Before Armando picked Maggie up to take her to Doubles, she rushed back home to tell Juju and Seth all about Colby.
She repeated everything he’d said to her.
“So, what do you think?” Maggie asked them.
“What if he works for Rock?” Seth asked first.
“Yeah, Seth’s right. He could be setting you up. You know he’ll fuckin’ kill you if he finds out that you’re giving out any information about him,” Juju confirmed.
“I know. I thought of that, too. There’s just something about this guy that seems legit, though. If he is for real, we might be able to help a lot of kids—our friends on the streets,” Maggie said.
“Aggie, I think we gotta know more about this guy. What’s his name again?” Seth asked.
“Colby,” Maggie reiterated.
“Yeah, we gotta find out more about this Colby guy,” Seth repeated and turned to Juju to back him up.
Juju rubbed her temple. “Well, I think we should see if he comes back to meet you again. If he’s for real, then the next time you see him, we’ll have questions for him. Oh, I know! Tell him you wanna see his ID. Ask him who he’s ever helped. Tell him you wanna look shit up in the newspaper, and he’s gotta tell you on the spot. He can’t come back a week later, after he had time to research stuff.”
“That’s a good idea, Juju. If he really does help kids, he should be able to name at least one that he saved,” Maggie said thoughtfully. “You’re a lot smarter than you look,” she teased her friend.
“Yeah, well, you smell a lot worse than I thought you would,” Juju poked back.
Seth stood by and laughed at both of them.
“I don’t know what you’re laughing about, Seth. Your breath smells like shit,” Juju added.
Seth had thrived after moving away from Thelma and into the loving care of the two teen girls. He had turned eleven and entered the fifth grade. Seth had become an avid reader, and as a result, he had accelerated in his schoolwork. He was five feet tall, about seven inches taller than most of the boys in his class. Shedding his tiny stature had helped him to claim a place among his peers. He was a very good-looking kid. Many of the girls his age had secret crushes on him, but he was devoted to Joey; the two were inseparable. Joey’s light-green eyes shimmered with adoration for her “boyfriend,” Seth; and he’d sworn his loyalty to her. When Joey showed up at school with a swollen and blackened eye after Christmas break, Seth rushed to her side.
“What happened to you?” Seth asked with despair in his voice.
“That bitch, Thelma, walloped me ’cause I complained that I didn’t get any Christmas presents. Doesn’t matter, though, ’cause I slipped some extra cocaine into her beer, and she dropped off to sleep like a load of shit. Then I raided the refrigerator and watched Christmas movies all day,” Joey explained.
“We need to get ya outta there, Joey. Aggie got me away from her and Rock,” he said with determination.
“How come you call her Aggie and not Maggie?” Joey wondered aloud.
“Don’t know. I guess it’s just what I always called her. She’s my Aggie. ‘Cause when I was little I couldn’t say Maggie, and then I just never stopped calling her that. Anyways, I think we should talk to Aggie and see if she can help you too. You know, just like she helped me,” Seth offered.
“I don’t know, Seth. You know what an asshole Rock can be. It ain’t like he’s gonna like me leavin’. I keep Thelma busy so she stays outta his hair. That’s what I heard him tell one of the jerk-offs that works for him,” Joey explained.
It didn’t matter what Joey said. Seth decided that when he got home that afternoon, he was going to talk to Maggie and Juju.
“But Aggie,” Seth shot back after explaining he wanted Joey to live with them. “How can you say no? Maybe if you ask Rock, he would let her,” he whined.
“It’s not that easy, Seth. Rock doesn’t do things just to be nice. I’d need something to bargain with, and right now I don’t have anything he needs.”
Maggie peered at Juju, who was listening intently. “Juju knows how Rock is. Tell him.”
“Maggie’s right, Seth. Rock doesn’t do anything that isn’t good for him. When it comes to Thelma, he won’t do a thing that would piss her off. In a couple more years, when Joey is a little older, Thelma will want a younger kid anyway,” Juju stated with certainty.
“Well, I think you’re both being jerks. We have to do something to help Joey. Remember how mean Thelma was to me? Remember all the bad things she did to me?” Seth pleaded.
“Yeah, we remember. But Thelma did things that were way worse to you—” Maggie began to explain.
“Well, if you won’t ask Rock to let her live with us, then I’ll ask him myself,” Seth said, pouting.
“No. You won’t ask Rock anything. Do you hear me?” Maggie yelled.
It was the first time Maggie had ever raised her voice at Seth. Her instincts to protect him went into overdrive. She was pacing the studio apartment, her fingers roughly combing her hair back. Maggie’s reaction made Seth nervous, and he went to her.
“OK, I won’t talk to Rock. But you have to promise we’ll try to do something to help Joey,” Seth said in a small voice.
Maggie took Seth into her arms. “I promise that if there is a way to help her, we will.”
This made Maggie think about Colby’s offer. It was time to find out who Colby was and what motivated him. Aside from potentially being one of Rock’s employees, he could be some kind of pedophile. If he checked out, though, they all might have the opportunity for a better life. Maggie picked up her coat and walked to the door.