23. Bay
TWENTY-THREE
bay
“Why are you two weirdos here?” I pose the question to Juice and Hot Rod, surrounding my dad as they eat hamburgers and fries like they haven’t eaten in over a year. Levi was supposed to be hanging out with Dad and the girls while I ran to the grocery store to grab a few things.
“Haven’t seen your old man in a while,” Juice replies, stealing a glance at me from the TV just to promptly return it.
Fair enough.
Flicking my gaze to Hot Rod, he rises from the dining room chair he moved from the kitchen that sits at Dad’s other side. They’re all using his hospital table that hovers over his La-Z-Boy as a shared table, and it’s a mess.
“Got a second?” he asks me, striding in my direction, still chewing the food he bit off his hamburger.
“I charge by the minute,” I tease with a smile, placing down my backpack from school along the wall of the small foyer.
“Put it on my tab, smartass,” he quips back with a roll of his eyes, knocking lightly into my shoulder as he carries on into the kitchen.
He doesn’t stop until he’s tucked into the small part by the fridge and microwave, where no one from the living room can see him, leaning up against the countertop in a white wife-beater, layered in tattoos from his neck all the way down to his ankles.
“What’s up?” I press, opening the fridge and plucking out a bottled water. My phone buzzes in the back pocket of my jeans, and I immediately retrieve it.
TRAVIS: You didn’t need to buy me any more books. I’m not that quick of a reader when it comes to Quantum Mechanics. I don’t need any more.
Right.
So, I may have bought him more shit to do so that he’s not texting me every hour to make sure I’m okay and to ask me if I’ve told Levi yet.
BAY: My bad. I mean, I read mine on the way home.
BAY: While driving.
TRAVIS: LOL.
TRAVIS: Thank you. And for the green jello you dropped off, too.
BAY: See, there’s something wrong with you because no one in their right mind likes that shit, Trav.
TRAVIS: Says the chick who doesn’t like mayo, Bay.
BAY: What time do you get off work today?
TRAVIS: When I get done with this presentation for my boss.
“What are my chances of you keeping your voice down in here?”
Steering my attention from my phone to Hot Rod, he’s already staring at me and impatiently waiting for me to stop fucking on my phone.
I chuckle. “Pretty good, because you’re in my secret hiding spot as of late.”
His facial expression doesn’t illuminate any jokes on the horizon, or that he’s going to say something that’s just going to get me to shrug it off.
No, this is serious.
“Dude, what?”
“It’s Levi,” he grounds out, crossing his bulky inked arms along his matching chest. “And you need to shut the fuck up with the next part.” My heart automatically begins to beat on itself in my chest as I stare back at my buddy, who’s Levi’s buddy, whose family. “Forsaken Crew picked him up last night. We were on a run and—” I step forward, hoping the movement will wake me up from a nightmare or from falling asleep in class.
“Stop,” I seize through my teeth. “This isn’t funny, Hot?—”
“Do I look like I’m fuckin’ around?” He furrows his brows at me and continues, “I saw that Torin motherfucker. We were…pickin’ off some cars last night in Wharf Bay. Blacked-out SUV came rollin’ down the street, and started poppin’ off rounds. Juice and I took cover, thought he was right the fuck behind us.” He rubs at his temple and blows out a heavy breath. “He was right behind us.”
I place a palm on his bicep and squeeze in comfort. And to also keep me from definitely freaking the hell out.
All I can hear are the same things over and over and over again.
Torin motherfucker.
He was right behind us.
“Is that the first shot, baby? You’re going to war with me?”
I pushed him too hard the other night. I called his bluff, and now my best friend is paying for the shit I’ve been keeping from him because I wouldn’t back down.
I can’t take any more of this. I’m not eating. I’m barely sleeping. And South Shore is becoming a breeding ground for misery these days.
“Where…is he?”
“They scooped him up,” he deadpans, filling in the blanks, but not all of them.
“Did you…” I brace myself for the answer before I even ask the question. “Did you find blood?”
Hot Rod nods once, and the space around us feels like it’s closing in.
A weighty pressure falls to my chest, and I summon every piece of courage and rationality to come to the forefront of my brain, because having a nervous breakdown is the last thing that’s going to make this better.
“There’s something else,” Hot Rod mutters eerily. “And I’m not sure which you’re not gonna like more.”
I meet his hazel eyes and hold my breath. It’s up to him if he’s going to let me faint on the ground or come out with it. I’m hoping he takes longer than the latter because I need a nap.
“Levi…is the leader of The Nameless, Bay. And the Titan seat in South Shore.”
I scoff dismissively, not even letting the comment scratch the surface of my already bruised brain. “No, he’s not.”
Hot Rod cocks his head in mock challenge, and I immediately notice that there’s no humor in his expression. “Why do you think no one fucks with you? Why do you think Matteo De Leon fucked off after you separated from him? Why is it that you can run favors and not be initiated in? You’ve been runnin’ with all of us for years, Bay. We’re all?—”
“ Don’t .” I shove my palm in his face, blocking it and anything else he has to say. I am one more circumstance away from losing my entire mind right now. “Don’t you dare tell me you’re all part?—”
“Of The Nameless,” he finishes unremorsefully for me like the asshole he is. “Yeah…we are.”
Am I that fucking stupid?
How is it that I see this man, Juice, and Levi almost every day of my life and not know that my best friend holds the most powerful spot in all of South Shore?
Because I’d kick their ass?
But Levi…no.
No, no, no.
Nope.
We made a pact, no gangs.
Zero.
I guess my facial expressions aren’t as strong as I wanted them to be because the betrayal from my best friend seeping through my veins is red hot and it hurts.
Hot Rod pulls me into his hard chest and wraps those boulder arms around me. A choked sob exposes me next, because maybe I could’ve gotten on him and all of them making this never happen.
Torin Wildes just declared war.
It didn’t take a brain scientist, nor have I ever denied that I wasn’t with Levi. And he took the perfect ransom piece to get back at me.
To get me to not show up for that fucked-up Friday dinner.
“He’s not safe,” I blurt out into Hot Rod’s chest, tightly gripping the cotton fabric of his shirt. “We need to get him out.”
“We will.”
I pull myself somewhat out of his firm hold, but his arms are still wrapped around me. “No, now .”
“Gotta find him first, Bay,” he replies. “It’s already being worked on.”
“Rod, dude, right now. You just said he holds a Titan seat.”
He eyes me suspiciously. “Yeah…”
“Isn’t that, like, treason or something? Can’t we get someone to?—”
“No one else is going to get involved with this. Two seats that have been going at it for over a decade, that just leaves two open spots if we all decide to kill each other for someone else to take.”
“So, what is this?” I press, wiggling myself out of his grip. “A hostage situation where they want something from us?”
Hot Rod actually has the balls to chuckle at that. “Eh, no. There are plenty of things they could be doing right now with Levi.”
“Like?”
He rocks his head back and forth. “Let’s start looking at the bigger picture here.”
“Levi is the big picture here,” I retort through my teeth. “What are they going to do?”
“Bay.” He says my name with an exasperated sigh. “I’m not a mind reader.”
“But you’re part of a gang, so what do you dumbasses do all day but piss each other off?” I prop my hand on my hip and it’s better than cracking it across his face right now.
How could he allow this?
Why did they decide this was a good idea and just keep it a secret? That they could sleep at night knowing that I didn’t know when I’d been on a mission to keep us all out of the drama?
“You are all so high up my shit list,” I ground out as I set my concentration on a box of unopened cookies. “I seriously can’t fucking believe you.”
“Bitch later. We’ll get Levi and he can tell you all about it. I’m not sure how much he wants you to know.”
My face twists. “Obviously nothing since I didn’t know?—”
“Take it up with him, little asshole. I’m tellin’ you that he’s missing.”
I push my cheek out with the tip of my tongue, swallowing my temper, and straightening my spine.
Stepping out of Hot Rod’s hold, I put my big girl face on. “You said Torin Wildes was there?” Hot Rod nods, and a hazy plan formulates in my head. “You know of any places he hangs out?”
“One.”
“I know another.”
He lifts a brow. “You do?”
Yep. He cornered me there one time. Said he liked fresh fruit and shit.
“We can put some heat on the situation; however, how many dudes do you have?”
“Enough,” he deadpans.
Whatever, not going to ask.
“Good.” I meet his dark pools of browns and greens. “I need two.”
“What?” I can’t say that I don’t like the prompt look of surprise on my friend’s face.
I smirk, but allow my words to sink in. I’m getting my best friend back.
So I can kill Torin myself.