Chapter 3

Buck was planning the first blowout party of the year. Operation Drama-Free had gone so well this summer that he’d been able to talk Leo and five members of his cousins’ crew to come out for football. All six of them were now starters on offense. With their talent infusion, Buck thought they might go to state this year.

He planned to have the whole team and their families over for a barbecue on Sunday evening.

Leo was the real surprise. He’d won the starting tailback position over one of Buck’s crew, Donny Millsap, a two-year starter. With Donny yipping in his and the rest of his crew’s ears, practices had gotten a bit chippy.

To date, nothing egregious had happened, but there were a few instances of practice getting physical. So far, each side had held its own. The benefit was the coaches loved it. They felt it helped the team prepare for this week’s opponent, the Warren Warriors.

Thursday night before the game, Buck was late getting out because he’d tweaked his shoulder and was receiving treatment. Coach Dutton stuck his head out the door as he was about to leave.

“I just received a call from the police. They told me Millsap, Lassater, and Miner tagged Mrs. Rivera’s car. It said, ‘Illegals Go Home!’”

“Fuck!” Buck yelled.

This was his worst nightmare. He would have to let Leo spend time with his sister this weekend.

“It gets worse. Some of the neighborhood kids jumped them. No one’s saying anything, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some football players were involved.”

Maybe Leo would have to give up his sister as well.

’If that were the case, could they cancel out, and we call it even?’ Buck wondered.

What pissed him off the most was that the two idiots who started this entire debacle, Clark and Terrence, were at it again. They knew what he had at stake and apparently didn’t give a shit. Were they really his friends?

Leo had gone through a hell of a night. The police picked him up at church, where he was working with Father Philips to install a new toilet in the basement. That was where he learned what three of Buck’s boys had done to his mother’s car, something they readily admitted to.

He was deeply offended because his family had lived in the US for at least three generations on both sides of his family tree. His mother’s side was from Portugal, and his father’s from Cuba.

The twist was that the three claimed they didn’t recognize the boys who’d beaten them up. Once the police released Leo, he quickly learned that his cousins had taken care of the street justice, just as he suspected. They hadn’t seriously hurt anyone, but the message was clear: if you messed with people in their neighborhood, there were consequences.

He also received a message from Buck saying they should meet before school tomorrow.

Friday morning dawned soft and cold, as if the day were as reluctant to wake up as he was. Leo closed his eyes, burrowing further under the comforting weight of his blankets. Someone knocked on his bedroom door. It was Rachel.

“I was glad when I heard they let you go.”

“Yeah, well, I got lucky this time,” Leo said.

“I, uhm ... I know about the deal you made with Buck.”

’For fuck’s sake. I’ll kill whoever told her,’ Leo thought.

“I’m meeting with him this morning to put a stop to this,” he said.

“Stop. Just hear me out before you do something stupid,” Rachel said.

“How can protecting you be stupid?” Leo asked.

“I said listen.”

He could see she was serious, so he nodded for her to continue.

“Both Faith and I...”

“Wait! You and Faith both know?!”

She scoffed.

“Just because we’re Catholic-school girls doesn’t mean we don’t know what our brothers are up to.”

It took him a second to absorb and process that statement.

“Even when we screw up and do something horrible and put our sisters at risk?”

“Even then,” Rachel said seriously and then smiled at him. “But you did it for the good of everyone. You know as well as I do that if you hadn’t, something bad would have happened, and you and our cousins would have ended up in jail. You know the lengths Buck’s guys would go to make that happen, and the powers that be would’ve gone along with it.”

“It was the only consequence we could come up with that was so horrible the peace would never be broken,” Leo admitted.

“And if you two don’t keep your word, you’ll look weak, and everything will fall apart.”

“Tell me in plain English what you’re saying,” Leo said.

“Faith and I know what’ll happen. More importantly, you’ll be in the room to keep me safe, and vice versa for her and Buck. Neither of you is a monster who would hurt us,” Rachel said, looking at her shoes. She then looked him in the eye, “And Faith has always had a crush on you and dreamed you would be her first. I’m the same way about Buck.”

Leo pulled his pillow out from under his head and pressed it to his face in an attempt to suffocate himself.

’Maybe if I killed myself...?’

He felt the bed move as Rachel lay down next to him. His stupid body wouldn’t let him go through with it, so he pulled the pillow off his face and saw her amused expression.

“You’d rather die than learn your little sister fantasizes about boys?”

“You’re supposed to be thinking about rainbows and unicorns, not about smelly, gross boys. When did all that change?”

“When I grew these,” Rachel said, hefting her breasts. She chuckled when he looked scandalized. “Girls grow up, too.”

“Not my baby sister.”

“I bet you never think that way again after this weekend,” Rachel said with a big smile.

He closed his eyes and groaned.

“Too soon?” she teased.

“Much,” Leo said, then had a random thought.

“How come Mrs. Sanders drives you and Faith to school each day? Isn’t she afraid you’ll contaminate Faith?” Leo asked.

“I asked her that before I agreed to let her drive me. She confessed she made a mistake back then when she lumped you in with our cousins. She said you would have been a better friend than the group he runs around with now. Mrs. Sanders actually calls Terrence a selfish little prick and Clark an ass-kisser,” Rachel said.

“She actually said that?”

“Yep. She can be quite forthcoming on our rides to and from school. Don’t get me started on what she thinks of the town council. And if you want to really get her riled up, ask her about all the girls Buck sleeps with,” Rachel said.

“Oh, fuck. She knows about them?”

“Moms always know more than you think they do.”

“Good to know,” Leo said, then returned to the topic. “I’ll talk to Buck, and we’ll figure this all out.”

Buck’s monster truck pulled up outside.

“I’m off to school,” Leo called out.

“We’ll be there for the game, and if I don’t see you beforehand, good luck,” his dad said as he exited his bedroom.

Leo threw his book bag over his shoulder, picked up his duffle bag with his clean jock and the like for that night’s game, and walked out the front door. He climbed into the truck, throwing all his stuff on the floor before putting on his seat belt.

The ride to the school was utterly silent as both boys were lost in their thoughts. Buck drove into the parking lot and went to the back, where there were trees to shade the cars.

“So,” Leo said.

“I had an interesting visitor this morning.”

“Your sister?”

“I take it you had a similar visit,” Buck said.

“Yeah. That doesn’t mean I’m okay with this,” Leo said.

“You mean you don’t want to watch me tap your sister’s fine...”

Smack!

“Dude!”

“Watch your mouth,” Leo seethed. “Remember, my cousins love Rachel.”

Buck chuckled as he held up his hands in surrender.

“You sound just like my dad.”

Leo closed his eyes momentarily and saw what Buck was trying to do. He got his emotions under control and reopened his eyes.

“Sorry ... but ... you know.”

“I do.”

“This is a mess. I can’t believe my cousins were so stupid. I can’t believe your crew was so stupid. So, what are we going to do now?” Leo asked.

“Let’s go back to my place after the game and see what happens. For some reason, my sister has a crush on you.”

“I hate to say it, but mine does, too.”

“Have a crush on you?” Buck asked with a smirk.

“I’ll smack you again.”

“Settle down, tough guy.”

Leo was starting to think he should bail on tonight.

“I think I’m out.”

“Stop and think about it for a moment. If we don’t do this—and you know people are going to find out—shit will get real come Monday,” Buck warned.

Leo thought about what that would mean. There was no doubt it would bite him in the ass, even if it was his cousins who got into it. He could always bail later.

“Okay.”

Buck must have been holding his breath because he let out a long gasp.

“Then let’s do this,” he said.

Buck had some cringe-worthy moments during school. His boys all had advice on how he should tear up Rachel’s virgin pussy with his enormous cock. Surprisingly, the only sane person was his girlfriend, Kelly.

Before the football game, she pulled him aside.

“Look, I don’t like the asinine plan you and Leo devised. But I hope you two remember who you’re with tonight. This isn’t a couple of JV cheerleaders; these are girls who weren’t even asked if they could be bartered. You better make sure Rachel has a pleasant first time, or you’ll have to answer to me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

After an easy win over the Warren Warriors, where Leo had been the hero with three touchdowns, they all rode back to the log house.

Once they got inside, Buck asked, “How do we want to do this?”

“Well, I don’t want a group event. I think we should be alone for the first time,” Rachel said.