Ricky

Getting Drake

         “Hey, Ricky, you okay, dog? You got quiet really quick,” Viper explained, pulling Ricky back into reality.
         “Yeah, I just remembered something and it’s bugging me because it doesn’t fit it. Do you know any of Deuce’s business people? I mean, the people he does business with,” Ricky explained when Viper shot him a confused look.
         “I know a couple of their names, but I’m not actually in his business, you know what I mean?” Viper responded. Ricky nodded, then he went back to zoning out, thinking.
         “Do you know if he knows anybody married, with a stepson?” Ricky asked, not quite sure if his questions would get back to Drake and even more unsure if he wanted Deuce to know. Viper glanced over at Ricky, trying to read him, but Ricky had cleared his eyes of emotion.
         “Yeah, there’s one. I think they call him Bobby, bit I’m not totally sure if that’s the same one. My memory is horrible, but I guess that’s good in a gang where you’re not supposed to tell most stuff you hear,” Viper added, still trying to read Ricky while navigating traffic. This time, though, Ricky wasn’t controlling his visible emotions, so Viper could see that Ricky noticed the similarity in names. When Viper saw that Ricky had realized something, Viper thought over what he had said.
         “Wait, aren’t we going to see Rob? Rob, Bobby. Wow, I’m glad you asked. That changes how we have to do this,” Viper told Ricky, pulling off to the shoulder of the road. Ricky looked around and saw houses and a giant, neon star above a building that looked deserted. They must be on the right street, then, Ricky reasoned.
         “Okay, Viper, what does Bobby specialize in?” Ricky asked, even though he knew Viper was about to tell him anyways. Viper simply sighed, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, obviously thinking.
         “Bobby’s specialty just so happens to be what we’re doing. Framing people. He’s never been caught and everyone he works against either goes to jail or gets killed by a local gang. He’s not a guy you’d want to cross,” Viper added. At that, Ricky closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair, his mind racing. The truck was silent, except the rumbling of the engine. Ricky opened his eyes and began the questions.
         “How did Deuce know that Rob and Bobby are one and the same? I mean, I know he’s seen Drake, Deuce is the one that told Drake about Rebel. That was before Rob found Drake, though. None of this is making sense!” Ricky exploded, not so much angry as just frustrated at the whole situation. There wasn’t much Viper could say to help Ricky, but he managed to give one piece of information that did help.
         “Bobby came around a while ago and asked Deuce to put out a hit, only because Deuce has more contacts and word would get around faster. They went into the office, so that’s just about all we heard. Later, though, Deuce told his best soldiers about the hit. He said it was on a missing kid probably in the area. If the kid was found alive, Deuce said that it’d ruin Bobby’s business. Bobby didn’t want the boy found alive,” Viper ended, clearing up a few things.
         “Okay, Rob wanted Drake dead. That didn’t happen, so, what? Would Rob kill Drake himself and pin it on somebody else?” Ricky wondered. As he said it, he realized what that meant. He glanced at Viper urgently and saw that Viper was trying to be calm.
         “Yeah, he would. Meaning that we’ve gotta go. Now,” Viper added, even though he was the driver. When traffic was clear, the Ram’s tires spun and squealed back onto the road. Now Ricky’s heart was racing as fast as he’d ever felt it before. That was probably as fast as the human heart could beat. His mind was racing with thoughts of speeding, if they were too late, and what he’d do to Rob once they got there. Relax, he told himself; forget the “What-ifs”. He’d been telling himself that all morning, but it didn’t seem to help much. They were barreling down the street, glancing in driveways, looking for a black car, even though Ricky wasn’t positive. It’d have to do for now. The brakes squealed and the Ram reluctantly stopped, throwing Ricky forward. Viper then threw it into reverse, and they headed back to a house they’d just passed. They flew past it at first, but Ricky managed to see the black Lexus in the driveway quickly. Viper whipped the truck over to the curb and slowly slid it forward until Ricky knew they had to be at the right house. Looking past Viper, Ricky saw the Lexus in the drive and an American flag on the porch flagpole. Ricky remembered that Rob had acted like a soldier with too much anger.
         “You are a good driver, Viper. Sorry I ever doubted you. That’s gotta be where Drake is, but how are we gonna do this?” Ricky questioned, his anxiety creeping into his voice.
         “Thank you and I’m thinking we need to pull Drake out. After that, we’ll figure out the rest. You better get him because if Bobby saw me, he’d know something was going on. Deuce doesn’t send his boys on little errands,” Viper explained. Ricky just nodded, then opened his door and slid out. Once Ricky was out, Viper cut the engine, making the neighborhood strangely quiet. There were no dogs barking, no loud TVs, or even people outside, Ricky observed, glancing around. Once he’d checked out the neighborhood, he quickly strolled around the truck, sliding his hand across the grill. Then he realized that Viper had done almost the same thing and Ricky smiled as he crossed the empty street. He clasped his hands together nervously, hoping that Rob wouldn’t be the one to answer the door. Ricky made his way up the walkway to the porch. This time, the cold hit Ricky because he was nervous and more vulnerable. When he reached the bottom of the porch steps, he glanced up at the flag to see it whipping around. He quickly went up the steps and before he over thought it, he knocked on the dark wood door. He heard slow steps coming towards the door. He hoped it wasn’t Rob and when the door opened, he sighed with relief.
         “Hey, Drake mom. Is Drake home?” Ricky asked when he saw Ms. Wright. She smiled gently and ushered him in. He slid into the house and felt the heat replace the bitter cold in his bones. The house looked almost like a mansion inside, with a staircase that split in two, going to opposite sides of the house. The coloring of the walls made the rooms seem large. All the sudden, Ricky heard solid footsteps coming down the steps. Ricky guessed who it was, but he wasn’t sure until he heard the voice that accompanied the footsteps.
         “Who’s there? I’m not expecting anyone,” Rob announced as he came into Ricky’s view. When Ricky saw the man who’d offered a reward to have Drake killed, his fists clenched and he fought to keep the hatred hidden from his eyes. Rob didn’t bother to hide his hatred; it flared into his eyes when he saw Ricky standing by the door.
         “It’s Ricky, darling. Is Drake up there?” Ms. Wright questioned as Rob slowed his pace, still looking straight into Ricky’s eyes. By now, he was almost at the bottom of the stairs.
         “Yeah, he’s up there. I think he locked himself in his room, though,” Rob informed his wife, but he and Ricky still glared at each other.
         “Can’t really say I blame him. I mean, when he’s in his room, you can’t use him as a punching bag, now, can you?” Ricky shot calmly, his anger pulsing in him to be let loose again. Ricky was fighting it, though, not showing Rob how much Ricky despised him. Ms. Wright looked at Ricky sadly, then she headed towards the steps.
         “I’ll go get him. Excuse me for one minute, Ricky,” she told the two. As she left them and began up the stairs, her high heels would hit the linoleum and echoed through the house. Once she was out of sight, Rob stepped closer to Ricky, closer than most people would dare to except for Drake and Blayze. Rob, though, had no right to get in Ricky’s face unless he was testing Ricky’s patience.
         “Young man, I don’t want you here and I don’t want to see you again. I have contacts that could easily make you disappear. Or, ever better, get rid of that overconfident brother of yours. Either way, the world will be better off. Personally, I’d love to see you go down for your brother’s murder. They we’d be rid of both of you pricks and life would be perfect again,” Rob gloated. Ricky’s hatred blazed into his eyes and all Ricky’s concentration was on keeping his cool. He knew that Blayze was right, if Ricky snapped and went off on Rob like his whole being was telling him to, there would be no going back.
         “Actually, life wouldn’t be perfect because Drake will still be here. And from what I’ve heard, you put a hit out on Drake because you didn’t want him coming back. And I’d appreciate it sir, if you’d step back,” Ricky added, saying “sir” with as much sarcasm as humanly possible. A hint of anger slid into Rob’s eyes, but he stepped back and turned slightly away from Ricky, but the next thing Rob said made Ricky snap.
         “No, Drake won’t be here. I can sell him to any gang in the whole city. I bet he’ll be a good slave,” Rob added. The thought of his best friend being sold added on to Ricky’s hatred and the anger locked inside him roared to be let out. This time, though, Ricky didn’t fight it at all. His clenched fist connected with Rob’s jaw and Ricky caught the look of surprise in Rob’s eyes before Rob lost his balance and fell to the ground. A sharp pain ran through Ricky’s finger, so he glanced down and realized he was still wearing Blayze's class ring. He realized that the force of the punch on his ring would probably bruise his finger. While Rob was still on the floor, Ricky slipped the ring off and checked his finger before sliding the ring back on. Rob slowly began to get up, his angry eyes boring a hole into Ricky, obviously ready, willing, and able to fight Ricky. Ricky debated whether to go get Viper, but then he realized that information that’s supposed to be secret could break down any tough man if used correctly.
         “All right, Rob or Bobby, whatever you use here - if you wanna fight, let’s go, but watch what you say. You say anything about killing my brother, I’m gonna go off on you,” Ricky warned, enough anger in his voice to make most kids at the school cringe. Rob, though, was caught on what name Ricky had used.
         “What did you call me? Young man, you had better watch yourself because you are real close to making me mad. You don’t want that,” Rob countered. Ricky, though, knew that he would win a fair fight against this soldier whose rage guided his every move. In a fight, anger clouds you when you should be thinking straight. Ricky knew enough to let his anger propel his fist, but nothing else. The anger was calming down now that Ricky was letting logic take over. That was the first time Ricky had snapped, but only threw one punch. He hoped, for everyone’s sake, it wasn’t his last.
         “I wasn’t quite sure if you went by Rob or Bobby these days. Unless you only go by Bobby for business and all that. That’d make sense. I mean, I doubt your wife would want you out there sending innocent people to jail,” Ricky explained, watching Rob’s reaction. Rob wiped the blood off of his lip, glaring into Ricky’s eyes, obviously curious as to how Ricky knew this. But when he spoke, he took another path.
         “Kid, I honestly have no clue what you’re talking about. You’ve gotta have me mixed up with somebody else. Obviously, it’s this Bobby character you’re thinking of,” Rob told him, but Ricky knew he was right. It made sense that Rob and Bobby were one person. Before Ricky could say anything else, though, he heard Ms. Wright coming back down the steps. When Rob looked over at Ricky, the teen stepped out of Rob’s reach. If Rob was going to do something stupid, Ricky didn’t want Drake’s mom to see. Ricky turned away from Rob and looked up the steps to see Drake walking down the stairs with his mom. They were on opposite sides of the staircase and Drake was walking fast enough to be almost at the bottom.
         “Drake, man, you might want a coat. It’s kinda chilly out there right now,” Ricky told his best friend. At that, Drake went around to the side of the staircase and opened the closet, grabbing his leather jacket out of it. When Drake turned back towards Rob and Ricky, he caught sight of the blood on Rob’s lip. He glanced at Ricky, but Ricky shook his head gently. They both knew that that meant that Ricky would explain it to Drake later. Drake turned to his mom, ignoring Rob as usual. That told Ricky that Drake never considered Rob a part of the family at all, much less an authority.
         “Ma, I’m gonna head out for a little bit. I’ll call if I’m gonna be out late. I doubt it, though,” Drake added as he headed towards Ricky and the door. At that, Ricky reached and opened the door and slipped out, giving a little wave at Ms. Wright before Drake closed the door behind himself. They headed down the porch steps in silence. Ricky glanced across the street at the black truck. He saw that Viper was on his phone and he figured Viper hadn’t seen them yet. All the sudden, Drake stopped and turned to Ricky, looking confused.