Chapter 3

I used to feel like an old man sometimes. As a kid, I was on six different medications and spent the majority of my time in the hospital. Being stuck in the hospital with Leukemia wasn’t exactly how most dreamed of spending their childhood.

            “I almost forgot, I wanted to ask you guys something,” Mona said.

            “It’s not about your Brangelina idea is it? Are you going to make him be Tom Cruise?”

            She rolled her eyes. “No, doofus. My family is having pizza on Saturday, but we need two more people to come in order to make a reservation. Are you in? Your brother’s going.”

            “I’m always up for free pizza. Is your sister going to be there?”

            Mona nodded. “Yeah. Why?”

            “I haven’t seen her since she got back.”

            This was still a touchy subject for everyone. Five years before, Mona’s sister Nicola and Henry had been engaged. I’d been chosen as a groomsman and we’d even gone as far as getting bridal party fittings. Then, for reasons unknown, Henry broke up with her then she took off for New York. Henry wasn’t the same after that and I wondered how she was.

“She’s not the same Nicola that you were in love with,” Mona said.

I rolled my eyes. “I was not in love with her. I liked her in tenth grade, but I got over it.” Mona waggled her eyebrows at me as if she didn’t believe me. “What do you mean she’s not the same?”

“She’s angsty and grouchy and rude. Mostly towards any man that comes her way. We were at the grocery store the other day and she nearly threw a fit because I picked a line with a male cashier. She doesn’t like men.”

            “You mean she’s dyke?” Finn asked.

            “No, she doesn’t like women either. The breakup kind of messed her up and I was surprised she wanted to move back. But, she couldn’t afford rent anymore, so she didn’t have much choice. She tried to find her real dad to ask for help, but he never answered her letters. My mom said he’s an ass and she’s better off without him.”

            “An ass indeed,” Finn said. “He will regret it, though. Most fathers do.”

            We grew quiet, unsure of how to take that. The way he’d spoken sounded like he knew this from experience. I could feel the awkwardness getting worse, so I decided to break the silence.

            “So, Finn, tell us about yourself. I heard you were in the mafia, but I have a feeling that isn’t true.”

            He chuckled then said. “I am not in the mafia. I am much, much more dangerous.”

            We spent the rest of lunch listening to him talk about himself. Mostly because Mona would not stop asking him questions. The rumors about his coming from old money were true, but his parents were dead. He lived alone in an apartment ten minutes from school. He didn’t have a preference for music, and he didn’t have a girlfriend. That last bit had Mona fighting a smile and I knew what she was thinking. With the party only a week away, the girls were going to attack him like a flock of vultures as soon as that information got out.

            The day ended sooner than I’d anticipated. I almost wished that we were still in the homework part of the quarter so I could channel my concentration into something else. Philosophy was easy, giving bad news was not.

             I heard a drip and looked down at my notebook to see a small drop of blood on the cover. Thankfully the bathroom wasn’t too far and I got there in time before it got messy. I could usually predict when within five minutes of a nosebleed but my mind had been too occupied this time.

            When I was sure I was done bleeding, I texted Mona to let her know I was walking home and that I would see her that night. I needed to clear my head to prepare myself for dinner and I could only do that if I was alone. It was about a thirty minute walk, but with my luck I would make it in an hour.

 I was in my own little world as I went down the sidewalk. I didn’t even hear the car that had been following me about twenty feet behind. They must have moved closer because I heard the faint sound of bass vibrating and I nonchalantly glanced back to see who it was. I thought it was someone playing a joke on me, but when I saw the car, I didn’t recognize it. It was a two-thousand thirty-two black Hummer with windows so dark I couldn’t see through them. I bet they were bulletproof.

I was going to pick up my pace when the car sped up and stopped next to me then the person in the passenger seat rolled down the window. I thought it was corny that he still wore grills in his teeth even though that went out of style almost a decade ago.

“Hey you, where you going?”

“Who wants to know?”                               

The guy didn’t speak for a while and I contemplated walking away. He was of Latino descent and from where I stood, I guessed he was shorter than me. That didn’t make him seem any less intimidating with his black bandana and the scent of marijuana wafting from the car. Just because it had been legal for twenty years didn’t make it smell any less awful.

 “Hey, I know you,” the driver said. “Aren’t you Micah’s brother?”

So this was why they’d followed me? They were involved with my brother? Or rather my brother was involved with them. How did he know these guys and why were they stalking me? If this was about drugs, I was going to be very pissed. Micah was never one to get into trouble and I didn’t want him to start now.

 “I need you to pass a message,” the other guy said. “Your brother owes me five grand and I need it by Saturday. That is…if he wants Tyrell to leave that girlfriend of his alone. What’s her name again? Mona, that’s right. She’s real cute.”

My nervousness instantly went away and turned into utter fury. I didn’t care that I was outnumbered or sick and defenseless. They’d threatened my friend and that was something I wasn’t going to let slide so easily.

“Stay away from her and my family. If you even look at her funny, I’ll—”

“You’ll what, pretty boy?”

 I saw him move his hand down as if he were reaching for something and I had a feeling it was a gun. There was no way I could get out of this one. If I ran, I wouldn’t get far before I used up my energy. If I stayed there, they might do more than just shoot me. It would be a cruel irony if I died of a gunshot wound instead of my disease. The twisted part was that I was almost happy about this. It would save me from telling my parents all of my plans.

The guy was about to get out when a blue Lamborghini turned the corner really fast and rammed into the back of their Hummer. The person didn’t hit it that hard, but by the sound of the bump it probably made a significant dent. I stood there, stunned and grateful for this untimely accident, but I nearly went into shock when the driver of the blue car got out. It was Finn.

The thugs got out of the Hummer and began inspecting the damage. There were three of them and I was afraid they were going to pull a double homicide in a minute.

“Bugger,” Finn said. “I apologize, gentleman. I am not used to driving on the right side of the road.”

“You dented my car!” the driver shouted while glaring at Finn.

“What a shame. Not to come off as pompous or anything, but I doubt your car is more expensive than mine.”

“Don’t matter. You’re paying for it.”

The guy took a gun out and aimed it at Finn. The other guys chuckled and I remained frozen where I stood. This situation was quickly going south and I wished I’d let Mona drive me after all.

“Put that away, son, you are going to hurt someone,” Finn said in a tone that was way too calm.

“Yeah I’ll put it away…in your head.”

Before I could process what was happening, Finn grabbed the gun, wrenching it from the thug’s hand and held it in the air. He fired six times. I wasn’t worried about the police showing up. Hearing gunshots was a normal occurrence in Miami.

He then pointed the gun right in the man’s face. “I am not exactly an expert on firearms, but I would assume that a gun this size holds about…seven rounds? Why don’t we find out?”

He pulled the trigger and the man actually squealed. To his luck, the gun had been empty.  I couldn’t blame him for yelling; I was terrified just watching this. What if there had been another bullet? His brains would be all over Finn right now.

“I suggest you gentlemen run along now,” Finn commanded. He tossed the gun back to its owner. “Come near him, or anyone associated with him again and I will disembowel you then hang your guts from a tree.”

 The grill guy glared at him for a moment then they took Finns advice and got into the car, driving away at a quick speed. For the first time in ten minutes, I let out a breath of relief. I thought today was the day I was going to die, but now I had a second chance. I doubted this was the last I was going to see of them.

“Get in,” Finn said with a triumphant smile on his face. “I’ll take you home.”

I got in without a word and he drove off. Neither of us said a word for a while and I kept replaying the past fifteen minutes over and over in my head. Finn came just in time to save my life, and possibly endangered his own in the process. Why would he do that? He barely knew me and we’d talked for maybe five minutes.

“Are you insane?” I finally asked. “First, you call that guy a Nazi on your first day then you threatened a bunch of gang members. Not to mention you hit their car.”

 Finn laughed. “I told you. I am more dangerous than the mafia.”

What did that even mean? He didn’t seem dangerous to me. Suicidal maybe, but not dangerous. But I owed him my life. Thanks to him, I would be able to see my family again as well as my friends and live to see whether or not I could do something with what time I had left.”

“Do you always walk home?” Finn asked. It took me a second to realize he’d asked me a question. I was having trouble processing words and thoughts.

“No. My car is in the shop, but it can’t get fixed until I can pay the guy.”

“Hmm.” Finn switched hands on the steering wheel. “I’m going to have to do something about that.”

I chuckled nervously. “What does that mean, exactly?”

“Well, I cannot have you walking home while you are in danger. How much do you need?”

“That’s not really nec—”

“How much?”

This guy was stubborn. What was his angle? He not only saved my life but was now paying for me to have my car fixed. Where the hell did he come from? And why was he making it his mission to solve all of my problems?

“Two grand,” I said warily.

Finn stopped at the stoplight then removed his wallet from his pocket, pulling out another stack of bills and began counting. I swallowed uneasily as I stared at all those hundreds. He then handed me some of them and I counted it out to see how much. It was two-thousand even.

“Happy birthday, Lucas.” He gave a sneaky smile as the light turned green and he continued driving.

“I can’t take this,” I said, trying to hand it back to him. He gently pushed my hand away.

“You can and you will.”

I was going to continue protesting when we came to a stop and I realized we were in front of my parents’ house. I hadn’t even told him how to get there, nor had I given him an address..

“How did you know where my parents lived?” I asked as I got out.

“Lucky guess, I suppose.”

“Lucky guess? More like creepy guess. I just met you today.”

“Do not wait to get that car fixed. I cannot save you every time you decide to pick fights with a bad crowd.”

He then sped off, his tires squealing and I stood on the sidewalk with my bag in one hand and the wad of cash in the other. I decided I would ask Mona to take me to pay for it during lunch tomorrow. The sooner I paid, the less chance I would have of getting mugged by walking home, or worse; shot and dumped in a ditch.

I went inside and dropped my bag by the door. The house still smelled like pancakes, which was nice. I could hear my mom talking on the phone in the living room. I didn’t hear Colton running around, so he must have been down for a nap.

The house wasn’t very big, but it was a decent size; two stories, including the attic that my parents recently refurbished to be a guest room. My mom liked to redecorate the house depending on what time of year it was. It was now May so everything was yellow and spring-like, including the dishes and pillows on the couch. She kept all of her other decorations in a storage shed in the back. Digging them out was always a whole day event, and we always knew when the seasons changed by the stacks of boxes we would find in the dining room.    

I went upstairs and looked for Micah. He was almost finished getting his Associates degree and didn’t have as many classes as me so I assumed he would be home. Sure enough, he was on his bed doing homework. I shut the door behind me and he looked up.

“Hey, Luke,” he said. “What are you doing back here?”

“Don’t hey Luke me. I was nearly shot by a couple of gang members who claimed you owed them money and I demand an explanation.”

His eyes grew wide and he set his notebook aside. I rarely ever got mad at my brother, but this was inexcusable. It was hard enough thinking about leaving him behind without worrying that he would be getting himself into dangerous situations.

My eyes wandered to a box sticking out from under his bed and I picked it up and flipped the lid. Inside of it was a month worth of refills for my past prescriptions; six pill bottles, all that hadn’t even been opened.

“I can explain,” he began.

“Is that what you’re doing? Selling my prescriptions for money?”

“No!” He paused. “Well…yes. I needed the money to pay them back and this was the only way I could think of.”

“Well, you can forget about that because…I paid off the debt for you. They threatened Mona and I would rather save your ass than let anything happened to her.”

            “What? They threatened her? I could kill those sons of—”

            “Why were you borrowing money from those guys?”

            “I…I can’t tell you. Not yet anyway. But please trust me that it’s for a good cause.”

            I scoffed. “A good cause. Right. Because selling prescription drugs on the street always has good consequences. Aren’t you a real thug?”

            Micah grabbed the box from me and went into his adjoining bathroom. After a few moments, I heard the toilet flush then he came back with all the empty bottles in a sack.

            “There, they’re gone. You happy now?”

            “Am I happy? I wish you hadn’t even had them in the first place!” I sighed then sat on his bed.  “Look, I’m not going to rat you out. If you promise not to get into that again and to stop selling the drugs, I won’t tell our parents. When you’re ready to talk, I’ll listen. Deal?

            “Yeah. Deal.”