Chapter 25: Chapter 25

Though the day is bright and the rapturous sky is an electric blue.

The intensity of summer wanes as the season prepares to shift power to another. An autumnal breeze winnows through the stands, people filing the rows with snacks and banners in hand.

Aries is parked at the back parking lot of Braidwood High, closer to the field, leaning against the flank of his car.

Jax hops out of the black G-Wagon, leaving three other men inside. He approaches with a leisureliness that would’ve goaded Aries’s anger if it were anyone else.

“You’re a bad tail. I saw you the moment I hit the road.”

“Good.” Jax crosses his arms, raising his chin at him. “I wanted you to know I was followin’ you.

“We did a hit on the Gokudō, you can be sure as shit there’s going to be a retaliation. We should be preparing counter-defenses, instead you at some school? Why?”

Aries straightens up, oozing blatant apathy.

“I sent Rogers to grease the dock managers who are responsible for overseeing all operations at the shipping terminal. So when our cargo gets in, it won’t get searched.

“I have moles placed at the BPD to warn us if anyone starts sniffin’ too close.

“And what I do and where I go is my business.”

Jax nods rigidly, suffocating on his protests. He redirects.

“Found a lead on the Gokudō’s supply chain here. If we disrupt that and take ’em out, we can force their hand to find a new supplier, push them out of our territory.”

Aries thumps his chest. “Do that, chase it down instead of followin’ me.”

“I already sent Daniel to do it.” Jax twists to the side, gesturing to the G-Wagon dramatically. “I took the liberty of selecting a small team to watch over you, in case the Gokudō think of aiming for the king.”

Aries gives him a lazy smirk. “Then they better not miss.”

He turns to walk away, but Jax grabs his arm. Aries wrenches his arm back and wheels on him hotly, going up to his face like a raving wolf ready to attack. Jax drops his gaze to the ground, bowing his head slightly.

“I made a vow to Haru that I’d protect you like you were my own,” Jax says, words verging on caution. His gaze lifts to meet with eyes like black fire.

“I served him as his right hand, knowing full well I was going to do the same for you.

“And I’m sorry, big boss, like it or not, we’re not leaving. The other boys even wanted me to double your guard, so you’re lucky it’s just us four.”

The wrathful knot in Aries’s chest comes undone, shoulders slumping into an eased state.

“Fine,” he consents. “As long as you keep out of sight, we shouldn’t have a problem.”

Jax gives him a mock salute. “Yes, sir.”

Aries pushes him playfully and whirls back around, making his way to the stands.

When he arrives, he travels the base, looking up at the ascending tiers, searching for an open spot. And he finds Mia, sitting on the west side bench with the most unwelcoming frown on her face.

Aries climbs the staircase on the west flank and goes to her.

“That seat open?”

“No,” she says, with her gaze fixed ahead of her.

Aries comes closer, and she breaks her absent stare. Her gaze darts to him, then her eyes widen.

“Aries?”

He shuffles past her knees and plops down right beside her, wearing a form-fitting, long-sleeved black top that contours his body, flaunting every bulge of muscle.

He glances at her. Both of them are sporting all-black, she in a graphic tee and baggy pants with limited edition Nikes.

“You actually came?”

“Ye,” he says, looking at the vacant field. “Opal sent me the details, then went ghost.”

“Ah,” she says knowingly. “She’s still mad at you, huh?”

“I did nothing wrong.”

“Right, because deserting her and leaving with the men in black is not at all upsetting. Can’t she just get that you had more important things to do than be at some school dance?”

Voice drenched in sarcasm, she adds, “Jeez, woman, am I right?”

Aries chucks her a jaded look.

“Oh, and let me guess. You didn’t even give her an explanation as to why you left.”

“I didn’t owe her one,” he says, irritation budding in his voice. “I told her before that I wasn’t able to stay long. She has no reason to be upset with me.”

Mia shrugs flippantly. “Okay, then just apologize.”

“For what?” he snaps, throwing up an exasperated hand. “She has no right to be mad at me.”

She lets out a long, bored groan. “When will the male species learn?” She drops her elbow on her thigh, resting the side of her face on her palm to look up at him.

“The woman will never be in the wrong. The sooner you accept that, the easier things will be.”

“Hey.”

Mia’s head snaps behind her.

Opal descends from the rear, dressed in a beige, pleated miniskirt with a white crop top and sneakers. She slides in next to Mia and greets her by draping her arm over her shoulders in a hug.

Mia responds reluctantly, raising her hands to hold onto her arm. Aries shakes his head with a dry smile, both of them seeing the petty ploy in what she’s doing.

“You’re already here so early, like a dutiful wag.”

Mia’s face knots in confusion. “Wag?”

“Yeah,” she says with a ‘duh,’ in her voice. “You know, like the TV show? It stands for wives and girlfriends of athletes.”

A humored breath bursts from her lips.

“I am neither, but”—Mia grabs Aries’s brawny shoulders and gives them a good shake— “look who’s here.”

Aries says nothing. And neither does Opal.

“~Wow~…okay.”

Not long after, the Braidwood boys are ushered out onto the field. And it takes some time before Northfield’s team arrives with their throng of supporters and cheerleaders.

Each team clusters together for one last round of pep-talk before the game commences.

“Who’s the other team?” Aries asks.

“Northfield,” Mia answers. “The one thing they have in common with Rymer High is that they’re both bullies on the field.”

The players disperse across the field, taking their positions, rousing a buzz from the crowd.

The trinity on the stands focuses their attention on Akin, the only dark-skinned player, so his movements will be easy to track when the game is afoot.

The ref blows the whistle, and it begins.

The ball is moved from defense to attack with long, lofted passes often bypassing the midfield altogether. The long-ball strategy is most effective since the Braidwood team has an abundance of tall and physically strong strikers.

Braidwood has lost a handful of matches to Northfield. They are worthy opponents, but Braidwood has also triumphed many times. The odds are shared between them equally.

Northfield utilizes the strategy of possession, designed to give a team greater control of the game. A short passing system is used, often combined with a slow tempo to deny the opposition possession of the ball.

This technique is a highly technical strategy, requiring proficient skill and good team awareness on the field. But their heavy reliance on this strategy makes them predictable.

Brett executes a flawless fake, pretending he’s going one way only to dart to the other, spurring a cheer from the crowd.

Brett streaks through the field, leaving adversaries stumbling in his wake, but an inescapable barrier is inbound.

Alister is free and clear but he makes the risky choice of shooting it over to Akin instead, who chests the ball to the ground, swiping it away from an ambitious defender.

He goes for the kill, heading for the goalie post, but another opponent steals it between his feet, his arrogance ensuring his fall.

Ethan reclaims it, dribbling down the field in one direction, making a quick turn in another direction to evade the defender running along with him at full speed.

Akin runs parallel to him, ready for the transfer.

Ethan kicks the ball to Akin, who thrusts it into the net with seamless proficiency.

Braidwood supporters blast to their feet with a thunderous roar, along with Mia and Opal, who whoop an excited cheer. Aries is the only one still seated, but a seed of pride is sprouting in his chest.

When halftime comes, the teams scatter to the sidelines.

Close to the stands, Akin notices two black-clothed individuals. He’s surprised to see Opal with Mia. But he’s even more astounded to see Aries on her other flank.

Akin jogs up to the coach to make a request which he grants. He then makes his way back to the railing. A ripple of support sweeps up from the spectators occupying the front lines. Akin sends back waves and smiles.

He points over to the three of them.

“Come on down!”

“Why?” Mia shouts back.

“Front row seats.”

The three of them make the migration down, and they open the side gate for them to pass through. And Akin leads them to the open bench that is situated not far from Coach Damion.

“Man, I didn’t think you’d actually show.”

“They didn’t do you justice, boy, you on that Ronaldo-type level.”

Akin frees a disbelieving guffaw. “Maybe one day.”

His gaze drifts to Mia and she offers him a smile, and he shoots her a wink back. “And you,” he says, turning his attention to Opal. “It’s good to see you’re here for me this time.”

“I always was,” she says, smiling coyly. “I was just using Dana’s sister as an excuse.”

Akin grins and Opal goes in for a hug. He responds with one strong arm wrapped around her.

Aries looks away, his jaw clamped, including Mia in his look, to which she replies with a rueful expression and subtle but helpless shrug.

Akin pulls away and excuses himself before he makes his way back on the field.

When they move to sit on the bench, Mia makes sure she’s in the middle.

The last half of the game is in play.

Wide Northfield defenders get forward and attack by advancing up the field and overlapping the wide midfielders, creating depth and width in the attacking play.

Braidwood High just needs one more point to take it home.

Alister steps up in front of an opposing forward, thus stranding the latter in an offside position, a strategy that relies upon good organization.

If one defender fails to advance with the rest of the back line, the opposing attacker may not be caught in an offside position, leading to a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

Brett comes down like a shooting star, only to be knocked off his trajectory, hitting the ground face first, rolling haphazardly until he forces himself to a halt. The crowd bellows their outrage, turning vicious in seconds.

Brett tries to get himself up into a plank position but flops back down, crippled by his pain. Akin rushes to his aid, hoisting him to his feet while Ethan gets confrontational with the player that bull-rushed him.

Ethan shoves him back, but his team rallies around him.

Out of nowhere, Ethan is on the ground.

Akin flashes forward to stop the Northfield player, but his diplomacy is throttled by a jab to the jaw. Brett jumps out of his pain and pounces on him with his full weight.

The red-faced ref runs in blowing his whistle and the coaches from either team sprint to them to break up the brawl.

The referee dishes out yellow cards like candy on Christmas.

The game resumes, acrimony fueling the intensity of the game.

Since time is dwindling and the chance to triumph diminishes with it, Alister’s team implements the close-down defensive strategy—a high-pressure form of defense.

Once Northfield has possession of the ball, the defending players close them down immediately.

This unsettles the opposition, giving Northfield little time to choose their passes, making way for errors which Braidwood happily exploits.

Akin hands the victory to Brett, who scores the winning goal.

The crowd erupts into joyous cheering, hugging each other and screaming.

Once the fervor fades, a sweat-soaked Akin runs up to them and they all stand up. Even Aries.

“Hey, so…”

“Oh, hell no,” Mia says, looking away with a smile, already knowing what he’s going to ask.

“What?” Opal asks cluelessly.

“Brett is throwing a victory party—he hosts one almost every time we win because his parents are basically never home.” Akin vacuums in a couple of deep, tired breaths. “And I was wondering if you guys would like to come?”

“You know that ain’t my scene, star boy.”

Aries shakes his head stiffly. “Nah—”

Brett sneaks up on him and glomps down on Akin, hooking his arm around his neck.

“You in, Ballo?”

“Yeah, I was just inviting my friends. That cool?”

He scans Mia and Opal down and pulls his lips into a downward smile. “For sure.”

He gives Aries a scathing skim and his brows clench. “You can come too—that is, if you don’t have to check in with your parole officer.”

Akin elbows him in the side for that. “C’mon man.”

“It was just a joke, ease up,” Brett says, and withdraws with a serpentine smile.

Akin looks at them apologetically. “This is just my lame excuse to hang out with you guys. I ain’t ashamed to admit it.”

“I’m game,” Opal says with a chirp. “Can I catch a ride with you there?”

“I’m riding with Brett, but there’s more than enough space.”

Mia glances at an annoyed Aries.

“Uh, I’ll go with Aries,” she volunteers, and looks at Akin. “You’ll forward me his pin, yeah?”

“Bet. I guess we’ll see you two there.”

Opal doesn’t even spare Aries a backward glance as she sidles up to Akin’s flank and they walk off together. Aries nods Mia over in the other direction and they saunter to the back lot where he parked.

“Don’t worry, she’ll get over it,” she reassures him.

“Whatever,” he says like he doesn’t care.

They walk through the parking lot together and he fishes out his car keys.

“Whoa, that beast is yours?”

He hands her a curious look, a smirk edging his lips. “What you know about it?”

“The BMW XM,” she says, prancing over to the car, ogling it with stars in her eyes. “And that it has a high-performance twin-turbo inline 6-cylinder petrol engine. Top of the range stuff.”

“It comes as no surprise that you’re into cars.”

Her hand brushes over the custom-design matte black before she opens the passenger door and climbs in, gawking at the gaudier touches and the latest infotainment tech.

Aries starts the car and reverses out. Mia pulls out her phone and checks to see if Akin has sent the location, and he has. She switches to a map app and navigates for Aries while he drives.

Mia looks over at him excitedly. “Can you show me what it can do?”

Aries reaches out for the touchscreen, and uses the driving dynamic buttons to switch the car into SPORT, selecting one of the programs.

The exhaust system barks out a roar before the car launches down the road. A thrill leaps within and wrings out an exhilarated holler from her.

Aries slows down to a cruise, and Mia whacks her thigh, trying to bottle her excitement.

“That was so sick!” she enthuses, eyeing the sleek interior with state-of-the-art features. “Y’all must be doing good if you’re driving cars like these around. How is your gran?”

He keeps a neutral expression with his eyes on the road. “She’s good. She beat the cancer.”

Mia bops her head, drumming her hands on her thighs.

“And you?”

She raises a shoulder. “Nothing special.”

“~Right~,” he says with doubt encrusting his voice.

“But you know what I think~ is~ special,” she counters. “The three of us go to the same school, but we managed to steer clear of each for ~years~.

“We saw each other here and there but we did the whole ‘acting like I don’t know you’ charade. Not intentionally but…we just did. And you just happened to bump into her?”

“Braidwood is a small town.”

“Not that small,” she retorts. “Where’d you meet her again?”

“When did you reconnect with Akin?” he throws back. “Do you want to answer that or do you want to stop this little interrogation?”

Her hands fly to her shoulders in surrender.

“I’m just trying to process that I’m riding shotgun in your car right now, going to meet the others. When I was so sure we were never going to speak to each other again, let alone~ hang out~.”

Aries pitches her numerous, vague looks. “I thought I was done with everything in my past—including the people in it. Then Keila went missing, I collided with Opal, and now I’m here with you.”

The reminder stales the air, tension like a maggot worming through rotten meat.

“Do you think…it’s like a betrayal, with what happened to Erin…now Keila?”

“What happened to Erin was none of our fault,” he says, dragging his hand through his inky hair. “I need to believe that. We were just kids—”

“But we’re not anymore,” she interjects, zeal shifting her voice into something fierce. “We know what happened to Keila.”

“And if that’s true then you already know she’s gone. Why freak over something we can’t change?”

“So we should just go around acting dumb?” she shrieks, anger heating her blood. “We can’t just let Mrs. Venus wallow in pain and the whole town think she’s still alive—”

“~We have to~,” he barks back.

Mia flinches.

He scolds himself, injecting a measure of gentleness into his tone. “We did it with Erin. And we’re going to have to do it with Keila.”

“Could you do it with Opal?”

He levels her with a shocked glower.

“Exactly,” she whispers.

“What do you want us to do?”

“Sitting and waiting is not a good plan.”

“Neither is going up there with no strategy,” he says, his voice filling with aggravation. “You know what~ it ~is and we are nothing. We can do nothing.

“But if we go back, we might endanger everyone else. You choose which one you want.”

“I want this to be over.”

“Only way this ends is if we just leave Braidwood for good.”

Mia twists her shoulders to face him. “But you stayed all these years. You want to run now?”

Aries’s eyes flick up to the rear-view mirror, watching the G-Wagon two cars down.

“I never run. The only time I did was the night Erin died.”