Page 58 of Eternal Pieces
“So how much then?” I repeat. “My friend is usually the one who buys our shit, but it’s my round tonight.”
Thinking he’s about to scam me out of everything I have on me, Aaron smirks and grabs his beer off the coffee table.
“Not here. Follow me.”
He takes me through another door that leads to the kitchen I saw earlier and outside to the patio. I’ve yet to see or hear from Max. He could still be searching, but something feels off.
“So who’s your friend?” Aaron asks, taking a packet of cigarettes out of the fold of his toga and lighting one up. He offers me one, and I shake my head.
“Joshua.” I pull the name out of my ass and hope for the best. “He usually gets his gear from Teddy.”
“Joshua…” Aaron mulls the name over as he leads me past the outdoor pool. More people are partying out here. All of them are too busy with themselves or each other to pay us any attention.
“I know a few Joshes.” He finishes the dregs of his beer and tosses the bottle into the pool. “Cool mask by the way. Reminds me of something. Is it from a movie?”
We stop by the closed doors of the pool house. It’s quieter over here. No lights on to attract the guests. The perfect spot for Max and me.
Aaron leans against a wooden pillar to scrutinize my outfit and waits for my answer.
“Yeah, a movie. So you gonna let me buy anything or not?”
He stares at me for a moment, dragging on his cigarette before flicking it to the floor and crushing it under his sandal.
“Sure. In here.” He points his thumb at the door, gesturing for me to go in first.
I take a look over my shoulder for any sign of Max, but don’t see him. Something still feels off, but at least the pool house will work for what we need.
Keeping myself alert, I head inside. Aaron closes the door behind us, and I sneak a look at my phone. No new texts yet.
“I keep it all in the kitchen, it’s just through there.”
Walking through the door Aaron’s pointing at, I keep the bat held tightly in my hand.
Shit. I knew something was off. Max is sitting on a chair, a bruise forming around his eye. His mask is glowing on the table next to him and his bat is in fucking Theodore’s hands as he chokes my brother with the metal.
“You really think James didn’t tell me about the dumb masks you guys wore? Fucking idiots,” Aaron mutters the last part. Catching me off guard, he knees me in the balls. I involuntarily let go of the bat, and he grabs it before it hits the ground. He yanks my mask off and drops it in front of me, then walks away with a smug smile on his face.
“Let my brother go you fucking psycho,” I wheeze, picking my mask up and stuffing it in the pocket of my leather jacket as I attempt to straighten up.
“Why the fuck would we do that when you came here ready to hurt us?” Theodore shouts, moving the bat closer to Max’s throat.
“You can’t scare us like you did James. And now that you have too much to lose you’re not going to do shit,” Aaron taunts.
Max’s face is pissed as he listens to the two guys try to sound macho, but he keeps still, biding his time. He’ll have a way out of this. That’s his thing. That’salwaysbeen his thing. My brother is the brains, and I’m the brawn. I just have to wait for his signal.
“What we have to lose is exactly why we’re going to destroy you. We should have killed your friend when we had the chance,” Max spits at Aaron.
I take a step forward, but before I can do anything, Aaron hits Max in the stomach with the bat.
“I’m going to kill you!” I snarl.
“Uh-uh.” Aaron points the bat at me, stopping me from getting any closer, and then aims it at Max’s knee. “Try anything and your brother will be leaving twice the cripple he came here as tonight.”
Max’s shoulders shake, his head tipped down. He’s laughing. Theodore shifts uncomfortably behind him. His head snaps up, and he locks eyes with Aaron.
“You’re on track to be a professional football player, you wouldn’t want anything to ruin that. Especially not when your mom’s killing herself working overtime at the hospital, and your dad had to take out another loan to support your dreams. All it would take is one phone call to the bank or one little medical slip-up for it all to come crashing down. You can beat the shit out of us here and threaten our family all you like, but the only wayyou’re getting away with any of this is by killing us. If we leave here breathing, your entire life will come crashing down.”
“All these two do is talk shit!” Aaron shouts. “I’ve had enough, I’ve got a party to get back to.” He gears up to hit Max on his good side. No. He’s not going through that again. My brother,my twin, has experienced enough pain for more than one lifetime. If anyone has to go through anything like that again, it’ll be me.
