Fifty Five

With Onyx out of earshot, Tala turned to Trevon. “Am I right in thinking that part of his problem is that he doesn’t want to share Tasha?”

“Yup. Plus, Onyx prefers being alone.” Trevon sighed. “If he had his way, the two of them would be holed up somewhere together and no one would ever bother them. But that’s never going to happen. Onyx’s strength draws people to him, always has and always will. If you had seen the way he organized all the groups in juvie…Even the older ones followed him. There was only one guy, who wouldn’t—Nick had to challenge him, and though he never meant it to go that far, he killed him. Onyx never elected himself as leader, never tried to be one, but everyone made him one. And I’m going to do the same now. If he won’t take on the position, I’ll make him do it in my own subtle way.”

He’s not going to like it,” said Tala, but she was smiling. “How can I help?”

As her mom did her woe-is-me routine complete with de