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came in about six, looking for me.”
    “Oh, Johnny.” Cassie’s disillusioned tone
matched the look he’d seen earlier.
    “I didn’t plan it, Cassie.”
    “You’ve got to break off with them for good.
One foot in the gang, one foot out, isn’t going to cut it much
longer.”
    Johnny remembered the six months he’d dropped
out of school. “You don’t understand, Cassie.”
    “Then tell me.”
    “They’re my family.”
    “No, they’re not. They’re a bunch of selfish,
brutal punks.”
    Which is why I haven’t officially gone
back
. “What’s going on with you and Lansing?” he asked.
    “We were talking about the gang.”
    “Look, I’m not a real member anymore. When me
and my mother moved out here, I left the gang. I see Zorro now
because he’s been my buddy since day one. I won’t abandon him.”
    Cassie sighed. “You think they’ve let you go,
but they haven’t. They’re trying to suck you back in, and Zorro
will go to any lengths to get to you.” She hesitated, then added,
“I know.”
    “He never bothered you after that first time,
did he?” Johnny remembered how Zorro had paid Cassie a visit when
he realized he was losing Johnny because of her influence. Johnny
had found out and had beaten the shit out of Zorro. Then they’d
talked. Zorro convinced Johnny he was sorry and wouldn’t do it
again.
    “No, he didn’t. But I see what he’s doing to
get you back. My guess is he’ll go after DeFazio now.”
    Lansing’s words echoed in Johnny’s head.
I’m not going to let your buddies recruit anyone from Bayview
Heights.
“What’s going on with you and Lansing?” Johnny
repeated his question.
    He couldn’t see her clearly in the dim light
of the car, but he could feel her tension. “What do you mean?”
    “He said you were with him tonight when he
got called about the fight.”
    Cassie cleared her throat. “We were at the
same party.”
    “Party?”
    “A teacher get-together at Zoe’s.”
    “Oh, sounds like fun.” Johnny’s sarcasm
lightened the mood. “I hope Bosco wasn’t there, at least.”
    “Bosco doesn’t socialize.”
    Johnny studied her. “You should have somebody
in your life, Cassie. Just not Lansing.”
    “My social life isn’t the issue here. Your
future is.”
    God, he hated it when she pulled the teacher
routine on him. “Oh, excuse me. I forget. You’re the teacher, I’m
the kid.” He reached for the door handle. She grabbed his arm. Her
grip was firm, but it wasn’t what held him back. Her emotional pull
on him always kept him from fleeing from her.
    “Johnny.”
    He waited.
    “I am your teacher, and I have a right to
guide you, to try to help you.”
    Staring ahead, he willed himself not to be
grateful that she felt responsible for him. Not to count on it.
    “But I care about you as a person, too. As
your friend. You know how much you mean to me.”
    He slumped against the front seat, feeling
like he was ten again.
    “Please,” she begged. “Don’t shut me out. I
can’t bear the thought of you going back to the gang.”
    In spite of his resolve, the words tumbled
out of Johnny’s mouth. “I feel good at school. It’s the
only
place I feel good anymore after losing my job at the
hospital. Lansing took that away and now he’s taking school away.”
He willed back the moisture from his eyes and turned to look at
her. Her face was drawn tight with worry. “And tonight made me
think maybe he could take you away, too. You know, turn you against
me. All I’d have left then is Zorro and the Blisters.”
    She reached over and hugged him. It was a
sisterly gesture, one she did infrequently, but it felt so good he
wanted to lean into it. For a minute, he did.
    “I won’t let anyone turn me against you,
Johnny. I promise. But I’m afraid you’ll let the gang turn you
against me. And everything else that’s good in your life.”
    He drew strength from her closeness, then
pulled back. “That won’t happen.”
    “Promise?”
    “I