2

                                    

                                          
The party could be heard from the other end of the street.
I rolled my truck to a stop, the vibrations from the beat of the music making it shake when I killed the engine. Both sides of the road were lined with cars – something I'm sure the neighbours wouldn't be happy about when they went to leave for work in the morning only to find they'd been boxed in. 
Several members of the team spilled out the back of my car and a couple had even climbed into the trunk for the short journey from town to Todd's neighbourhood. He lived in a wealthier part of town, a gated community made up of around ten houses, all of them set back from the street and concealed from view by trees and high fences. "Hey, man, can you help me with this keg?"
I turned to one of the sophomores on the team. He hadn't played today but had been a sub and was one of the star players on the younger team. He had the potential to be leading his own team to championships in a couple of years' time. I nodded, watching him strain as he tried to lift the barrel alone. 
With my help, we managed to half carry, half drag the barrel of beer up the road to where pretty much every student from our school swarmed the driveway, making their way towards the front entrance. Rather than follow them, we made our way through the side gates and into the backyard. 
A light layer of frost coated the backyard and the pool – the usual location for these celebrations - was covered over for the winter. But huge glass doors lined the rear of the massive house and Todd pulled them open, allowing us access to the kitchen where he and some of the other guys were setting up liquor tables and beer pong. 
"Cheers guys," he said.
I nodded and turned to the kid who had helped me, only to find his gaze entirely directed towards the group of cheerleaders dancing together a few feet away in the foyer. I rolled my eyes, spotting a few of my teammates already in the centre of their group, beers in hand. 
I turned to make myself a drink, acknowledging a few of people that came over to congratulate me on today's win. "What we drinking?" Jay asked, appearing beside me and surveying the table covered in different bottles.
I lifted the plastic cup in my hand. "Beer."
He rolled his eyes, a smirk playing on his face as he snatched a red cup with one hand and a bottle of vodka in the other. "Pussy," he commented, filling half the cup with vodka before topping the rest of it up with energy drink. 
I laughed off his comment. He wouldn't be drinking like that if he was dealing with my dad when he got home. 
As if on cue, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. "Ignore it," Jay said, peering over as I checked the screen to see it was my dad, "you know if you answer he'll be turning up to drag you home. And I don't wanna be friends with the losers who's dads a party pooper." 
I shook my head, turning my phone off and grinning at my friend. "You think anyone here has the balls to chat shit about my dad?" I questioned, downing my beer before refilling. 
He laughed, nodding in acknowledgement. "Fair point."
It wasn't exactly a secret that my dad's businesses weren't all completely legal. Everyone knew, or at least suspected, that he was involved in the mafia but there wasn't anything they could do. He pretty much worked with the police at this point, helping them take down smaller gangs and shutting down human trafficking rings or drug deals in exchange for them turning a blind eye to his own dealings. They knew he wasn't a threat to anyone innocent so they happily ignored the truth about him, and, considering he practically owned the town and therefore paid half the towns wages, so did everyone else. 
"Beer pong guys?"
I turned to Todd and nodded, knowing I was gonna need to be pissed to forget about the fact my dad would probably castrate me when I got home for ignoring him. Everyone thought he was terrifying and I could absolutely see why but it was hard to fear him when I'd seen him get yelled at by my five-foot three mother or be won over by my little sister when she was three years old. But I knew where my own temper came from and it was rare that we saw that side of him because he knew it would piss our mom off but when he did lose it, it scared the shit out of all of us.