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I quietly followed behind them.

The nurse examined Trevor’s wrist first while I recounted the story Trevor forced me to give her. Mason sat to his left. He didn’t push. Just stayed.

Sprained. Probably badly. No obvious break. Scraped palm. Bruising. She’d concluded before she shuffled into a back room.

I continued to watch how Mason held Trevor and realized that some people could actually stay where they said they would… Just not…

The infirmary door opened, and as if on cue, Darius walked in. “What the fuck happened?” he grunted.

I turned in his direction, and every awful thing I had been holding inside detonated at once. “Where the fuck have you been, Darius D’Angelo? Where is your fucking group of future felons? Know where they are now?”

He stopped, appearing to stumble over his words as well as his giant clown-sized feet. “What?”

“You heard me.”

His eyes moved past me, to where Trevor was seated with Mason beside him. “What happened?” he asked again, a little softer this time.

I laughed, and it sounded every bit as deranged as I felt. “Oh, I get it. Now you care?”

Darius looked at me. “What happened to him?”

“I think you fucking know.”

Trevor stared at the floor, and Darius’s jaw tightened. “Who?”

“He won’t tell me.”

All eyes then turned to Trevor, who just shook his head and babbled the same story about falling.

Darius took a step towards him. I quickly blocked his path. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

His glare shot to mine. “I’m just trying to help.”

“A little fucking late, aren’t ya, Dee?”

“What is your problem?”

“My problem?” I pointed towards Trevor. “That is my problem.”

“I see that.”

“Do you?” My voice rose. “Because you haven’t seen much of anything this week, have you? Just your own fucking self-pity.”

His face hardened. “I’ve been busy.”

“With what?”

“That isn’t your business.”

I laughed again, my attention bouncing over to the window when I heard someone snicker outside. One of the same boys from the tree line stood with two others near the path. He looked straight at me. Smiling. And my entire body went cold and numb.

“Those kids. Your fucking kids. Where were they this morning, Darius?” I hissed, while Dee turned his head to see who I was pointing at. “They’ve been laughing and following us. You know their whereabouts? Check on any of your damn responsibilities this week, for that matter?”

“That doesn’t mean they⁠—”

“They ran off. They fucking ran from me but they won’t be able to run this time.”

Darius grabbed my arm before I reached the door. “Stop,” he ordered me, and I whipped around on him. “You cannot go after campers, Alvin.”