Being Bad

Chapter 58: Andrew's Dark Past

Lia James

I struggled to make words come to the surface. I wanted to say something—anything, but I knew that saying anything isn't what Andrew needed.

So, I decided to say nothing.

His face mirrored mine: pale and sickening, as we stared at each other. He could practically see the thought bubble that bursted out from my head with all the questions I felt threatened to ask.

So much information, in such little time.

It wasn't that I was afraid of what he's done, I was afraid that I would break him while he was trying to tell his past. The dark secrets that haunted his very life, ones that keep coming to the light, even when he's bringing them into darkness.

Andrew was in bad shape. He had a fragile mindset, and it was obvious. The way he looked as though he wanted to puke up all the secrets that he's been hiding, the depressed look he gave me, making it clear that this secret had been eating him up inside since the very day it happened.

Instead of just bombarding him with questions that would just corrupt his mind, I decided to pick one simple word.

A word that might just break him.

"How?"

He furrowed his eyebrows with sadness, turning away from me. His presence turned cold and uninviting, as if he were a piece of ice, chipping away and drifting afloat in the sea.

I take his hand in mind, not aggressively but more softly, to comfort him. I know he can do this, he's capable of opening up.

He did it to me once before.

He can do it again.

"It was the the day before the last day of sophomore year. I had spent the last three weeks doing gang related activities, because she had been ignoring me for who the fuck knows what." He started.

"She got all nervous around me before she started avoiding me. It was like she had all these secrets to tell me, but she didn't feel obligated to say. But I let it slide, because I too had secrets I didn't want to share."

"So, when she called me that one night, I was taken aback. It was the first time she contacted me in forever." He paused. "Little did we both know it turned out to be the worst day for the both of our lives."

FLASHBACK

It was late in the evening, June 13th 2017. I had just received a text from one of the gang groups I was working for that year that we were going to crash a superior gangs underground party to steal all their money and women.

I wasn't interested in getting the women, I wanted that money. It was the only thing.

I had received a weekly allowance for helping at my Dad's car company, and doing some cleaning at my Mom's record label, but other than that, that was it.

Unfortunately, my allowance money wouldn't suffice.

I needed to upgrade my gun, I needed more bullets, more gear, and mostly importantly, more parts to build my motorcycle. And my parents wouldn't even give me an ounce of money if they knew what I was using it for.

So, I was all on my own.

This job alone, if we were successful, I would gain about 50,000 which would be enough to cover nearly half of the items on my list. But, this was the only way I could get access to all this money, from stealing and fighting other gangs.