SO COLD (18+) currently editing

Chapter 37

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SO COLD

I pushed the keys through the letterbox and held my finger on the buzzer until the hallway light was switched on. I was relieved someone was home. Tito barked loudly from the passenger seat in the GTR and soon Ghost copied him. Hurrying across the road, I ducked behind a plumber's van just as James unlocked and opened the front door. The keys clinked in his hand and his eyes fell on the car and then roamed the street. At first uncertain, he became alert and suspicious. His hand moved behind his back and he returned with a gun. Tito attempted to push his body out of the half-rolled window and his yaps were excited.

When James eased up, he unlocked the car and the dogs bounded on him, each desperate for attention. Fat whined from the backseat. "What the hell are you boys doing here?" James murmured, rubbing Ghost behind his ears, gaze sweeping across the neighbourhood. "Get in." He ushered the dogs inside and Fat toddled slowly behind his brothers. I was going to miss them.

James shut the door and I lingered around for a while longer. My knees were pressed onto the gritty pavement and my hands rested on my thighs. The late January sky was bleak and foggy. The distance ahead was murky. Walking across town took over an hour. My knuckle rapped on the door. It was 11:28 p.m. and a school night, I hoped I wasn't waking anyone up.

"Get the door!" A woman yelled.

The door was unbolted and his jaw fell. "Shay? Where the hell have you been?" he hugged me tightly, his sandwich held in one hand, quickly swallowing his last bite. "You are in so much shit at college, lemme tell you, I went around to the flat to pass on your work but it's been demolished. Yvonne was convinced you were dead under the rubble. It was insane ...oh, shit. You wanna come in?"

"Yeah, thanks," I peeled off my boots and set down my backpack in the hallway and turned to Bryson. "I'll explain everything to you, I will but uh, I came here for the Shogun. Has your brother repaired it yet?"

"He's over at his girlfriend's house, I'll ask him to bring it in the morning, yeah? Are you hungry? I'm making sandwiches."

"Can you call him and get it here today, like right now?"

"What's the rush? Where are you staying? I checked in with your brother and he told me he hasn't seen you for a while. What's going on?"

"I'm sorry, I just...fuck."

"Sit down," he pulled out a stool and went to the sink, filling a glass with water and then returning to me. "Drink up. You look clammy."

"Is everything alright, sweetie?" his mum called.

"Yeah, Mum," he hoisted himself up on the counter top and then locked gazes with me. "You're in trouble. You don't have to explain yourself. It's cool. I know you're going to run and I'll help you get away. Whatever it is, whatever you need, I'm here. But it's late at night, you're acting as if you've got a twitch and you're not in the right frame of mind. Stay here. You can take my bed and then tomorrow I'll call my brother and he'll be here before the birds can twitter. How does that sound?"

"If you know that much then you know I can't tell you everything," I set the glass down, feeling slightly better. Relaxed.

"My uncle's been on the run since I was ten. He tells a different story every time I ask and I've already Googled him," he smiled. "Armed robbery. He's in Ireland right now with his third wife."

The corner of my lips tilted upwards and then fell, "I won't be coming back. I can't...shit. My life is a mess. When the hell did it get this bad? Everything has fallen apart. I don't even have a clean bra. I feel like I should be listening to Ed Sheeran in a cold room and drinking beer that I don't even like. What am I saying? It should be Coldplay."