TWENTY-FIVE

I drive myself to the party. Rock City’s not close, but it is secluded, which is what matters. A steep cluster of stone caves line the western wall of Mount Diablo, north of Danville, and the whole area is hidden from the main road. During the summer, the state allows overnight camping, but only teenagers with nowhere else to go come up here during the other three seasons. For good reason. Ten years back some kid got drunk and fell while crawling out of one of the caves in the rain, pitching over the cliff and smashing onto the rocks below. Rumor has it his ghost still hangs around, waiting to shove other kids to their plunging death. But if you ask me, the most shocking thing about the tragedy is that it hasn’t happened again. Trust me, there’s usually a whole lot of stupid going on up here.

Dread and anticipation war inside my chest.

On the side of good, there’s Jenny.

On the other, there’s my sister.

My fears about someone starting up with me about Cate are not unfounded. I’ve had to deal with it for years now. It’s not about having a criminal for a sister; it’s about what happens when your sister makes a lot of people very unhappy.

Sarah wasn’t the only one who spread rumors about Cate. Even before the fire, Hector Ramirez had something against her. He let me know about it not long after Sarah blabbed to me about the things Cate was up to in the woods near the Ramirez ranch.

The day Hector approached me, I was sitting in a library carrel reading Richard Wright’s Black Boy during lunch. I’d felt unwell of late, since finding that photograph and the information about my mom’s death. But who could I talk to about it? Talking about it meant admitting I’d stolen the items from Cate and the guilt from that made me feel so bad I couldn’t stand it. So instead I sat in the library, straining to absorb Wright’s hunger for food, for life, for everything.

“Tell your tramp sister to leave my brother alone,” Hector muttered under his breath as he passed by.

I dropped the book and whipped around in my wooden chair. “What did you just say?”

He paused. “Your sister. She’s all up on Danny these days. It needs to stop.”

“That’s between her and Danny.”

“No, it’s between me and you now. Danny’s going places. He’s valedictorian. He doesn’t need to be dragged down by girls like that.”

“What do you mean, ‘girls like that?’”

Hector’s eyes lit up. “Manipulative. Lying. A complete and utter bitch. Do I need to go on? I’ve heard about her, you know. What she lets guys do to her and what she’ll do for them. She comes from trash. She’s trash. Put her on a leash, man.”

Rage crackled in my mind and flames danced in my line of vision. I shoved my chair back and got to my feet. “Don’t you ever talk about my sister that way.”

Something in my expression made Hector take a step back. “Why? What’re you going to do about it?”

“How ’bout this.” I shoved him in the chest with both hands. Hard.

“Yo, Jamie, don’t do that! No, really. Don’t.” Scooter leaped from nowhere to come between us. He dragged me back. “C’mon, he’s not worth it.”

“He’s talking about Cate. He called her a tramp!”

“That’s his problem.”

“He called my mom trash, too. My mom!” My voice sort of cracked, but Scooter kept pulling me away, toward the nearest exit. He talked to me the whole time, his voice low and rational and soothing.

“Don’t worry about it, Jamie. Cate can take care of herself. Hell, she’ll probably take care of him, too. You know her. That girl’s got balls of steel, man. She wouldn’t want you to do this.”

“But—”

“But nothing. Just calm down. Jeez, you’re like, shaking.”

We stepped outside. I wrenched free from Scooter and leaned against the metal railing of the wheelchair ramp. The sky was hazy, like my mind, and it was hard for me to breathe. I didn’t understand what had happened. I wasn’t a fighter. Far from it. I had the heart of a pacifist. The mind of a coward.

My hands tingled from where I’d put them on Hector’s chest, and I couldn’t get his biting words out of my mind. I closed my eyes. I hated feeling this upset and I hated that Cate had put me in a position where I felt I had to defend her honor. I especially hated that her honor was something she didn’t even bother to value in the first place.

That was what really upset me.

More than anything.