Ash couldn’t contain her annoyance. “Mo, are you going to tell me what happened with Eli or not?” Ash said. That’s why she was here. That was the only reason she was here.

Mo sighed. “He went into Leslie’s tent and made sexual advances. She fought him off, but he said he would ‘fuck her up’ if she told anyone. Of course, Leslie trusted I would know what to do. When I confronted Eli last night and told him he was no longer welcome here, and was no longer be part of the Tribe, he refused to leave…” Mo paused, taking a sip of her soda. “He threatened me. That’s why Vic and the others were so ruthless. It was a warning to Eli and to anyone who might try and hurt one of us.”

Ash’s stomach churned. She regretted eating the ice cream, the liquid now settling like cement in her stomach. Hearing Mo’s explanation about Eli cast him in an entirely new light. Out here on the streets things were positively primal. Consent was bullshit that therapists spouted. On the streets no one cared if you said no. They took what they wanted. Ash didn’t want to believe that Eli was capable of something like that, but guys like that were everywhere. All smiles and kindness until you dropped your guard, and then they were on you. It wasn’t as if Leslie could go to the cops and report him. They barely cared what happened to regular citizens. Sometimes street justice was the only justice available.

“I didn’t know,” Ash said, trailing off.

“I wanted to respect Leslie’s privacy. When Nate told me how concerned you were about what happened last night, I knew you needed to hear the whole story. The last thing we want is for you to be afraid of us.”

Ash’s freak-out suddenly seemed extreme. These past few years living in her comfortable Silver Lake bubble, she’d forgotten the ugliness that existed out here.

“I care about Nate, and he cares about you,” Ash said.

This time Mo’s smile grew wider. “I’m lucky to have found him when I did. He was in a bad way. He says I saved him. I like to think we saved each other.”

Ash understood. It’s what she found with Becca. A home and a family that looked after her. “I know you two don’t get to spend a lot of time together and the last thing you want is to hang out with some old lady. Just know that if anything is bothering you, we can talk. I’m always here. Not many places I have to be,” Mo said with a chuckle.

Yeah, it was a hard pass on future heart-to-hearts. She wasn’t joining Mo’s fan club or buying into any of the Tribe’s bullshit anytime soon. The thing was, at least this made sense. At least she could understand why they’d done that to Eli. The rules on the streets were different. Hopefully, Eli would think twice the next time he tried to mess with some girl.