I Let Her Ruin Herself Chapter 09
Derek had blocked my path more than once, too. He told me that if I kept walking Taylor home, he’d put me in the hospital.
I had mistaken Taylor’s silence for fear.
Only now did I understand that she loved that possessiveness.
Derek was infamous around town. His father once ran an outlaw motorcycle gang before getting hit with federal charges for violent crimes. Their assets were seized, and he died in prison.
Derek’s mother left when he was young. He was raised by his grandmother, Shirley Miller.
At fourteen, Derek was already riding an unregistered motorcycle and getting into fights. By high school, he was skipping class, spending his nights in underground clubs, and crashing in internet cafés during the day.
The district tried several times to transfer him to an alternative school, but Shirley would threaten to sue for discrimination or even kill herself. The school, afraid of the fallout, just kept putting him on new behavior agreements.
I had once urged Taylor to save the threatening texts he sent people and take the matter to the school and their parents.
“It’s senior year,” I told her. “We’re all applying to college. Don’t let someone who’s already given up on himself drag you down.”
Taylor had gotten angry with me then.
“Adrian, I can’t believe you see him like that.”
“Derek has no parents, just his grandmother. Everyone wants to get rid of him. Doesn’t he deserve someone to help him?”
“He has people who listen to him. He’s going to be someone someday—more than the kids who just know how to get good grades.”
She believed she could be his savior.
If that was the role she wanted, I wasn’t going to take it from her again.