Dead Serious

Chapter 16 - The Calm Before The Storm

It was amazing that Naomi didn't call the cops on us then and there, and even more amazing that she still wanted to hang out with us. She did say a lot of mean things to us though. All fully deserved too.

In the days since Christian threatened us again, we'd each received letters in the Eternal Wings mailbox from him saying that he was going to get us. It was hardly the greatest threat in the world so we kind of assumed that he was all talk and no action. He'd also called the police and reported us for stealing his customers, but it hadn't really done anything. There was little to no evidence that we'd done anything wrong and to be honest, it was such an insane story that I don't think they were really taking him seriously. We got one visit from the police telling us to leave him alone, but when we showed them the letters he'd sent us and told them about the brick incident, they basically laughed at the whole situation. And who could blame them? Apart from us, Christian and the two investigating police officers, no one in the town knew about the war that was being waged on their streets. I actually felt as though I was in a gang!

Technically we were, but like a classic group of gangsters like Al Capone, all dressed in sharp suits. Not like today when a gangster is apparently someone who wears jeans with no belt.

And the thing about gang warfare is that none of them will ever accept defeat until the very end. With Tom as our gang leader, instead of being happy with how we were doing so far, he wanted to keep going until we had totally eliminated our rival. He had another plan, and this one was going to be the most insane one of all.

"I promise this'll be the last one" He pleaded to us.

"We have literally no reason to believe you" Aaron pointed out.

"Sure, I don't have a great track record but I'm serious! If this plan succeeds then we'll never have to worry about Christian Goldstein ever again"

"We're not killing him!" I cried, begging the heavens to end the madness.

"Guys please" Tom begged. "I wouldn't do this if it wasn't so important".

"What do you want us to do?" I asked.

"Don't even answer that!" Aaron butted in. "If this is going to be more insane than the last effort then there's no way I'm getting involved in this. I have much bigger issues to deal with right now"

"Has Vanessa let you back in yet?" I asked him.

"Yeah she let me back in last night but we're still a little awkward. We're back to planning the wedding though so that's something. I think it'll be a while before I get some sexy time though" Aaron sighed in disappointment.

"Not that you need to be reminded" Tom began, "But I'm a great friend. I'll always have your back so if you need some release, I'll let you fuck me for free. I'd do that for you brother"

"Thank you" Aaron muttered. I wasn't sure but I hope it wasn't genuine.

"So do you want to? Right now?" Tom asked.

"No thank you"

"Alright, but the offer is there so don't forget about it"

Of all of the thing's I'd seen here at Eternal Wings, this conversation was probably the weirdest of the lot.

"Anyway, back to the point" Tom said. "How can you guys not want to take Christian out once and for all? Are you forgetting that he threatened all of us? Including your girlfriend!" He looked straight at me. I have to admit, I was a little worried but Aaron eased my worries.

"What's he going to do? He's been threatening us for ages and nothing serious has happened. Are you really scared of that idiot?" He asked Tom.

"I'm not scared. And that's why I want to take him out. If I was scared then I'd be running for the hills but I'm here on the frontlines trying to save our jobs!" Tom snapped.

"That's just it! It's a fucking job Tom!" Aaron bit back. "That's all this is! So why are you getting so invested in this? Do you have a death wish? Do you want to go to jail?"

"I want people to have a good funeral and I know that Steve is the only guy who really gives a shit enough to give them that"

"I have enough things to worry about without getting caught up in any more of your dumb schemes ok?"

"Oh yeah that's right, big sexy Aaron has all these problems to deal with" Tom narked. "You're tall, good looking, have a hot girlfriend and a decent paying job. You're life really sounds like a lot work"

I wanted to break up the argument but I was having no such luck. I think they'd both forgotten I was even there and just had tunnel vision for each other.

"Is that really what you think? That's what your problem is Tom, you only think about yourself. If something isn't going your way you just blame everybody else. Do you have any idea how stressful it is to plan a wedding? To pay a mortgage? To keep a woman happy? I spend most of my life stressing out about all these things so much that the night I slept in the coffin was the best night's sleep I've had in months! But you wouldn't know that because as usual you don't care about anyone else's problems, just your own. Why are you so desperate to save this place anyway? Not the bullshit version you've given us so far, the real reason?"

Tom fell silent.

"Well?" Aaron pressed.

"Because this is all I have ok?" Tom blurted out all traces of anger in his voice were gone. "When I was just a kid my parents died. They were murdered and the police never caught the guy so they never found the bodies"

"Holy shit" I gasped.

"Are you serious?" Aaron asked sceptically.

"Yes I'm serious. That's why I want everybody to get the best funeral possible, because I could never give that to my parents. You know how when that happens to some people they become cops so they can stop those crimes happening again and all that? Well I'm doing this instead" He shrugged.

"Why didn't you become a cop?" I asked him.

"Dude, have you seen the fucking size of me? Do you really think I'd make it as a cop?" He asked. I shrugged figuring it was best that I didn't say anything.

"Dude, I'm sorry. I had no idea" Aaron sighed.

"It's ok, I was too young to remember it anyway. I hate telling people. It means I have to show emotion and that's balls. I feel like an idiot. But that's why I want to save this place. It isn't just a job to me. This is my home, this is my life! So who's with me?" He cried.

Aaron and I shared a look before giving it to Tom too. None of us said a word. We didn't need to. It was obvious that we were all in.

So you may be wondering why this chapter is titled "The calm before the storm" and I don't blame you. This was a pretty heated exchange and could be described as a storm in itself. However what followed next is the real storm. And the reason why I thought I was probably going to prison.

Enter my prologue here.

So if I don't make it, I hope that you can all forgive any part that I played in this. It was never my intention to get caught up in all of this. I just wanted a job dammit!