I Told You, Eli Oxley

Chapter Thirty-Seven

I was in a pickle, for sure. I needed the money from the bank heist, but there was no way I could trust Gabe to keep his side of the deal after finding out who he really was. Plus, I wasn't sure I wanted to be around him anymore, anyway. But should my feelings of disgust and distrust keep me from realizing my dream?

After a sleepless, but thoughtful night, I made a decision. I wasn't going through with the bank hack. Too risky – I couldn't be sure that Gabe wouldn't just keep the money for himself.

I also made a couple of other decisions.

1.) I was moving out post haste.

2.) I was going to confront my dad. About everything. The biggest motivation for this was that he was my last hope for Colorado. But, since I no longer had bank hacking on my mind, knowing what was going on with him and with those girls moved up on my list of priorities.

***

I went downstairs that morning and told the guys I was moving out. Gabe wasn't in the basement with them, which was a relief. I hate confrontation.

The guys weren't happy and didn't let me go so easily, though. It was hard for me, too, because I knew I would never see any of them again – I wanted to completely disassociate myself from Gabe.

"What the hell, Eli?" JT said.

"Yeah, what the hell?" Brett echoed.

"Sorry, but the hack is off, and I've gotta go," I said.

"But what about Colorado? Are you giving up on that?" JT said.

"Not yet," I said.

"But there's no other way," Brett said. "Unless you . . . oh, shit . . . you're going to ask your dad, aren't you? And the other stuff?"

"Yup," I said. "I think it's overdue, really."

"Not a good idea," David spoke up.

"Why not?" I said.

"You're just going to implicate yourself and us."

"I won't tell him about you – promise."

"Yeah, Eli wouldn't rat us out," Brett said. "And what's his dad going to do, arrest Eli?"

"I still don't like the idea. We don't know what he's capable of," David said.

"He's my dad," I said. "I think I would know . . ." I trailed off. "Fine, I'll be careful. Take all precautions."

"So why are you moving out?" JT said. "It's David, isn't it? Tired of hearing him whacking it all night, every night? You know, you can always get earplugs."

"No, it's not David. Well, not just David," I joked.

"Then what?" Brett asked.

I had thought about this, too – coming up with a reason to tell them why I was leaving – but hadn't come up with a great excuse. "Look, guys. It's not you, it's me." It was a deflective joke. The best I had in me.

"Yada, yada, yada," JT said. "Whatever. I don't know why I even care. I don't."

"Will you still call?" Brett said jokingly.

"Of course, honey," I said back, hoping he didn't take me seriously.

I went back upstairs and packed up my stuff as quickly as possible. I wanted to get out of there before I had any chance to run into Gabe.

After I finished, I headed back downstairs to say my final goodbyes to the crew. When I came back up to the split level at the front door, Gabe was sitting on the upper stairs.