding nothing back, are you, rich boy?”
    I glance around at the narrow back alley, noting a jumble of grocery carts near a Dumpster. “Well, since you dragged me out here and I assume there’s a drug deal going down any minute, I figure I might have the right to ask.”
    “Fair,” Vic says, “and if you know some guys who need a fix, we can split it fifty—”
    “ Why, Vic?” I ask,