Chapter 5: Nicholas

A nail hammered into my skull in time with the rings of my alarm clock. I rolled over and hit the snooze button. Seven o’clock was far too early to be awake on Monday morning considering school didn’t start until eight. Weak sunlight filtered in through the blinds, each ray a shard of glass piercing my eyes. Shakespeare really did give me a headache.

A quick search of the medicine cabinet revealed that we were out of Advil, so I stayed in bed until the last minute, grabbing a piece of toast on my way out the door. Alex was waiting for me at the bus stop.

“Do you have any painkillers?” I asked.

“No ‘hey’ or ‘how’s going’ just asking for meds?” he said.

“It feels like my skull is being split in two. Please, Alex.”

“Alright, alright.”

He dug through his backpack and pulled out a tube. “It’s old, so you have to take a higher dose for it to be effective.”

I tapped out four pills and knocked them back dry. By the time the bus pulled up in front of the school, my headache had all but disappeared.

Alex gave me a few more pills before I made my way to the locker room.

It stank of sweat and cologne. Half-dressed boys lounged on the benches, throwing clothes at each other. Ace stood in the corner, already dressed.

There was a knock at the door.

“Come on, boys!” Coach Roberts shouted. “Time to go.”

I tugged on my shirt and followed the others out the door. The girls joined us halfway down the hall. We lined up in columns of five, facing Coach Roberts.

“We’ll be doing an obstacle course,” she said. “It’s set up in the small gym next door, but I’ll explain it here. First is the tire run. Be sure to keep a foot in both rows or else it’s cheating. Next, lunge up and down the bleachers and crawl through the cardboard tunnel. Run a lap around the gym, do ten push-ups, and climb up the rope to ring the bell.”

Lexi, Delaney, and a sophomore boy groaned.

“Did I mention there’s a prize for whoever gets through the course the fastest?” She held up a giant chocolate bar.

The class sat up straighter. I didn’t get it. The chocolate bars were seventy-five cents at the gas station counter, but the students treated them like solid gold.

Coach Roberts smiled as she led us next door.

First up was an African American girl with long, lean legs like a gazelle’s. Coach Roberts pulled out a stopwatch.

“On my whistle, Liza.”

A loud, shrill sound echoed in the gym. Liza took off, motivated by the promise of chocolate. She was ridiculously fast in her lap around the gym, but she lost time in the rope climb. It took her five tries before she could ring the bell.

“Four minutes and twenty seconds,” Coach Roberts announced, making a note on her clipboard.

Liza sat down on the ground, breathing hard.

The next person, a boy named Adam, took his place at the start.

Coach Roberts had designed each part of the course to exercise a different part of the body. Most people finished it four minutes, though Lexi had taken almost five.

But Ace finished it in less than three minutes, two minutes and forty-seven seconds to be exact. Unless his mother had put a huge emphasis on physical education, there was no way he could have done so well.

“Penny for your thoughts, Nicholas?” Coach Roberts asked.

The entire class was looking at me.

“Sorry.” I crouched at the start.

When the whistle blew, I stepped into the tires, reaching a comfortable rhythm so I wouldn’t fall like Jessica had. The bleacher lunges aggravated a tendon in my knee but the painkillers I was on suppressed the worst of it, and the tunnel wasn’t much different from the air vents I’d hide in to spy. Push-ups made my shoulders ache, the rope climb even more so, but I rang the bell and slid back down.

“Two minutes and forty-five seconds,” Coach Roberts said. “Amazing job, Nicholas.”

I watched the rest of the class have their turn from my place on the ground. The cool wood soothed my sore shoulders.

Coach Roberts handed me the chocolate bar on my way out the door. I traded it to Alex at lunch for five more painkillers.

Ace sat with Josiah again for reasons I couldn’t fathom. Breaking someone’s arm was usually a surefire sign that they didn’t like them. The football players laughed and Josiah patted Ace on the head. He didn’t flinch away. Then Elliot said something about a cute girl in his engineering class, and I turned my attention back to my table.

“Be honest, guys,” Lexi said during English. “How many of you finished the play we were supposed to read?”

Ace raised his hand.

“I didn’t know you cared that much about school,” I said.

“I liked it,” Ace defended. “Shakespeare was a genius.”

“Shakespeare is a headache waiting to happen.” Pain flared as I turned my neck. “Speaking of which, Alex, do you have any more painkillers?”

Alex twisted the tube open. “I’m down to my last three, man. It was a full tube this morning. You’ve been popping them like candy all day.”

“Do you have any idea how easy it is to get addicted to painkillers, Nicholas?” Ace said sharply. “Exactly how many of these have you taken today?”

“They’re not prescription.” I swallowed the pills and handed the empty tube back to Alex.

Ace snatched up the tube. “It says this was a pack of sixteen and to not exceed one every six hours.”

“Give me a break. I have an awful headache today.”

“Then don’t take painkillers by the mouthful! People have gotten addicted this way.”

“You should give the speeches during drug prevention week,” Alex said. “You’re much more passionate than the old police officer.”

“At least his dog is cute,” Lexi offered.

“It’s a seventy-five pound German Shepherd that could rip your face off. I’m starting to question your taste.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I didn’t dare take it out under Mrs. Hunter’s eagle eye. The last thing I needed was for her to confiscate it.

I didn’t get a chance to check my phone until school was over. I pulled it out on the bus while sitting in an empty seat. There were six missed calls from Ishaan. I dialed his number, praying that nothing bad had happened.

"Hello?"

“Ishaan, thank goodness you’re okay,” I cried.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” He sounded bemused.

“Because you called me six times and the news has me a little on edge.”

There had been an explosion a few miles west of the city.

“Don’t worry about me. The director knows I’m most useful behind a computer. I just wanted to get the information to you.”

I perked up. “You’ve found something on Ace?”

“Everyone leaves a trail.” Papers shuffled. “Let’s see. Jacen Rostislav Griffin was born on September 23rd to Andrea Griffin and an unknown father.”

“There’s no trace of his father?”

“His mother was an Underground prostitute. Your guess is as good as mine. Based on transaction records, she had an addiction to cocaine and heroin. My assumption is that she sold her body to pay for her drug problem. But, and this is where it gets interesting, she quit her job in the Underground when Ace was seven.”

“So she found a legal place to work,” I said. “Good for her.”

“Not quite. Records show she was claiming unemployment benefits, yet she could still afford cocaine and heroin from the Underground. The next year, she even bought a house.”

“Where did she get the money?” I asked. “I know you have a guess.”

“The time when Andrea quit her job was when Ace started his. He probably worked as a runner. Few police officers would search a kid.”

“Drugs horrify him. Ace wouldn’t be able to stand being around them every day.”

“Then I have no idea,” Ishaan said. “But Ace does have an association with the Underground. I suggest you be careful.”