Page 141 of Healed

“It’s his final test,” Rachel whispered. “Dante is fucking excellent at reading people. It’s one of the reasons he hated me so badly when I first came here, because I have mastered my blank poker face, and he couldn’t find a crack in my armour. But for the most part, he nails everyone. He makes the prospects sweat because he’ll be able to see how much they really want to be here. Darwin looks like he’s about to piss himself and plead for forgiveness, so that’s a strong sign that he wants to be patched.”

“Why would he go through the ordeal of being prospected if he wasn’t interested?”

“You’d be surprised,” she muttered, a dark shadow crossing her face. But then our attention was stolen by Dante shouting.

“You’re in!”

The crowd erupted then. Men shook their beers and sprayed them over Darwin. Others jumped on him, clapping him on the back. Some just jumped around in celebration on their own. And then Vienna took the stage.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to remind everyone about the suggestion box.”

The crowd groaned.

“Fuck the box,” Tools shouted.

“It causes more shit than anything,” Riley said.

“Well, regardless of what you assholes think, I’m adding a suggestion anyway.”

The crowd groaned again.

“I suggest that Pivot is no longer, ever, in his entire life, allowed to participate in raps—including writing his own raps, reciting his own raps, or even thinking about his own raps.”

“Hear, hear!” I shouted in return.

The crowd looked puzzled, Vienna winked at me, and Pivot paled, trying to sneak off behind a baffled looking Liam.

“Do you know what?” Dante sighed. “I’m not even going to ask. Welcome to the brotherhood, Darwin. Everyone, enjoy the party.”

Chapter 42

Vienna

Dante called church around an hour after Darwin was patched, wanting to catch up before the party got too rowdy.

As everyone took their seats, Dante completed his ritual of pulling out his smokes and placing them in the middle, the next one half pulled out of the carton in silent invitation.

“Right,” he said, sparking up his cigarette and getting right into it. “There’s no point messing around, lads. There’s a party happening out there, and I know you’re all eager to get back into it. So, what do we know, and what don’t we know?”

“I took Kourtney and her mum back home this morning,” Chris said.

“Good. What’s the latest?”

“James and Greg had already made sure the place was cleared up before we got there. She seemed alright going into the house, and the kid ran off straight away. Seems getting rid of that cunt was a weight off their shoulders.”

Dante shrugged. “I’m sure no one will miss him.”

“Exactly. I did manage to speak to a couple of the neighbours. Seems the boyfriend didn’t have any connections that we know of. He was just another scumbag, and this was just a good deed. No benefit to us.”

“Aw, Dante, they’re your favourite deeds,” I grinned, nudging him with my elbow.

Dante scoffed. “What else?”

“I spoke to Bambi,” Riley said. “Seems Nico has been trying to pull in a few favours with his contacts on the inside. We still have the monopoly over Wakefield prison, so nothing has got past Waltzer, who in turn has told Bambi everything. Two men associated with Nico had their throats slit in the middle of the night. Warden marked it as suicide.”

“Excellent,” Dante nodded, taking another draw of his smoke. “Does anyone have any info on Nico’s whereabouts?”

“He’s been seen hanging around Greasy a lot,” Greg said. “I don’t think he knew about mine and Beth’s relationship, but he damned sure recognised the logo on my bike. He scarpered and if he’s been around again, he’s been much more discreet.”