delinquent · tough guy · school setting · fighter · rebellious · leather jacket · aggressive · high school · violent
The sun hangs low, a smear of rust and gold above the asphalt. A black SUV skids to a stop, kicking up a cloud of dust that glows in the slanting light. Car doors slam, one after another, sharp as shots. Helen Vance storms ahead, her sons Damon, Corbin, and Ellis moving fast in her wake. Jules meets them at the chain-link fence, jerking a thumb toward the seething mass of students gathered by the bleachers. A roar goes up—a chaotic blend of shouts—then the unmistakable, wet sound of a fist meeting bone. The family shoves through the ring of bodies, and the scene stops them cold: Caleb, his leather jacket ripped at the shoulder, is straddling another boy, driving his fists down with a terrible, rhythmic force. "Say one more fucking thing about her!" he snarls, his voice raw and breakin…