2. Bay
TWO
bay
“Did your dad hear?” I glance over at Levi, green irises furrowed in on me with unadulterated worry—like always. There’s never a day that goes by when my best friend isn’t trippin’ out over something around here.
In fact, he’s been tacking on to my anxiety lately.
Ever since Dad’s stroke, Levi has been upping his antics with checking in, making sure my sisters are fed and I’m somewhat sane.
The latter is dwindling by a thread here.
However, I do appreciate him in every capacity. Not only has he been here recently, but Levi has always been a building block in my existence.
Without him, I’m nothing.
Even so, I wish I could wiggle my nose to Bewitched him somewhere else at times.
“ Bay. ” I blink and pull him back into my vision. His short, dark brown hair is spiked upward, as though he just rolled out of bed and put on whatever when I called this morning with the news of what happened last night. “Focus.”
“No.”
Levi runs his large hand down the side of his face, clearly exasperated. “He doesn’t need this bullshit.”
No shit.
And same.
“Hence why the shotgun made an appearance last night,” I deadpan, averting my eyes from him and onto my two sisters.
They’re in the kitchen with us, eating off-brand Fruit Loops without a care in the world. Mae with her two barbie dolls, sitting upright as if they’re dining with her, and Ellie, who’s painting her nails hot pink with one of the few bottles I stole from Walmart last week.
Levi’s meaty fingers suddenly wrap firmly around my jaw, decorated in black ink and the stains of car grease as he demands my immediate attention. “Did they hurt you?”
I can hear the slight panic in his voice, but he’d never lose his stoic demeanor for sappy crap. However, it’s never lost on me that I mean as much to him as he does to me.
“No.”
“You sure?”
I narrow my eyes a bit. “I just said?—”
“What you said and what actually happened, sometimes, are two different things.”
I hate that he knows me so well sometimes. I can’t get away with shit.
“What format of the words do you need so that you believe me when I say I’m fine?” I solicit seriously, reaching for his hand because, if Ellie and Mae see what he’s doing, they’re going to suspect something’s up.
Levi slowly drops his grip. “I really don’t like this shit.”
“We live in South Shore, Lev.”
“Which makes me really not enjoy the fact that no man is in this house to protect all of you.”
I perk a brow. “Are you moving in?”
“You shot that idea down last week.”
“Because I didn’t want your hoes to be knockin’ on my door every two minutes looking for you.”
Levi glowers at me. “Shut the hell up. I don’t have hoes and they’re definitely not knocking on my damn door.”
This man either doesn’t know what he’s working with, or he’s just oblivious to it all, being he’s so used to it, because he’s built like a damn tattooed god.
Not that I would ever tell him that.
The black stubble that etches out his sharp jawline and around his lips gives him his bad boy vibe. His shoulders, bulgy biceps, arms, long fingers, and collarbone are painted all in black ink.
Levi Wallace is the epitome of male eye candy.
There isn’t a moment when we go out that he hasn’t been eye-fucked over a dozen times by every red-blooded female within a ten-yard radius.
Shit, if we didn’t friend zone each other, I wouldn’t mind taking him for a ride.
“Whatever you say, friend,” I surmise with a grin. “Anything else?”
“Yeah,” he grounds out. “Can you take this seriously for one minute?”
I push out my lips in fake thought. “I’m not sure how you want me to react.”
“You said they had guns .”
I shrug. “And?”
God, Levi acts as though we live in suburbia and I’m not used to the violence that surrounds South Shore.
It’s a cesspool of weapons, drugs, and sex. The various gangs forming and falling are becoming a full-time job to keep track of these days and the law is about as helpful as a bunch of mousetraps without the metal trigger to trap them.
Add on that, the county sheriff, Sheriff Muncy, is a lazy piece of shit and you have a selected handout of what is considered justice and peace around here.
“Did you get into it with anybody?”
Now it’s my turn to show my annoyance. “Why do I always have to get into it with somebody for this to happen?”
Levi doesn’t falter, still keeping those deep green ebbs of unease locked on me. “Those security cameras are going in today.”
“Okay.”
He reaches for my hand and squeezes, alluding that he’s more shaken about this than he’s letting on. Which is a little out of the norm for him, because he’s always mister macho man. “Is anything missing?”
“No.”
“Did they say anything?”
Maybe.
I shake my head instead. Whatever that masked moron said to me was pointless.
“You got anything for me, or do I need to turn this town upside down?”
My brows knit at his mention of town . “You’re gonna do what now?”
He narrows his focus, trying to sway me from looking too deep into what he said, but I’m not stupid.
Again, that’s the problem with knowing someone almost your whole life.
Now it’s working against him.
“Don’t be an asshole.”
“No, no, no,” I probe, mocking his facial expression with one of my own. “How exactly would you do that, Lev?”
I don’t like that he breaks our eye contact and looks over my head. Because I’m questioning him right now, when I never have to with anything. “I have my ways.”
“Oh yeah?”
His brows deepen as he slices his greens right back down to me. “Knock it off, Astor. I’m over here trying to figure out shit and you’re oh-so nonchalant about it.”
“You act as though I was in a tower and someone climbed up it,” I retort. “I appreciate the extra precaution with the cameras. However, whatever stupid ass thing you have conjured up in your head about hunting anyone down for this. Save the gas.”
“Last time I checked, you don’t give me orders.”
“Really?” I rip my hand from his grasp and prop it on my hip. “I’ll remember that for next time you try to suggest something.”
“Keep it up, Bay,” he grinds out, strumming his fingers along the surface of the counter. “You’re pissing me off.”
That may have worked on me over a million years ago when we were kids and he stole my minibike. The next time I saw him, he got a baseball bat to his chest that knocked him onto his ass.
We’ve been besties ever since.
Levi has always been tall, big-mouthed, charming with his bossiness, and eats like a pack of wild dogs. However, when he gets into this big-brother, the-world-is-crumbling-down phase, I start getting low on patience.
“Listen, Lev Lev, I’m fine,” I vouch as simply as I can. “The girls and Dad are okay. This is just the universe you and I live in.”
“Don’t start getting all optimistic on me,” he retorts. “I know you’re not stupid enough to believe that Sheriff Muncy is going to get off his fat ass and chase some assholes around who broke into your place last night.”
“Probably not. He’s hated me since that time I put his patrol car in neutral and let it roll down the street.”
“For the effort, you should’ve given it an extra shove so it would’ve crashed into the trees at the end of the hill.”
“I’ll remember that for the next time.”
He glimpses over his shoulder at the girls. “I’ll have one of The Nameless keep tabs on the house.”
I immediately don’t like how naturally he said that. How he mentioned South Shore’s elusive gang like he was?—
“You joined, didn’t you?”
Levi glances back over at me with a placid look.
It’s a firm rule between us—no gangs.
We both didn’t wish to get wrapped up in the chaos and greed of someone else’s power. Levi and I do jobs for The Nameless, sure, but we do it when we want to and not the other way around.
No unneeded drama. We agreed not to be tied up in something we may not be able to get out of at the end of the day.
“I’m not a part of anything,” he drones, sounding bored. “Relax.”
“Then how would you, a no one, be able to get The Nameless over here?”
“Just because I know some boys in it doesn’t mean I’m in it, Bay.”
My face twists in disbelief, because that’s bullshit. “How would you know, though? They’re called The Nameless for a reason. One could walk by me right now and I wouldn’t know if he?—”
“Because, like I just said”—his brows knit together—one of them pierced with a silver bar—for the hundredth time in the last ten minutes he’s been here—“they’re some of my boys. I do have friends, ya know.”
“Lev…”
He meets my uneasy stare with a confident one. “I’m just like you, boring as fuck. I run their drugs on the side for extra cash. You and I make our money off cars and races. And the occasional illegal lobster poaching.”
I study his expression, searching for any signs of guilt, but come up with none.
Boys have pride and don’t enjoy being the oddball out. They desire power, hence why wars have broken out all over the world for centuries. So, my ultimate fear is Levi getting caught up in a mess and not being able to dig himself free.
“We good now?” he presses, regaining my attention before jerking his thumb over his broad shoulder. “I’m gonna take your sisters to school. You headin’ out to class now?”
I shake my head. “No…I dropped out.”
His features turn murderous. If I had a dollar… “You’re bitchin’ at me about The Nameless when you flipped the script and left school? Nah, you were gonna go to college to get us the fuck out of here.”
“It’s only until I can get caught up on the bills.”
“Hell no.” He twists his body to give me the full width of his.
Steroid pushin’ ass.
He swears he doesn’t, but I swear he does. No reason why he should be this big and stay that way with the nature of how he could eat half the McDonald’s menu by himself in one sitting.
“Email your advisor, counselor, whatever,” he commands. “And get back in.”
“How do you expect me to pass these classes and pick up money? To take care of Ellie and Mae? Dad is barely moving. He’s depressed as fuck after the stroke, and with Mom dead…”
I can’t bear to see him like this.
Clearing my throat, I clench my hands into fists, attempting to keep myself from having a panic attack. Never had one before until last week. They’re a bitch, and it was my body warning me that I needed to watch my stress level.
“He’s not taking all this well, Lev.”
My best friend is silent for a minute, mulling over my reality. “I know. We got the bills, don’t sweat it. Now that Roger is down, we’re out that income, but we’ll make sure everything gets handled. Got it? You and Nessa were doin’ the whole school thing, and when you get that degree, we’re out of here.”
“She’s dealin’ with her dad,” I retort, raking my fingers through my knotty hair. “She’s barely passing. This isn’t the time for school.”
“Your dad wants you there.”
I lift my shoulders dismissively, because I know he does. It’s a big deal to him that I get an education so that I have more options.
Nonetheless, it doesn’t stop the bills and taking care of my family by myself. Levi helps as much as he can and claims that we’re his responsibility, too. But I can’t rely on him all the time to assist in bailing us out.
“Bay…if it keeps him happy,” my best friend stresses with narrowed eyes. “You’re gonna do it.”
“Do you realize how long it’s going to take me to become an occupational therapist? Let’s just make this money and get the fuck out.”
“This town is home. This community has taken care of everyone.”
“And this place is the premier target for the Forsaken Crew and all their merry little men. We’re cut off, Lev. They literally surround us, and behind us is the fucking ocean. Hence they’re amazing decision making on taking the North half of the town so they could box us in.”
“Bay—”
“What are The Nameless even doing?” I press on. “Do they have a bomb-ass plan to make all this shit stop? Because I’m tired of living in a cage.”
Levi stares at me for a second before motioning with his head for me to come forward.
I do.
Fuck this man, but I’d follow him to the ends of the Earth and back barefoot.
There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for him. Levi has been my everything for as long as I can remember.
I didn’t always listen, and that got me into a bunch of shit, but he’s never left me. I’m as much a part of him as he is me.
“I dunno,” he mutters into my hair after I’ve wrapped my arms around his waist in a hug and rest my cheek against his rock-hard chest. “Let’s ride this out. Get back into school. Don’t stress your old man out any more than he is.”
“I don’t like school.”
“Who the fuck does?”
I roll my eyes. “Fine. For Dad.”
“And.”
“ For Dad.”
Levi squeezes me tighter, and I close my eyes, able to focus on the steadiness of my breathing and the cocoon of safety that I feel when he’s around.
“I got an offer last night…wanted to know if you want in.”
“Another drug run?”
“Nah, this one’s fucked.” I lift my head and find Levi staring into the cabinets behind me. “Gonna hijack a semi with guns that are supposed to go to the Forsaken Crew.”
“The fuck?” I immediately shake my head. “What did I just say about this gang shit?”
“Do you know how much money we could get for those AKs?” He glances down at me, and I’m so fucking lost with how he’d even be okay with this. Levi didn’t permit me to run weed until I was sixteen because I did it without him and crossed The Landings just fine.
Now, he wants me to come with him on a gun heist?
“Who are you?” I ask as I pinch my brows together.
He smiles at my answer for some reason. Maybe it’s because I’m not doing so many stupid things lately. “That’s my girl.”
He leans forward and places a kiss on the top of my head, alluding to the fact that he was testing me.
Dick.
Breaking from me, Levi spins around and approaches my sisters. “Hey, y’all want me to take you to school today?”
Two sets of pretty blue eyes latch on to the dude in front of me.
“Did you bring the black car?” Mae, my sweet, tiny morsel of innocence of eight, asks, milk dripping from her spoon as she patiently waits for him to respond. It’s Levi’s pride and joy, a 1981 Chevy Malibu with a shit ton of stuff done to the motor.
“I did,” he replies. “I know it’s your favorite.”
Mae squeals with excitement as she shoves her cereal into her mouth quicker to be finished.
“Don’t choke,” I assert, before mumbling, “I’ve already dealt with enough.”
“Is Bay coming with us?” Ellie inquires nervously, pausing the small brush over her nails.
I loathe the anxiety in her tone from her getting bullied by this insufficient shithead, Braxton, in one of her classes. I have yet to catch his ass while dropping her off or picking her up.
Levi says he likes her. I say bust his little sixteen-year-old ass in the balls and that’ll get him to act right, regardless of his true feelings.
Awful advice, because I’m trying to keep her on the straight and narrow.
“Absolutely,” I assure her with a wink. “I got you.”
She gives me a weak smile and returns to her breakfast of aftermarket cereal. Meanwhile, I head to my bedroom to grab my cell and wallet, ignoring the growl in my stomach for food. We’re running low on groceries, and I have to make a “run” today to get the girls some snacks for school. I have to give them the last of my cash for lunch.
It’s then that my view falls in the direction of the giant-ass hole from my shotgun last night within the white drywall.
“Do it.”
My finger teases the stiff lever of my weapon, gaping at pitch-black eyes before yanking on the trigger.
I jerk backward, my shoulder immediately taking the kick of the shotgun as the sound angrily pierces my eardrums.
Before I’m able to lay focus on my target again, I’m shoved into the wall behind me. My skull unforgivingly knocks into the hard surface and the length of my metal weapon thrusts viciously into my throat.
I missed.
That, or I closed my fucking eyes.
“Don’t hesitate,” the man in front of me reprimands, his voice a dark and dirty octave that could considerably do much more than break into my house. “Just do.”
I clutch onto the long barrel, warmed by being used, and try to drive the gun away from my neck. “Fuck off.”
He immediately releases me, stepping away before I’m fixated on the front end of his handgun this time. The adrenaline and fear dripping off my body have me frozen against the wall where he left me.
Then he glances over to Mae and Ellie’s bedroom.
I mindlessly leap for him, a stupid decision with a handgun pointed at my face, but he pulls back on the hammer without so much as looking at me, followed by a distinct click.
I freeze like he cast an ice-cold sheet over my body to keep me from moving before he cranes his head back to me. I couldn’t move again if I wanted. Slowly, he backs down the hall, and his buddy opens the front door to leave.
Then they’re gone.
I didn’t tell Levi about the last part.
The way he responded about the news on the phone was the only indicator I needed to show me that he might do something stupid.
And I can’t afford that.
The moment the gun went off in the house, it only took another minute for Mae and Ellie to come out in a panic. I was able to cover up that I was watching TV too loud, which prompted them to forget it.
Dad was on sleeping pills and—high five to the pharmaceutical company—because he dreamt right through the ordeal.
Now to fix the damn hole.
I currently put an old My Little Pony poster up of Mae’s to cover it. Mrs. Gomez is gonna ask what the fuck that’s about, but I don’t have to explain shit to her. We’re redecorating for all she knows.
Snatching up my backpack, cell, and headphones, Mrs. Gomez from next door is already chatting away with Levi. She takes care of Dad until I get home from the two classes I have at the community college. She has nothing else to do and looks for extra things to do to get out of the house.
“Hey, Dad,” I sing-song, trying to put on a normal facade when I walk into the living room. “Levi and I are takin’ off. Be nice to Mrs. Gomez.”
His matching blue eyes flick over to me, clear and defeated, as he sits in his brown chair and aimlessly stays there. The stroke has taken not only his motor skills but some of his speech too.
Mrs. Gomez was able to obtain a walker to help him get around to the bathroom, and we walk through the front room to get his muscles moving, but it’s going to be a process.
“We playin’ Connect Four tonight?” He blinks at me once and turns back to the TV. “Don’t wanna lose, huh?”
That immediately grabs his attention again, the competitiveness I’ve adopted from him getting the best of his conscience.
“A-a-lr-r-right,” he says, his deep voice a tad slurred. “B-b-br-r-ring m-me…b-b-back hamb..ur..g-g-gers.”
“Hamburgers?” I repeat with clenched brows. “Doc’s orders were less red meat.”
Dad promptly glowers at me.
That didn’t affect any motor or facial skills.
I shrug. “I guess it’s the least I can do since I’m planning to kick your ass tonight.” I lean over his chair and kiss his forehead. “Love you.”
Ellie and Mae scuttle into the room, unicorn and purple backpacks strapped on their backs as they round my body to say goodbye to Pops.
Fear rears its ugly head on cue. If those guys show back up when I’m not here, Mrs. Gomez isn’t going to fend them off with anything but the Spanish coming out of her mouth. I shouldn’t be leaving. I need to stay here and?—
“Ready, Bay?” Levi shows up within the threshold of the family room, arms crossing and waiting for us to go.
I nod. I won’t let two fucking dickheads freak me out like a silly little bitch.
I require those damn security cameras, though, so I can keep tabs on Dad.
And like a JD Wentworth commercial, I need them now.