Our fallen souls [EN] (High Enough) : VOLUME 1

24 - Blake

"Would you like something to eat, Blake?" my grandmother asks in a soft voice.

"No, thanks, Grandma. I'm going to go out for a walk, I'll pop in somewhere for lunch. Get some rest. You need it..."

I've been struggling for a few days to get away from it all. That fucking moment when I had to tell her my old man had died, it keeps haunting me. I don't know if she's relieved for me, since I had to tell her that he used to get me high. Anyway, she doesn't seem to care. I think she's disappointed in her own son.

I place a quick kiss on her forehead before heading out.

Atlanta is far from my favorite city, but at least here nobody knows me.

A lot has happened since my father died. I shut myself up at home for the first two days. I didn't even drink, I just thought about a lot of things. Then I had to tell Shawn and Jared that our old boss had been killed by the police, right in front of my eyes. Although we're not overly touchy-feely, they took me in their arms quickly to support me. Following my father's death, Jared's father took over the bar. Rachel and her whole crew sent me their condolences, as if I gave a damn. Of course, since they don't know, I pretended to be sad. The only good news for me and my brother is that we're going to get the inheritance money, and it looks good. I hope it'll be enough to get me out of this decrepit apartment. Pretty soon, I'll be squatting in fraternities all over campus if this keeps up.

After all that, I told myself I had to clear my head somewhere else, away from the routine that's eating away at me. I had to tell my grandmother about the old man's death. Clyde decided to go along with me on this one. We've never been so close. I feel like our father's death has brought us closer together. We flew to Atlanta. I spent almost everything I earned recently on plane tickets.

I still have a few things to sort out, things like Shelby and her brother. The more time goes by, the crazier they get. I won't be able to kill anyone, but if I don't do something, it'll get worse. Turning them in to the cops would only get me in trouble, especially with their psycho old man. Unless I take them straight to their lair, with a fucking police raid, there'll be nobody left but Shelby. Shelby doesn't sell, she's just an accomplice, and even then, she'll be protected by her old man and his girlfriend to testify.

I could have done it before, I should have done it before, but they would have burned me. Except that now, my hideout's nowhere to be found, so they can always look.

I light my fag and climb up to the roof of a store, as I used to do before. I sit on the edge, my legs dangling in the air, and reach for my phone. My fingers are shaking, but it's now or never.

I decide to call the cops.

I can't fucking believe it. I've always spat in their faces, and now I have to ask them for help.

They're the only ones who can put a fucking stop to all this bullshit.

In a few minutes, I throw everything at them. I make up a story about how I found out about their operation and stash, pretending to be a friend of one of the guys. I tell them it's a huge cartel, that the dad's into guns and drugs. I ask to remain anonymous, even though they'll end up thinking it's just me. Once I've finished, I don't expect any fucking answer from them, and hang up, my heart pounding in my chest.

"You should have done it so long ago," comes a voice from behind me. I turn and find Clyde clinging to the ladder. He climbs up and lands beside me.

"I knew you'd be here," he continues. "Do you think this will work?"

"I hope so," I sigh.

"Why didn't you do it before?"

"Because they would have denounced our father, and I didn't want him to end up in prison, I wanted him to die."