Chapter - Bay #7
Finally that evening I step into the garden and call Ennio.
"I have good news for you. When we got there it looked like no one had noticed the accident. Yes, the guardrail is broken, but that didn’t seem to inspire anyone to check whether someone went over it.
We fixed it up just enough so the spot doesn’t immediately draw attention, and we took care of the marks on the asphalt.
Right now it will be hard to tell what actually happened there.
That’s it for covering the traces. What worries me more is whether they talked to anyone about it, but I have a weird feeling they didn’t do it over social media.
Very few idiots openly write about murder plans on a messenger that anyone can access, these things get discussed face to face. "
Relief washes over me.
"The Hansons are stupid, but maybe not that stupid. You’re right, there’s a good chance they didn’t talk about it!"
"You know, nothing can be ruled out, but I’d be genuinely surprised if they laid out their plans in messages.
More likely they told someone. My family had some…
issues with them. They run a few bars with gambling machines on our territory and we…
" Ennio hesitates, "sometimes required them to… hand over a cut. They didn’t like that.
They have a patriarch, some Eugene Hanson.
The guy is pretty clever and persistent. "
"I met him at my hearing. Do you think they told him about the plan?"
"I doubt it. Eugene wouldn’t support a crazy idea like pushing someone off a cliff, too many things can go wrong, other cars might be nearby, most cars have dash cams, what if something got recorded on a rear camera?"
"Mine does. I already secured it."
"Exactly. That’s why it’s more likely they acted on impulse, some wild idea that came to them in the heat of the moment, maybe when they spotted you. But we still can’t rule out the small possibility that they told someone."
"The question is what happens with their phones."
"They’ll be hard to track, the water is really deep there and the phones must have flooded at the bottom, so they’re inactive now."
"But what if the police try to find them based on the last place their phones pinged?"
"Remember that a tower doesn’t give you a precise spot, especially along the coast, because you need three points for an accurate location, not two, and no tower stands out in the ocean to pinpoint anything correctly."
"How do you even know all this?"
"Stuff like this is life or death for a lot of my family, Bay. We have to think of everything."
"So it will take them a while to reach the bodies?"
"Well, eventually they’ll find them, that’s something you have to expect, but I’d advise you to fix the bumper on your car… paint residue is a strong clue, and I can help with that too, I know discreet mechanics who don’t ask questions."
"Thanks, Ennio, my debt keeps growing, you’re saving my ass."
I let out another breath.
"I’ll call you if anything changes, if there’s any news about their deaths."
A short pause.
"I take it that with that car going over the cliff three of your targets disappeared."
"Yep, I don’t have anyone on my list right now because Rob and Vin… well, besides the fact they pulled that stunt on me and snitched to their brothers, they still haven’t landed on my list of people to eliminate… but who knows what might happen."
"And maybe it’s better if they don’t land there, it would make for a suspiciously high concentration of deaths in one family."
"True. It feels strange. After all that waiting, planning, pacing, and suddenly, like a magic trick, everything resolved itself."
I grimace slightly at my own words.
"Well, now you can try to… live, Bay. Be free."
I chuckle. It sounds somehow incredible.
When the call ends, a strange kind of euphoria washes over me.
Is this really the end? Are those four people really gone, the ones who hurt me, taken out along with the ones who started it all, all of them wiped off the face of the earth.
Am I free, as Ennio mentioned?
It suddenly occurs to me…
Maybe it’s my decision. It’s up to me now!
What comes next, how the next stage of my life unfolds.
I wander around the garden for a while, conflicting emotions pulling at me. I feel like crying and at the same time like screaming and laughing, because they’re erased. Those rotten bastards are dead, and now it’s time to change everything, time to shake off the chains that held me down.
And exactly then my phone starts ringing again.
It’s Alex.
"What’s up?"
"Listen, my dad has some urgent trip, I’m staying home alone for the weekend, maybe you’d like to come over? We could have a fun little hangout?"
I hesitate. I’ve never spent the night at Alex’s before. Should I?
Does it mean something? An opportunity to change something? To push my life onto a new, better track?
Unsettling, but in a strangely tempting way.
"Sounds good, I hope my folks let me go."
I head to the kitchen where my dad is talking to Jordan, and Snow and Rain are sitting there too, snacking.
"Dad, Alex just called to say his dad’s leaving him alone for the night, he has to take care of some work stuff, and I’d like to go over for his safety," I add, because I know it’s a solid argument.
Snow lifts his gaze and locks it on me. Rain shoots me a sideways look. After the summer he’s heading to high school too and acts like he already knows all the secret knowledge of the universe.
Dad watches me for a moment, then says,
"Alright, just don’t do anything risky, Bay."
Rain hides a smirk, making sure Dad doesn’t see it, and raises the fingers of his left hand forming an O, then uses the index finger of his right hand to make a thrusting motion through it.
I give him the finger right away.
Dad turns toward Rain, but Rain’s face is all innocent and his hands drop to his sides in an instant.
"Me? Have I ever done anything risky?" I ask out loud, though of course in my head I’m well aware that killing people definitely counts as highly risky.
Dad tilts his head with a small, slightly uncertain smile, then says, "Alright, but remember we trust you, and Alex’s dad trusts you too…"
I roll my eyes lightly, and just sigh.
After the meal, I take a shower, change clothes, pack a few things into my backpack, and for some reason… I also take my diary.
My pink Alex diary.
Then I get into my car and just as I’m about to close the door I notice Snow standing nearby.
He’s looking at my car…
"Something wrong?"
"If I were you I’d leave this car here, you can borrow mine."
That’s when I remember I’m still missing the bumper…
Snow takes the car keys out of his pocket and lets them dangle in front of me.
We hold each other’s gaze for a moment.
I swallow.
"Sure, thanks, I had a small accident on the way, nothing major," I mutter, but honestly maybe it’s better to avoid driving around in a damaged car and drawing police attention.
"Of course," Snow mutters, his expression very specific, but what can I say, my brother is one of those people you just can’t get through to.
I switch cars under his watchful eyes.
He doesn’t say anything else.
I start the engine and drive Snow’s car to Alex’s place. But before I get out, I instinctively check the glove compartment.
Inside are… condom boxes, some open, a bunch of single packets scattered everywhere.
What the fuck?!
I blink. Snow is nineteen, it’s not like it’s forbidden, but damn… ever since he started giving music lessons a lot of students come over with their parents, could that be the reason?
I shrug, and then something hits me. I pocket a few condoms. Better safe than sorry.
That strange euphoria from the call with Ennio still hasn’t left my body.
I see Alex waiting at the door and I feel real joy, like from this moment on I’ll be able to build our relationship too, maybe in a more… ‘teenage’ way…
Alex runs toward me and jumps into my arms.
Ever since we became boyfriends in March, there’s been more closeness between us, the kind Alex initiates on his own even though he tries to be careful, maybe afraid he’ll cross that line again, but sometimes I think it would be nice if he did, just to test what I’d feel.
First we eat pizza, we’re both fans of it, and we talk about random school nonsense, gossip from the band. I’m not in it anymore but I still hear about the power struggles between the new lead singer, and the second vocalist.
Once again, Alex has another chess tournament coming soon and he’s a bit stressed because this time people from outside the state will be competing too.
I offer him a chance to spar with me, and he gives me a smirk, and I scoff, "Hey, arrogance comes before the fall!"
Then we go to his room. He has a pretty cool home-theater setup, we can lie in bed while movies play on the wall in front of us.
We lie side by side sharing popcorn, and Alex moves closer until our shoulders touch.
I feel his energy next to me the entire time, warm and sweet, something that melts things inside me, heals me, wakes me up.
Whenever the movie hits a lull and neither of us is commenting, all I think about is Alex, how beautiful he is, how wonderful, how faithfully he’s stood beside me from the moment we met, like we’re two perfectly matching gloves.
After a moment I’m not paying attention to the movie at all. There’s only Alex, his aura beside me, the scent of his shampoo, his small hand resting close to mine.
And then I just say it… wild, crazy.
"Will you marry me when we turn eighteen?" I blurt out suddenly.
Alex freezes, then turns toward me in the dim light from the screen, his eyes huge and shimmering like amethyst crystals.
"Is that a serious question or a joke?"
I close my eyes for a second.