Sweet Fall

The suit looked down at his paperwork and then met my eyes. “A Mr. Axel Carillo.”

My heart paused. Axe? He’s back? How—

Rome stepped forward and said, “Lev called him from the hospital, left a message telling him what had happened. Turns out the kid has balls, eighty-three. Started cussing down the phone about how it was all his fault and it wasn’t fair you were gonna take the rap for it.

“We left Lev with the girls and came down here to the station, waiting to see what was happening to you, when Axel walked through the main doors, brazen as all hell, and confessed to the whole thing. Said he’d been supplying the drugs on campus alone all year and was the one who gave it to Porter and the freshman. They both verified the story.” Rome slapped me on my back. “Your scholarship and record won’t be touched by this. And you can still enter the draft.”

Fuck.

“Can I see him?” I asked the attorney hoarsely.

He shook his head. “They’re not gonna let you in there. I could ask if—”

“Kid?” I heard from behind me, and Axel, in cuffs, was being led out of a room by some cops, the dean following behind, ducking his head in embarrassment as he passed me by.

“Axe!” I shouted, ignoring the dean and ran to my brother, wrapping my arms around his back. The cops had moved to the desk and were handing some paperwork to the clerk, and eventually I let my brother go.

“Hey, kid.” Axel tried to smile, but he looked f**kin’ crushed. Tired even. “So Mamma passed?” he asked in his typical hard-ass, gruff way.

“Yeah,” I replied, fighting back tears. “Fuck, Axe, it’s all gone to shit.”

He shook his head. “Nah, kid. It’s gone exactly as we knew it would.”

“What do you mean?” I asked in confusion.

“This is your chance, fratello. You get out of the crew, out of Bama. Take Levi with you. Use football to start again. That kid schooled me on the phone about what a f**k-up I was and what a damn saint you and your girl are.”

My heart swelled as I thought of Levi defending me. “But what about you?” I asked.

“I was always gonna end up in here, kid, locked up. Always. This was always my lot in life, but you got a chance to get out. Start fresh… It’s what Mamma always wanted. She always knew you’d go far, superstar… so long as you didn’t get in with me and the Heighters. You get to make her dream come true. You get to make all her years of fighting for us to be better men worthwhile.”

“Gio ain’t gonna let me and Lev leave the crew, Axe, especially with you gone. We’re gonna have to move state or something, lay low.”

“Gio won’t be a problem. I made sure of it.”

A sinking feeling set in my stomach. “What’ve you done?”

Axel shrugged. “Called in a few favors.” My hard stare told him I wanted to know more. Axel sighed and moved in closer, checking he wasn’t being overheard. “Gio wouldn’t let you two out. He’d kill you if you tried. You’d both be in danger. So I took care of it.”

“Axe, no—”

“By midnight tonight, Gio won’t be a problem no more. The Kings will take the Heighter turf, and the crew will have to reorganize with someone new running the show. By then, you’ll be in the NFL and outta here.”

“Fuck, Axe,” I said in a graveled voice. My big bro had finally come through for us. Betrayed his crew brother, his best friend. The f**ker did put us first, after all. “Won’t this come back on you?”

Axel shrugged. “I can handle myself inside.”

Fighting back my sadness, I said, “Yeah, and what the hell will you do afterward?”

Axel huffed a laugh. “I’ll serve my time. Then I’m coming to live with you, superstar. You’ll have some rich-ass mansion by then, yeah? Capisci?”

I laughed and replied, “Capisco.”

“Carillo, let’s go.” A cop came behind me, and Axel lowered his mouth to my ear.

“I know I ain’t been the best brother for you, kid. I know I f**ked up more than I got right, especially with Lev. But famiglia was always everything to me. And I want you to know how f**kin’ proud I am of you. I have pride that you’re my blood. You and Lev. Promise me you’ll both do well.”

Slapping my hand on Axel’s cheek, I pulled him toward me and laid a kiss on his head. “You keep your head down and don’t get in no trouble, and whenever you get out, I’ll be here to bring you home.”