"Yo, nerds. You guys gonna visit me or what?"
"Wait, what? We can do that?" Poot turned to look at Frank, "Can we do that? Let's do that."
"Absolutely. There's a bunch of guys down here that run bike nights. For cash. There's one next Thursday. You wimps game?"
"Wow, wow, wow, how mucho dinero?" The boys' faces barely fit in the FaceTime screen, but their excited looks were obvious.
"A grand buy-in; winner takes it, minus a cut for the guys who run it."
"Well, hell yeah."
"Sweet. So, how's everything? I miss anything?"
"Nah, nothing new. What about you, Cracker?" Frank just about got his question out before Poot grabbed the phone, filling Haley's screen with his ecstatic face. "Yeah, dude. What's it like being a sorority girl?"
"Shut up, I am not a sorority girl." Haley rolled her eyes.
"Didn't you say you lived in a big Victorian house, on campus, with a tonne of other girls?"
"Yeah, but—"
"I don't know, that kinda sounds like a sorority."
Haley scoffed. "It is not a sorority. I'm just on, you know, a programme for athletes. We all live here so we, uh, you know, keep our head in the game. We train together. Study together. But there's no, you know, Greek behaviour."
"Whatever, dude, it's a sorority. Meet anybody yet?"
"What? No. Why?"
"Forgive us," Poot laughed, "for wanting our little Hales to meet a nice girl and settle down."
"Like you and Joanne?"
"Totally. Or like Frank and Mina."
"Get out, no way!"
"Whatever, we went on like, three dates." Frank's blush was obvious, even on the small screen.
"They're totally in love." Poot turned to Frank. "You're totally in love."
Haley almost didn't hear the polite tap on her door over the sound of the boys arguing. They were too preoccupied to notice her quickly tell them, "one sec' guys", before she threw her phone on to her bed, rolled over and shouted for Amy to come in. A look of confusion crossed Amy's face as she tried to find the source of the babbling that filled the room.
"FaceTime with Frank and Poot. They're having a lover's tiff." Haley had a smile for Frank and Poot, it split her face and reached her dark brown eyes. Amy allowed herself a brief second to take in the smile before she snapped herself back to attention.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't realise you were busy. I can come back?" She started to retreat out the open door.
"No, no, it's totally fine. I was just about to say goodbye."
"What? Goodbye?" Frank sounded disappointed.
"Who's that?" Poot pushed Frank's face off screen again.
"It's Amy. I gotta go. I'll see you guys Thursday."
"Amy? The cute one you've been spending all your time with?"
"Bye, Poot. Bye Frank."
"We love you, Cracker. Bye-yuh."
Haley hung up and threw her phone back down, then looked up at Amy, who was sporting a blush high up on her cheeks.
"They're idiots, but they're my idiots," Haley sighed, "they love to embarrass me."
Amy smiled bashfully, and nodded quickly.
Haley stood up and pulled her grey hoodie on, pretending not to notice Amy's evident embarrassment. "Ready to run?"
"Absolutely."
Lucy leaned back on the hood of the Caddy. Her eyes scanned the crowd, noting that there weren't too many new faces this week. That was good. It meant no one was mouthing off about these nights. The same people turned up, the same people competed, the same kind of deals went down. It made it easy to keep a handle on things.
"How many?" she asked Scud, who walked towards her with a wad of money in his hand.
"Eighteen so far. There's some kids here I don't recognise, they're on bikes, too, but they haven't bought in yet. I'm guessing middle-class kids from the city. Feeling badass with their B&Es." Scud wiggled his eyebrows at his best friend. Lucy returned his smile, "we all gotta start somewhere. Where are these little ruffians?"
"Over by the Camaro."
Lucy craned her neck until she spotted three kids sitting on bikes which had seen better days. She wondered idly how they could afford the $1000 buy-in but rode such beat-up bikes. She watched them for a while, always curious of newcomers. The brunette was the young looking, his floppy fringe almost covering his right eye. The taller blonde beside him was engrossed in telling his friends a story. Lucy thought he looked older than the small one, but their chemistry was clear, even from where she sat. Scud was right, they looked like they sold dime bags of weed to their friends for spare cash. The third in the group intrigued her. He sat in a heavy hoodie, much too big for the balmy autumn night. His arms were braced on his handlebars, chin resting on top of them. His energy was much more subdued than his friends and, unlike his two friends, he didn't have a cup of beer clutched in his hands. That made Lucy think he might be serious about the competition.
"Let's go introduce ourselves, then. I like to know all the kids at my party."
Lucy adopted her criminal-mastermind-strut and strode over to the trio, Scud strolling behind her. As they got closer, the brunette noticed Lucy heading their way. He stopped talking, slapped the blonde on the chest and announced something to the group. The blonde's eyes shot up and dragged down Lucy's body. Both of the boys visibly gulped. The hooded one didn't move. Both of those things made Lucy smile what Scud called her "wolf smile"—he told her it made her look like she was about to devour whatever poor, innocent lamb lay in front of her. She reached the group and the two nickel-and-dime dealers stared at her intently. She saw Hoodie's head tweak slightly towards her.
"Gentlemen. You're new here. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Lucy Diamond." She held out her hand.
The blonde and the brunette shared a look, before the smaller one reached out and took her hand. "Yeah, yeah, we know. I'm Poot, this is Frank," Frank took the proffered hand and shook it hard, "and that's Cracker," he nodded his head at Hoodie. He held out his hand to meet Lucy's, who noted that they looked delicate but were calloused and rough; the handshake was tentative.
"This is my associate, Scud."
"Associate, best friend, life-coach, duet partner, whatever." There was a teasing tone in Scud's voice that Lucy only tolerated from him. No one else could—or would, for that matter—talk to the infamous Lucy Diamond like that.
"Are you kids thinking about entering tonight, or are you here as passive patrons?"
"Nah, we wanna enter." Frank nodded enthusiastically, "we've got the cash right here." He pulled an envelope from his back pocket and placed it in Scud's upturned hand. As Scud counted beside her, Lucy turned on her heel and faced her whole body at Hoodie—they had called him Cracker—and placed her hand on her popped hip.
"So, Cracker..." her voice dripped with false sweetness, "as you can probably understand, I'm a little weary of people hanging around my parties without showing their faces. Plus, the responsible event-runner in me feels the need to point out that it's probably not safe to ride with that big hood obscuring your vision. Mind taking it down?" A smirk passed between her and Scud.
"Whatever, dude. I ride wearing my hood all the time," the voice that came out surprised Lucy. It was higher, smoother than she expected, "but fine. Your casa, your rules." Two long-fingered hands came up to grip the edges of the hood, pulling it backwards. "And my name is Haley."
Lucy nearly betrayed herself, almost gasping at the person in front of her: it definitely wasn't a guy. The young woman, who was shaking out her long brown hair, had a skeptical look on her face but there was an air of teasing behind it. Her strong jaw was pushed forward, a ghost of a smile was stretching her lips, and her brown eyes stayed on Lucy's, a silent dare shooting between. Haley saying, call me out on my obvious defiance; Lucy saying, taunt me again. Lucy stayed that way for a beat before smiling, "Haley." The name rolled off her tongue. A stunning girl, who could ride and wasn't scared to stand up to her? Lucy felt like a black widow that had just spotted a particularly plump fly circling her web.
"You'll be the only girl riding tonight. Some of these guys are serious chain-heads. They don't suffer posers well."
Haley grinned up at Lucy, looking more spider than fly. "I can handle myself."
"I bet you can." Lucy's eyes raked over Haley once, then twice.
"I hate to interrupt this episode of 'Barely Concealed Sexual Tension', but we've gotta get started. Guys, no beers on the deck. Newbs ride first, so you better get up there." Scud nodded toward the half-pipe and bowl where other riders were warming up. Frank and Poot downed the end of their beers and after an unsuccessful search for a trash bag, threw the plastic cups on the ground. They turned and started toward the bowl, wheeling their bikes at their sides. Haley held Lucy's stare for a beat longer before raising a perfectly-shaped eyebrow and slowly cycling off. Lucy smiled after her.
Haley wasn't kidding around. She pulled hard tricks, a huge smile on her face as the other contestants cheered, and booed, at her aerial. She landed nicely on the edge of the pool and searched out Lucy's eyes: she quirked her head to the side, screaming told you. Her friends weren't as good, Frank's set was boring, Poot bit it trying to pull an aerial like Haley's. The other riders, the usuals, brought nothing new. One or two tried bigger, harder tricks than they normally would, obviously trying to compete with Haley's set. During the last rider, Lucy made her way over of the pick-up truck beside the bowl. Her usual judges were sitting on the flat-bed, holding cups of beer and talking animatedly.
"Boys." All of the judges stopped talking, turned and looked reverently at their boss. A few nodded. Dom mumbled, "Lucy."
"What do we think?" Lucy laid her arm on the edge of the truck and leaned on her hand.
"Gray and his boys will be pissed, but that chick blew everyone away. You may have a riot on your hands, that okay with you, Jefa?"
"I'm sure the kiddies will throw a tantrum. I'll announce it. They won't fight too hard."
The guys nodded at her. Dom stood up. The last rider had finished and stood with a group of other guys, smile emblazoned on his face. Dom brought his huge bear-hands together, slowly clapping. All the riders looked up. Lucy noted how cocky the last rider looked. She couldn't wait to watch that expression crumble. Dom's voice boomed over the silent court. "We got a special treat tonight, germs. The Queen Supreme has not only helped us choose, but she wants to give the result herself."
Lucy adopted her stone-cold expression, watching some of the riders squirm as they waiting for her to speak. "Gentlemen," she smirked, "every time you guys show up you bring something new. You!" she pointed a long finger at the last rider, "what's your name?"
"Lars!" he shouted back, his "possé" hooting behind him and slapping him on the back.
"Lars, this is what? Your third time here?" Lars nodded. "And you broke out some new tricks." The kid looked like a fat cat in front of a bowl of cream. "Yet, you were trashed," Lucy looked at her judges, "it would be right to say trashed, right?" They nodded, snarky smiles crossing each of their faces. When Lucy settled her eyes back on Lars, his expression was more confused than disappointed. "Not only by a newb," his face looked like it was caving in on itself, his whole body shrinking, "but by the first girl to ride one of my nights since the last time I rode." The whole crowd turned to Haley, who was sitting on the ground, leaning against her bike's frame. Haley looked up, her face neutral. After a few seconds of silence, both Frank and Poot turned to their friend, clapping and whooping. "Alright, Cracker!" Poot howled as a few other spectators clapped slowly. Haley smiled, a huge 100-megawatt smile that creased the skin around her eyes. She met Lucy's eye and Lucy shrugged, as if to say You showed me. She was almost too caught in up looking at the shine in Haley's eyes to notice the pinkness that crept up her cheeks—almost.
Poot was just sliding the van door closed when Haley started counting the bundle of cash Scud had handed her when the melee eventually died down.
"Twelve Gs. Not bad for a night's work, huh Cracker?"
Haley smiled up at her two friends in the front seat. She counted two piles of $3000 and handed them both to Poot, who put one carefully in the back pocket of his backpack and the other in Frank's glove-box. Haley re-counted the six thousand on her lap. "Yeah, I did alright." She couldn't pull the smile off her face, even as she fell back against the seat, sighed, and closed her eyes.
She had done some recon. She knew Lucy was pocketing some of the money from the event, although that was hardly nefarious. They had seen a lot of people dealing—Haley guessed they were paying Lucy a stipend to deal at the event; it made sense: perfect market and, from what they heard through the grapevine, a police no-go zone, their very own Hamsterdam. Plus, she got to ride, beat a bunch of entitled chain-heads who got butthurt when they were beaten by a girl, and she made her and the boys some decent bank.
"Dude, can you believe Lucy Diamond, the international bank-robber, is into our Hale?" Frank aimed his question at Poot but his eyes were trained on the now-confused gymnast in the back. Her eyes opened slowly, her mouth turning down.
"What? What are you talking about? She is not."
"Oh, come on Graham. You can't be that oblivious. She totally eye-fucked you, then watched you like, the whole night."
"You, my boy, are crazy," Haley sighed and closed her eyes again. If the dorky smile on her face gave away that she was excited by the thought, the boys said nothing.
If this is what being a D.E.B. was like, she could definitely be okay with that.
Haley reclined her car seat a little and pulled her phone out her pocket. There were some videos of the boys at their new spot online that she had been meaning to watch. She'd followed Lucy and Scud all day and she was starting to get really bored. They didn't seem to be up to anything out of the ordinary: they went to a coffee shop, a hardware store, a diner at lunchtime, a Bed, Bath and Beyond—Haley definitely didn't hide behind a curtain display and watch as Lucy giggled and wrapped towels around Scud's head, singing the Sister Act version of Oh Happy Day; she absolutely didn't laugh so much she had to leave the store for fear of them noticing her—and then to a small cafe. Guessing the cafe wouldn't be big enough for her to go unnoticed, she waited for them to come back to the car.
She was three minutes into a video of Poot riding a bowl while screaming Fat Lip when someone rapped on her window. If she was initially startled by the knock, it was nothing compared to the panic she felt when she realised that it was Lucy Diamond leaning on her roof and smirking down at her over her aviators.
Haley fought to keep her panic hidden, trying to remember everything she had been taught about tailing and what to do if you got made. She was so busy trying to act cool, she forgot to actually be cool. She shook her head lightly, smiled and rolled down the window. Act charming, play possum, do not give in unless you have no choice.
"Hey." Lucy's smile made Haley's stomach flip; it made her feel part-precious gem, part-prey.
"Uh, hi. W-What's up?" Lucy pulled off her aviators and braced her forearms above the window, leaning slightly in to Haley's personal space.
"You know, the usual. Upholding a criminal empire, nursing a blueberry scone-food baby." When Haley nodded and flashed a tight smile in response, Lucy continued, "I just saw you out here when I was coming out the door, and I thought I'd come over and congratulate you in person, since I didn't get a chance on Thursday."
"Oh, right. Thanks, I had fun."
"Don't thank me, you got paid."
Haley laughed softly, "Yeah. Well, not all of those comps are too friendly to newcomers, a lot of organisers don't wanna take the risk. Thanks for, you know, not running us out of there with your torches raised."
Lucy nodded, her head tilted to the side. "What're you doing, sitting out here in a car park, all alone?"
"I, uh, I was driving and my cell rang," she nervously carded her fingers through her fringe, "better safe than sorry and all that stuff, so I pulled in."
"Were you on your way somewhere?" Lucy bent down more and her head dipped further into the car.
"Uh, no, I was just on my way home. I just went to go treat myself to some new training gear and a pizza with my winnings. I wasn't able to find a decent pizza place though."
"I know a great place, but it's kind of off the beaten track. You wanna go grab a slice?"
Haley pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and chewed on it. This would be a prime opportunity to learn more about what Lucy is up to at the moment, she mused, but the assignment is to observe from afar.
"It's not a trick question; I just want to buy you a slice of pizza." Haley would pretend it was a professional decision, and it was not the earnest look on Lucy's face that broke her resolve. She was used to lying to herself.
"Sure."
"Great," Lucy smiled again, this time more predatory, "I'm just with Scud. I'll just go tell him to take the car home. We can walk to the place from here."
Haley nodded. She was fighting to keep her excitement from breaking in waves over her calm exterior. She watched Lucy pull away from the car and strut across the car park to her big, aqua Caddy. She saw that Scud was laughing at something, and she suddenly felt embarrassed and stupid. Lucy's probably doing this so she could get me alone and threaten me into never coming to a bike night again, Haley thought, nobody wants a newb to come in a take a pot like that. She drew in a few deep breaths in an attempt at calming, and cooling, herself down. She watched Scud throw his hands in the air in resignation, then Lucy turned on her heel and tossed a triumphant look over her shoulder. She strutted back over to Haley's black Del Rio and came to a stop just at the hood. Haley took one more deep breath, rolled up the window, and slid out of car.
Scud would love to say he was surprised by his best friend's choice to talk to the biker-girl sitting all lonely and sad in her beat-up little car. He wasn't. The last time Lucy had been single, he had to practically force her to meet women. Post-Amy, Lucy devoured young girls at record pace. Haley was the antithesis of the rest of these girls: defiant where they were submissive; daring where they played it safe; dark and natural where they were usually blonde, with delicate features and text-book "pretty girl" make up. But he knew she was very like Amy, in ways. He was surprised Lucy hadn't realised it. Half-sitting on the hood of Lucy's car, he looked around him. He wasn't thrilled by the idea of watching the fearless, hardened criminal he knew and loved make doe-eyes at this girl. He looked back in their direction as Lucy sauntered back to him.
"Did you enjoy that?" he smirked.
"I'm taking her for pizza. You can drive the car home, but the usual rules apply: you so much as get a ding on it, I'll have Caesar break all of your fingers."
Scud huffed a laugh, but didn't move. "Are you serious right now? Diamond, you're tragic."
"What does that mean?" Lucy crossed her arms.
"You have a type." He laughed properly, taking in her confused-cum-judgemental expression. He flung his arm in the direction of her car and laughed out, "She's a fucking D.E.B., Luce."
"What? No. No way. She's too, you know, unpolished." She meant it to come out as a statement, but it sounded more like a question. "She can't be a D.E.B." Scud pulled himself together enough to speak, albeit still wearing a devious smirk.
"She's been following us all day. You're her assignment. It's like déjà vu."
"Nah," she squinted as she turned to look at the adorable girl across the car park, "she's nothing like Amy, I can tell. Besides, I'm not planning on getting into something serious. I just want something fun. And she interests me."
"She interests you?" Scud was prepared to launch into a big argument before he remembered who he was talking to, and reminded himself it was pointless. He threw his arms up in defeat, forcing out an exasperated, "fine!"
"Can I go try and crack this puzzle now?"
"Is that a weird euphemism for sex? You know what, I don't wanna know." He slid his Ray-Bans on to his face and caught the keys Lucy threw at his head with a smile. "Have fun ruining someone else's rep at the Academy."
Scud kept laughing as he pulled out of the lot. He had made her in about three seconds flat. And Janet said she the new girl was a model recruit, he thought. They are obviously dropping their standards.