Hell Has A New Name

24

The apartments Amber had chosen to look at were way nicer than anything he would have found. He didn't really have a budget, he was still waiting for his accounts to be finalized so he could use his own money. For now he was good pretending the money he was using was from his own funds. He had figured up what his take should have been on the sale of his business, he figured if he stayed within those means he could pay Tully back. Hopefully he'd have some sort of job, any job to help pay for things.

The third apartment they went through was nice, but not fancy. There was a garden out back the tenants shared, a key code to get into the main floor hall. A receptionist like you'd see at a hotel, they apparently handled mail. They also didn't like to be called a receptionist, apparently those people were property management.

The apartment was spacious, very open. It was studio, which Juice liked. His kitchen, living room, and bedroom were all one big open space. The bedroom area had three short steps up to the platform where a bed would go. There was a short hallway that led to the bathroom, and a short flight of stairs that led to a loft area. He wasn't quite sure what that was for, it was open as well. A rustic looking guardrail was the only thing separating it.  The living room space had big picture windows, a glass door that went to the patio. Sure Amber said the building wasn't fancy, but this was the fanciest apartment he'd ever been in. It had its own laundry hook ups, the patio was the length of the apartment.

Out of them all this was his favorite, it was open, free, it didn't at all remind him of a prison cell, or his apartment in Charming. The only thing he wasn't fond of was the windows. All the glass, anyone could break into the place. As if the lady showing the apartment read his mind she informed them that it was plexiglass. Shatterproof. They took security very seriously, being in downtown Atlanta they'd have too. He would be on the seventh floor, high enough that no one would scale the building. None of the Sons, or Tully's guys would get through here un-noticed.

"What's the monthly on this?" He asked trying not to sound afraid of what she'd say.

"Thirteen a month. That does include electric, water, trash pickup. The building also has a cable hook up, if you want to use it. You're welcome to acquire your own cable and internet. We have a lot of students and they seem to like when apartments furnish that stuff for them. We're a newer complex so we're following the trends."

Juice could read her, she was new to this. She wanted to make a sale on the building, she probably needed too.

"Students?" He looked skeptical, he didn't want a bunch of drunk kids banging on his door.

"Yeah, mostly fourth year, we don't rent to freshmen. Down stairs I can show you the facilities. There's a weight room, pool, game room, study hall. Weekdays there's even a coffee shop. Though it's ran by a property manager and everything is free."

"Wow. That's serious catering to students." He chuckled. He looked at Amber. "Why don't you live in an apartment?"

She rolled her eyes at him.

The leasing agent redirected them to the door. "We can go down to the leasing office if you want. I can give you a copy of the application, and the tenant agreement for you to look over. See if we're a good fit."
They took the forms and went back to his car.
"This requires a credit check, and I have to make triple the rent. Amber I can't do this."

"Yes you can. You have access to money right? That person. If you can prove you have money they will accept it."

"I don't have access to the account. He hasn't called in two days, I can't just be like hey, I need to know how to access this."

"Aren't you a hacker?" She smiled mischievously.

"I'm trying to be legit Amber."

"Consider it step towards that. I mean obviously this person trusts you enough not to go to an ATM and just wipe his accounts. Doesn't this card have a PIN number?"

He felt like an idiot. It never occurred to him to just take it to one. Tully had added him to the account so he could have a card. He could easily go to an ATM and see the balance. Hell he could go into a BOA and get information.

"I'll just go to BOA and ask for a statement."

"There you go. You just gotta think." She winked.

"Why hasn't he called? You seemed actually bothered by that."

He breathed in through his teeth, resting his head on the steering wheel. "Because he's my only link to what's going on. If I'm safe or not."

"Can I ask who this person is? I mean I know it's not your boyfriend. But... you're just different when you do talk to him, even when you talk about him."

"Amber all I can and will tell you is that he's not a good person. He's in prison, that's why it's hard to get in touch. I can't tell you where or anything else."

She nodded. "That's okay. I understand, I don't need specifics. I just want you to know you can talk to me. Why don't we go back to hotel, get some rest and then we can go over all your forms and make a plan?"

He agreed with her that would be good. He wanted to break free from his life but every step dug him deeper into Tully's hole. That's how it felt anyway. He'd never be free of the man, what's worse is he was actually worried about him. What was going on in Stockton? Who ratted him out, what were the repercussions of that? What did he tell Chibs? Hell did Chibs still want him dead, now that the king of crazy was dead? Surely the man couldn't be so committed to a club of people who use each other and kill each other that he'd push his own thoughts aside? They were close once, he wished they could be now. Chibs would have the answers to what he should do, he would help him make a plan.

There was no Chibs though, only himself in the prison of his mind. Tully's grip he could still feel on his hips, crawling around inside his mind. He was in the world but still captive to the life he'd left behind.