I had the day off work today. Thank God, because I worked five days in a work and I'm glad this day has finally come. I was gonna chill today, but I thought today would really be a great day for me to have my talk with Ashton. Plus I need someone to talk to after that whole ordeal, because i'm still worked up and itll be a matter of time if they find out I'm the culprit.
I got up. I got my keys and got in to my car and I drove over to Ashton's. Unlike me, Ashton doesn't have a job, due to his criminal background. However, he makes SSI. He technically, doesn't have a disability, but his brother was able to hook him up. Finally, I pulled up on his driveway. I see his black GMC Sierra packed in his driveway like normal. I parked right now to it. I took a deep breath. Okay, here we go. You can do this. You got this. I got out and knocked on the door. Ashton opened the door.
"Oh, hey, Chris. Wasn't expectin' ya."
"Is this a good time?" I asked.
"Yeah. Come on in." I followed him in. I sat down and waited for him to put his pants on. Then he come back in and he was struggling to put his jeans on.
"There we go," he said. "So what's up?"
I opened my mouth to tell him about what was on my mind, but I stopped. I didn't want him to think backing out of this plan was my idea, otherwise he'd just call me a pussy as ridicule me for it. So I decided to just stretch the story a little.
"Er...Jacob and I were talking and he's having serious doubts about your plan. He thinks it's illegal and dangerous and he's afraid of getting caught."
Ashton frowned. "Really? I knew that moron was too much of a pussy to handle our plan. We shouldn't've even brought him into this."
"Yeah," I continued. "He and I spoke about this."
Ashton snorted. "I can't believe that Jew."
"Hey, I'm only passing the message."
"You, I don't blame. But as for Jacob..."
Then Ashton paused. "Wait a sec. How come Jacob ain't telling me all this himself?"
Shit. Busted. I thought of a lie.
"He...er...afraid to tell you."
"That makes a lot more sense. He doesn't even have the balls to tell me face-to-face. Well, tell him i said this. Tell him he doesn't have a choice. He needs to get his ass with us. I'm already renting a van for this ops And I'm pulling a lot of strings."
"Right," I said.
Ashton stared at me for a bit. "You look worried. You good?"
I decided to come clean. I told him everything on what was going on with my job. I explained to him what Derek had told me. When I finished, Ashton was silent for a moment, but then he said, "Well, he kinda deserved it anyway. He replaced you."
"You really think so?"
"Of course, bro. Think about it. You're a great cook. It's your passion, ain't it? Besides, dishwashing isn't."
"But what if they accuse me?"
"Relax, son, they won't. Look. You just gotta deny it. Tell 'em you had nothing to do with this."
I felt better.
"But. hey, I'm glad you're here anyway. Here's somethin' that'll take your mind off of this. I need you to do me a favor."
"What's that?"
"Listen carefully. I need you to go to my friend, Hector's house. Hector has some tools to help me break in the mall. I need you to pick them up and come straight back here. Don't bring anyone. Don't even Jacob or Miles. You need to do this alone. I don't need any witnesses."
He handed me a sheet of paper. "This is the address. He's about fifteen miles from here. And here's a hundred fifty."
I looked at the money. What kind of tools is he asking for? I wasn't too sure about this, but Ashton said. "If you do this successfully, I'll give you the key and you can steal anything you want after we finish picking this up. Do you understand me?"
"I got you."
"Good man. Once you pick the briefcase up. Hide it. Like hide it in your trunk. Or maybe under your seat. Do you happen to have a bag in your car? Like, a grocery bag?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, once you come back here. Hide it in the bag. Like as if you're coming back from the grocery store."
"Oh, I see you now."
"Please be careful. I'm counting on you. I'd come with you, but my ex is with him and I don't wanna see her."
"I got you."
"One more thing," he added. "Try not to ask Hector a lot of questions. He's had a rough life."
I gulped and I nervously left the house.
