“I was scared.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
Cody looked up.
“I was scared you'd come here.”
Jackson understood.
“And you'd go back to prison.”
Cody nodded.
“I couldn't lose you again.”
Jackson stared at his little brother.
Then he pulled him into his arms.
Carefully.
Very carefully.
Cody began crying.
Not the quiet tears he had shed in the locker room.
Not the frightened tears he had hidden for weeks.
These were the tears of someone who had finally realized he was safe.
Jackson held him.
“You're never losing me again.”
A New Home
Jackson stepped back.
“There is something else.”
Cody looked confused.
“What?”
“I opened the shop.”
Cody blinked.
“What shop?”
“The auto shop.”
“You did?”
“Last week.”
Jackson smiled.
“The paperwork cleared.”
Cody stared at him.
“I signed a lease on a house too.”
“Why?”
Jackson looked at him.
“Three bedrooms.”
Cody's eyes widened.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Jax…”
“Emergency custody papers were filed this morning.”
Cody couldn't speak.
“You're coming home with me.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“But Brenda—”
“She signed the paperwork.”
Cody looked toward Brian.
Brian smiled.
“You heard him.”
Cody laughed through his tears.
For the first time in years, he didn't feel like someone else's responsibility.
He felt wanted.
Jackson put a hand on his shoulder.
“Go get your stuff.”
Cody nodded.
He turned toward the locker room.
Then stopped.
He looked back.
“Jax?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
Jackson smiled.
“Go.”
The Ride Home
Cody returned carrying a battered backpack.
It contained almost everything he owned.
A few shirts.
Two pairs of jeans.
A football.
Some schoolbooks.
Jackson looked at the backpack.
“That's everything?”
Cody nodded.
Jackson shook his head.
“Not anymore.”
They walked outside.
The Harley waited beneath the afternoon sun.
Cody stared at it.
“You're riding that?”
Jackson grinned.
“You're riding that.”
“Seriously?”
“Unless you suddenly want to walk thirty miles.”
Cody laughed.
Jackson handed him a helmet.
Cody climbed onto the back.
For weeks, every road had seemed to lead toward another threat.
Now the road was taking him somewhere else.
Home.
Brian stood beside them.
Cody looked at him.
“Coach?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
Brian smiled.
“You did the hard part.”
“What?”
“You survived.”
Cody nodded.
Jackson started the engine.
The Harley roared.
Students gathered around the courtyard.
Some stared.
Some whispered.
Others simply watched.
Cody wrapped his arms around Jackson.
The motorcycle rolled away.
For the first time in months, Cody wasn't looking over his shoulder.
What Changed at Oak Creek
Monday morning was different.
Trent and Weston were gone.
Their lockers were empty.
Their names had been removed from the football roster.
The school had begun an investigation.
Students who had remained silent started talking.
One freshman admitted that Trent had threatened him.
Another described being locked in a storage room.
Then another.
And another.
The truth came out quickly once fear lost its power.