Chapter Three: Life Outside The Darleys

The newly inked girl sat in the passenger seat of Billy car once more, her arms wrapped around her bare shoulders, her pale body lent forward in protection of her tattoo. Neither spoke to each other, Billy in a bad mood and Lyric just not in the mood to talk. Soon, the three Mustangs pulled up in the parking structure of Billy's apartment building, and Lyric was the first one out, yelling at Bodie, "Give me my fucking keys!" Bodie tossed them to her, but out of nowhere, Billy intercepted them and said, "You get these when I say you do." Lyric scoffed, "I get them when I want to leave, which is now. I have school tomorrow." She lunged to grab her keys from her boss' hand, but he moved and let Lyric go sprawling onto the ground. The eighteen year old scrambled up and glared at the back of Billy's shaved head but followed him, mixed into the pack, trudging in between Dog and Spink. As they began piling into the elevator, Lyric was shoved back and back until she realized that she wouldn't fit into the lift. Billy smirked and told her, "Start walking, kid. You have nine flights of stairs." As the doors slid close, Lyric shrieked and flipped them off, before storming back out to the parking garage, satisfied to hear Billy realizing she was leaving and him yelling them to stop her. But the doors closed before any of them could get out.

The real keys that she had stored in a little cove Lyric had put in herself was removed to allow her into her car, and she pulled out of the well known structure, and hit the gas speeding down the deserted streets of the projects, but as soon as she hit the streets of the middle and upper class, Lyric was forced to drift in between Mercedes, Bentleys, and BMW's. She pulled out in front of her house in record time, jumping out then hurrying back to her trunk to pull out a random sweatshirt, pulling it over and flinching in pain as it hit the Darley mark. But she slammed the trunk closed, locked her prized car, then jogged up to the door of her house, thankful that she had picked up the habit of only using faux keys while working with Billy. Glancing back at her car, Lyric unlocked the door of her house and slipped in, then locked it again. She tip-toed upstairs and peeked into her mom and dad's room, seeing them soundly asleep. Lyric repeated the process with her brothers, both of whom were asleep and finally crept into her own room. The front of her body met her bed as she dropped onto it, burying her face into her pillow. The past eighteen hours were catching up with her, and soon the dirty blonde was fast asleep on top of her comforter still in her jean shorts and borrowed black tank.

Lyric was waken up to a stinging pain in her upper back, making her hiss in agitation, "What the fuck?" A woman scolded, "Language, sweetie." Her blue eyes flickered open and she groaned, "Sorry, Ma. What time is it?" Helen Hume sighed, but told her daughter, "It's seven thirty. You need to get up." And with that, Helen left her daughters room, allowing Lyric to yank the sweatshirt off over her head and begin changing. Soon, she was standing in front of her mirrored closet door in a white short-sleeved, collared, button up shirt, a black and red plaid skirt, and black knee socks with black flats. She stared at herself for a moment, frowning slightly as Billy's words 'daddy's little girl, goody-two-shoes' as they ran through her head. The checkered wrist band was hiding the black and red stars on her wrist; she planned on wearing her school jacket to hide the fresh Darley mark that showed through her thin shirt, the pale pink baby handprints on each side of hips hidden by the skirt. Her thoughts were interrupted by her brother Lucas walking in and asking, "Can we leave yet? I know you don't have a second period, but I do." Lyric glanced over and smiled, nodded, then grabbed her black blazer and black tie and followed her brother out, snagging her keys off the key rack as she walked out of the house, waving bye to her parents. Brendan had settled nervously into the front seat and Lucas made himself at home in the back.

As she pulled away from the curb, she leant over and slipped her cell phone out of the glove compartment, checking and seeing she had nineteen texts from her gang, and multiple missed calls from mainly the one and only Billy. Lyric groaned but began clicking through the texts, most of them along the lines of 'where the fucking hell are you' and 'Billy is fucking pissed' but there was one from both Jamie and Tommy that just asked for her to call one of them quickly. Dialing Jamie's familiar number, she told her to talkative brothers, "Shut up, I have to talk to people about work!" After a couple of rings, Jamie answered, "Yeah?" She rolled her eyes and asked back at him, "Why was I supposed to call you? Cause I apparently have to answer to the boss man about ditching last night." Jamie chuckled and replied, "Yeah I know. But Billy is not here right now. So I get the pleasure of talking to you." Lyric laughed a bit and tossed at him, "Oh really? What's up though?" His response was, "Just wanted to make sure you were good. You must have been fucking pissed to straight out disobey Billy like that, kid!" Grinning, Lyric pulled up in a space at school and waved her brothers out, before backing out and heading toward the Projects. With a slight hint of pride, Lyric told Jamie, "I didn't want to walk nine floors just because you guys are so damn rude. Listen, I gotta go. Call you later, Jamie." She didn't wait for her fellow gang member's response before hanging up and tossing her cell phone in the empty passenger seat. Lyric wasn't dumb; she had remembered that she was still had to meet her boss at the bar to get 'promoted'. The pale girl pulled up in front of Four Roses and behind Billy's car within a half hour, about twenty minutes late. She grabbed her cell phone, got out, locked her car, and then walked into Four Roses as she placed both keys and phone in her jacket pockets. The bar was nearly deserted, except for Billy, who was his usual spot in the usual booth, and Rico the bartender. Billy looked pissed as always and Lyric could only guess her being late and walking out last night just gave more fuel to the fire.

She slid into the seat across from Billy and informed him, "I have fourth period in two hours. Meaning you only get me for about an hour and twenty minutes." He scowled at her and told her venomously, "I get you for however fucking long I need you." Lyric held her tongue and followed him as he got up and walked out of the bar and out to his car. Billy shoved Lyric in the direction of his car when she strayed toward her own Mustang, telling her coolly, "Not on your life. Get in the god damn car, kid." Despite the fact that she hated listening to authority, the gun in the waistband of Billy's jeans stopped her rebellion and she did as she was told, wanting to punch the smirk off of Billy's face. The ride was silent, neither even so much as looking at each other while Billy sped through his streets. Lyric was discreetly holding onto whatever she could, and praying that Billy didn't crash. Finally, he jolted to a stop in front of a shop that Lyric vaguely remembered as Bones' Body shop. The dilapidated sign confirmed her memory and she followed Billy in. He stopped abruptly in front of her, turned, and jammed a heavy stack of green bills into her hand and commanded quietly, "After I give him my night, you give him this and say it was yours." The younger girl didn't get a chance to ask, as Billy gently nudged her into the shop, then walking in front of her and guiding her into the back. A sweaty, over weight man sat at an old desk, writing unknown characters on papers with no meaning or concern to Lyric. She recognized him as Bones and watched cautiously as Billy tensed when the brown haired man looked up at both of them. All three kept a solid, stone hearted face, and Billy was first to toss a canvas back pack onto Bones' desk, making a heavy thud. Bones grabbed it without removing his eyes from either person in front of him, but looked into the bag and pulled out nine or ten thick stacks of bills, each with a money wrapper around it and a name of a gang member scrawled across it.

Bones took his time of slowly thumbing through the cash, taking at least ten minutes to make it through four of them. Finally he looked back up at Lyric directly, and she chucked it angrily at him, watching as he caught it in surprise, glaring at her as the inch thick stack smacked loudly against his pudgy hands. Billy flicked his eyes over to her and saw the agitated expression on her pretty face, and Bones counted through her money, then finally spoke, "And who the fuck are you? Obviously you do better than most of Billy's mother fucking friends." Lyric shrugged and stayed silent, glancing at the clock and realizing she had five minutes to get back to her car. Billy told his dad dully, "New collector." She crossed her arms over her chest and shifted on her feet impatiently, glaring squarely at Bones Darley. Bones gave a grunt then told them both, "Yes, you may get the hell out of my sight." He went back to working and Billy shoved Lyric in the direction they had come. Catching herself, she growled at Billy, "Don't fucking touch me." Bones' eyes came up from his papers to see the new girl shove Billy, making his son take a step back. Billy seethed at her, "Don't fucking tell me what to do!" With that, his fist clamped around her hair and he yanked her outside and threw her towards his car, yelling at her, "Get in!" Lyric defied, "No! I'm not some lackey you can order and throw around! I do whatever the fuck I want!" With that, Lyric sprinted in the direction of the bar, thankful that it was a straight shot with only a turn. Billy didn't follow her and she got back to her car in one piece.

Sitting at a light a few minutes away from the bar, Lyric saw she had a text from an unknown number, her mother, and Lucas. Her mother had texted: Come to my office when you get to school. –Mom. Lucas had texted her: Brendan told mom something. She looked mad. Hide anything in car she plans on searching it and I think locker too–Luke. Lyric let out an infuriated sigh, and then looked at her last new message: It's Maddie. Got number out of Spink. Lyric smiled slightly at Maddie's message and saved the number, then deleted her mother and brothers messages. The light turned green, and Lyric hit the gas, but leant over and clicked open her glove compartment, slipping her gun out and setting it in her lap, then feeling around on the side of her seat and opening a flap of cloth, slipping the gun inside before sealing it back up, as if it had never even existed in the first place. As she pulled into her space, she saw her mother standing at the top of the stairs leading to the school with two security guards who began walking toward her car. Taking a deep breath, she got out, taking her backpack out of the back seat, and got out. Locking her car as if she was totally oblivious to the security guards heading specifically for her, she walked into them and they stopped her, one asking her politely, "Miss Hume, would you please unlock your car?" She frowned but nodded, walking back over to it and twisting the key to unlock her Mustang. Both guards did a quick search and neither found anything, same went with her trunk. They thanked her and she relocked her car before walking up to the stairs to her mom and questioned, "What was that about?" Helen Hume guided her daughter inside, and Lyric resisted the urge to pull away and scream not to touch her like she had to Billy. The mother and daughter sat in her office and finally Helen asked her daughter, "Why would Brendan think you would have a gun in your car? And that you were 'dealing' to earn money?" Lyric's jaw dropped and she asked back loudly, "Excuse me what?" Mrs. Hume rubbed her temples and explained, "Brendan came to me this morning and said that you had a gun in your car and that you were dealing methamphetamines to earn money. Is he right?" Lyric laughed and choked out, "Oh my gosh, you believed him?" Her mother stayed serious as Lyric calmed down and told her mother somberly, "I picked Brendan up last night and he seemed really jittery and off last night. He was down on Market and Banks, babbling about having to pay someone, so I told him I would go do it. And I did. He was paying Heco Ramirez, Mom. Heco's one of the biggest dealers this side of the Atlantic. Brendan has been buying from him for three years, and he has a debt the size of China." Her mother was frozen and told her unsteadily, "Lyric Rose Hume, there is no reason to protect yourself by lying about your brother."

She huffed and shot, "I wouldn't. Drug dealers are pretty honest when they are talking about loyal customers and high. Anyway, I told you what I know, and whether you choose to believe it or not is your choice not mine. Can I go to Art now?" Her mother rested her head heavily in her hands and gave her only daughter a faint 'sure'. Lyric hurried out and slowed her pace as she reached the empty halls of St. Bartholomew's Catholic Academy. She pulled her phone out and texted her younger brother: Meet you by my locker thanks for warning too. As she found her locker and lent on it, she thought about Billy. He had done her a huge favor, giving her the money to give to Bones to prove her worth. And he had let her in without making her kill. Not to mention on the way to the tattoo shop, he had been almost human to her. She smiled faintly at the memory, but heard footsteps and looked to see her younger brother walking over to her. Lyric hugged him as he approached and murmured, "Thanks for earlier." Lucas shrugged and replied calmly, "No worries. But what did he tell Mom?" Lyric opened her locker and tossed her backpack in it, the shut it and started walking for Art class. Luke followed, considering they had it together, and Lyric told him, "That I had a gun in my car and that I was dealing meth." Lucas prodded, "Was that a lie?" Lyric shrugged and answered truthfully, "Gun, no. I hid it though, which is why I thank you for warning me. Dealing is a lie through. I'm just a debt collector to pay off his debts with his own dealers." Lucas stopped momentarily, then caught up and asked, "Brendan does drugs?" She nodded and said, "He's been an ice head for a good three years or so now." Lucas didn't say anything for a few moments, and then asked randomly, "Why do you always wear that wrist band? I've never seen you without it for the past year. What's up with it?" She smiled and gave a half laugh, tugging it up to reveal the black and red stars and explained, "Twenty nine stars banded around my wrist. Got them on my seventeenth birthday." Slipping down her jacket, her brother saw the black Darley mark and she told him seriously, "This one is Brendan's fault. I had to join the gang he owes. And this is their sign. Got it last night and it hurts like a bitch."

She hiked the jacket back up and Lucas commented, "At least it isn't something stupid like a snake." Lyric laughed and hugged her brother from the side, telling him, "I love you Luke." He smirked happily and replied, "Yeah, I know." They got into Art and the discussion ceased between the siblings. Lucas went back to working on a painting, and Lyric found her charcoal sketch she was working on of her family. Thirty minutes into the class, Lucas walked over and looked at it then asked, "Can I have that?" The senior looked up at her junior brother and nodded, finished some shadowing, then separated it from the rest of the pad carefully, and told him, "Hairspray it lightly and it's all yours, little brother." He smiled and did as he was told, grabbing a can of hair product and leaving to spray it outside. Lyric smiled and began letting her mind wander as she began sketching something. When Luke walked back in, Lyric smiled up at him, and looked down at her paper, shocked to see she had sketched the Darley gang sitting in their booth at the Four Roses bar. Lucas walked back over and sat next to her, questioning, "Who are they?" Lyric shrugged slightly and muttered, "My gang." Luke rested his head on her shoulder and asked her quietly, "Are you scared? When you go out and do whatever it is that you do." She gave a half smile, both siblings' eyes still at the photographic looking charcoal sketch and told him, "You know, not really. I like it, kind of. People know I'm part of the Darley gang, and they are scared of me. Plus I'm a pretty good shot, and I didn't even know it." Luke laughed a little and said, "You know, I'll always worry about you. But I'll always have your back." She leant her head gently on hers and whispered, "Yeah, I know." Moving his head, Luke propped himself on his elbows and sighed, "How do you put up with Brendan?" Lyric removed the sketch and began another, and told her brother, "Very carefully. Just ignore him and remind yourself he is usually high or coming off of one." He nodded and leant back in his chair asking another question, "Why are you working off his debt?" She laughed and shot back, "Why all the questions?" His chair's front legs hit the floor once more and he told her, "I don't know." Lucas looked over again and saw she was sketching the backs of two people, one a guy, one a girl, standing in front of a desk that a chubby looking guy sat behind.

"Who's that?" Lyric looked up at her brother and said, "Just a business deal." Luke nodded, understanding that his sister didn't want to talk about it. So he dropped it and went back to working on his painting. Lyric continued to sketch scenes of 'business deals' and scenes from Four Roses. She looked up at the clock and saw she had five minutes to pick out two pictures to turn in as her days work. Picking a portrait of Billy, and the scene at Four Roses, then walked up to Mrs. Retinnie and handed them to him and said, "Uh, here. This is what I worked on." The elderly woman picked them up gingerly and studied them, then asked her prized student, "Who are they? That's the only way you'll get you're A, Miss Hume." She laughed and simply said, "Friends. Very good friends."