Past the Tipping Point

\ Chapter 5 /

"The fuck do you want?" Mercedes sighed before rolling her eyes, not interested to find Colby at her door.

"Is Pam here?" He tried to look past her shoulder, but she quickly closed the gap. "I knocked at her place but got no answer."

"Maybe, like me, she doesn't wanna deal with you." Mercedes spat, still clearly not accepting his presence. "How the fuck did you find me anyway?"

The two stared each other down for what seemed like ages. "Maybe it's the fact that you didn't move? Just like anyone else in this stagnant town."

"I'm here." Colby heard Pamela's voice coming from way within the apartment that Mercedes was seemingly trying to keep on lockdown from him.

"Can I come in?" He asked as politely as possible. "I just need to talk to her, that's it."

Mercedes let out a frustrated breath and opened the door wide enough for him to fit through. "Don't make yourself comfortable."

"Didn't plan on it." He promptly walked away toward Pamela and found her sitting on a couch.

Colby didn't want to come to this conclusion so early on, but he had no choice. "I can't go through with this."

"What?" Pamela was partly confused with what he was talking about, but there was a part nagging within her, warning her about what he was alluding to.

"This situation." He clarified, "Rebecca."

Pamela's stomach dropped. "What do you mean?"

"It's too much. If she won't listen to you guys, there's no way she'll ever listen to me." He shook his head, clearly tense and on edge. "Especially not after she thinks I burned her."

Mercedes interjected with a laugh. "You did."

"Not the point." He let out harshly, quickly getting too frustrated and overwhelmed. "I just, I can't do it."

"You can't, or you won't?" Mercedes rolled her eyes, enjoying his struggle.

He promptly ignored her and shifted his entire body in Pamela's direction. "Listen, Pam, I'm sorry. I really am. I wish I could help you out, but it's never gonna work."

"Make it work." Pamela wasn't the sharp type, but she wasn't being soft either. "You always have before."

"You owe us." Colby heard Mercedes speak from behind him.

"All of us." She continued, but this time her words weren't a taunt. They almost seemed like a desperate cry for help in the most hidden way possible. "And that includes her too."

"Colby, it's been almost two years." Pamela sat up straight. "That's years of not knowing if we'd see her the next day. Years of finding her in places she shouldn't be. Years of her abusing her body. Years of torment on all of us."

He looked up as she continued. "I've lost three different jobs because of her. Three. Just because I've had to tend to her. Because I've missed shifts or had to leave early to prevent her from killing herself, or fleeing to another city, or sleeping on the freeway."

He looked down as she continued. "Mercedes, Jonathan, and Joseph put their problems on hold too. But it's not my place to get into that."

His chest suddenly felt heavy. "Don't remind me about the guys."

A small smirk pulled at Pamela's lips. "Don't worry, they'd probably be better than Mercedes."

"Don't lie to him." Mercedes shook her head.

"I'm not." Pamela laughed as she stood up. "Have you met yourself?"

While the girls bickered, Colby saw it as a good distraction and slipped out of the apartment. On his way out, he saw it was raining and threw on his hood, doubling down on the decision the second he saw who was walking in his direction.

He could've spotted the menacing duo from miles away. "Speak of the devils."

The short and wiley Jonathan looked like just as much of a lunatic as ever. His dirty blonde buzz cut had replaced his shaggy hair, and he had built a fair amount of muscle, but everything else was exactly the same.

The tall and menacing Joseph had seemingly continued to grow out his black locks and kept his beard well-trimmed. For someone who looked like he couldn't get more built, he definitely had, and his tribal tattoos had expanded across his arms.

That was all Colby had the chance to process before he looked down so they couldn't recognize him. This, however, led to him accidentally knocking into one of them.

He tried to alter his tone of voice and trekked on quickly. "Sorry, man."

"Fuckin teenagers." Jonathan turned to watch the hooded man walk away, catching a glimpse of an embroidered flame along with other eclectic symbols on his hoodie. "Maybe if they looked away from those devices, they'd be able to walk in a straight line."

Joseph's laugh reverberated through the halls. "You sound worse than me. You're young and supposed to be hip."

Jonathan rolled his eyes. "You're only a few months older than I am."

"Okay, fine. You don't have a kid." Joseph raised him one. "Plus, walking in straight lines ain't exactly your thing either."

Jonathan bumped Joseph's shoulder. "At least I have a better reason than stupid online dances."

"What?" Joesph laughed. "Booze?"

Jonathan scowled at him. "You know I've been laying off recently."

"Oh, don't try to act all golden." Joseph shook his head as they walked into Mercedes' apartment. "She still manages to lure you."

"Ladies." Jonathan ignored him, knowing he had no retort. "Watch out. Hoodlums are hanging around your joint."

Pamela raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Jonathan rolled his eyes. "Some jackass teen walking with his head down."

"Figures." Mercedes grinned. "Did the jackass have a decorated hoodie?"

"Yeah." Jonathan nodded before pausing. "How'd you know?"

Pamela tried to stop her from breaking the news, but Mercedes did anyway. "Because it's Colby."

The two men stopped dead in their tracks and looked at the two women, their eyes piercing into theirs with the intensity of the sun. "What?"