Chapter 3

Reece walked to his first class. His sister was in it with him, so he didn’t hurry. Rei and Reece had a deal. She took the notes, and he typed them; they studied together and covered each other’s back when one couldn’t be in class. It worked well for them all through school, and both came out with good grades. Having a twin who understood how hard it was for him to process words-to-writing had helped him stay ahead in school. Reece made sure Rei got typed notes with his researched commentary on the topic since she had challenges understanding ‘teacher speak’, so he made the notes plain and simple for her to understand. When he was younger, teachers tried to separate them and tell his parents he needed intervention on processing words and directions. His parents wouldn’t tolerate the school’s passive-aggressive way to get him medicated on a drug that was an undercover narcotic. They told him and his sister that they should help each other in class. It worked since first grade, and now he and Rei had a rhythm.

He walked slowly while observing the students running back and forth through the decorated hall leading to his history class. The murals on the walls reminded him of his brother’s tagging artwork he’d seen on bridges and subway trains in New York. Dexter would take a picture of them and send them to him for bragging rights. Then Reece would copy the design onto one of his knives he made for clients he got from social media, word of mouth, or pawn shops that knew his work. The best pieces of his brother’s art he saved for his racecars and had Dexter autograph the design.

His father was the reason he loved making weapons. Growing up around martial artists, boxers, and some of the fight-obsessed people his parents worked with made weapons collection one of his father’s passions. Reece became interested in them, and when he met one of his father’s friends who made weapons, Reece asked to learn the art from the man.

Reece created his weapons with people in mind. He’d spend hours watching, observing how they moved; what they needed from a weapon came as second nature. That obsession had made looking at the students at this new school even more interesting. Many of them didn’t move the same as kids he’d known in New York. Kids back home had an edge to them. They always seemed to have their antennae on, expecting or ready for something bad to kick off that they’d have to run from, fight off, or avoid. The kids at this school carried themselves as predators would. They weren’t bracing themselves for something that could happen. Instead, they had the look of someone waiting for an opportunity to make something happen.

There weren’t many short people at this school either. Reece smiled. Rei hated being the smallest around. At least in NY, there were people short and tall from all different races and cultures. Even though this school was fairly diverse, not many here were shorter than five-foot-seven; even the girls were tall. Reece didn’t mind tall girls. He was tall, and bending down to the hip to kiss someone wasn’t always easy.

“You?” A guy about Reece’s height blocked him in mid-stride. He had a shock of blond hair that stood straight at the top and was cut close and tapered in a fade.

“Me?” Reece stopped. The warning bell to get to class rang.

“Yeah, you were at the race.” The guy gave him a lopsided grin. “Pissed off Brec and his sidekick Volk with your win, breaking up the top two contenders for the past few years.”

Reece shrugged. “And you care why?”

“I’m Hook. I got taken out with the acid then a ball of fire. I swear they had it out for me. Glad you got a chance to sit at the top. Same bastards been winning every year.”

“Well, I gave it a shot, put a lot of work in, but I’ve driven other places, so same thing, different group of players.”

“I bet.” Hook nodded. “Are you in shop class?”

“You know it.” Reece relaxed. Anyone in shop class was someone he’d get along with because they were good friends with tool swapping networks.

“See you there. The teacher’s an ass, makes us do a ton of book work and certifications before touching his precious equipment, but the class is small, and students all want Brec’s reign of the races to end.”

Reece laughed and hurried to class.