Trouble in Tiltown

Brother best friends

He laughed at my stupid jokes and I'd laugh at his, or fake a laugh.
He straightened his posture, "So what do you really think of the radio guy, West?" James asked me, looking into my eyes.
"He's strange but the things he says are interesting." I sipped my bubbly beverage through the straw.
"He's trouble." He clicked his tongue.
I sat back into the booth comfortably, eyeing my brother carefully as I squinted my eyes ever so slightly.
"How do you mean?" He glanced at me as though I startled him with the question. While he thought about his answer, I filled my mouth with the rest of my salty fries.
"Conspiracy theories can get anybody in trouble. That's all." He said simply.
"I don't reckon it's that simple." I disagreed.
"How's that?"
"Because I believe in every town, there's always many things you don't know. Or even things you can't know." I shrugged my shoulders with a cocky grin appearing onto my face.
"You're sounding like West now." He laughed while brushing his hand through his ashy blond hair. Was that an insult? I wondered.

Finally leaving the restaurant, a rusty truck pulled quickly into the parking lot. The man got out and before he entered the restaurant, he stared at me. Then, began walking towards me.
"I think I know you. You're Laurence's friend right?" He questioned me. We were inches apart now and although I towered over the older man, he still intimidated me.
"Y-yeah. You're West, Aren't you?" I asked him. He grinned in return.
"That may or may not be me." He responded. My eyes trailed down his outfit, which creeped me out more than anything. All black but with lots of rips and tears. Poor guy nearly looked as if he were homeless.
"Well, nice meeting you." I waved goodbye but I suddenly felt a hand grab ahold of my wrist. James came up from behind me and got in between us.
"What do you think you're doing?" A line appeared in between James's eyebrows. West let go of my wrist softly and held his hands up.
"I don't want you guys to ever come to my parts again." He smiled a surprisingly pearly white smile and headed inside.
I breathed, "What just happened?"
James patted me on the back, "Let's get out of here." He said as we hopped into his car.

A couple minutes past as we drive around the muddy town as we tried to think of something to do.
"You wanna go to that abandoned mall? It's right outside of town." James suggested to me.
"That sounds nice, sure." I replied with a smirk of excitement that I couldn't contain. Finally, an abandoned place again. It was an addiction I've missed so much already.

We pulled into the rather spacious, empty parking lot and began our walk into the gray mall. I looked around as James did the same. Just thinking about how this mall was once filled with several people and how lively it was. The orange paint peeled either halfway down the walls or all the way to the ground.
"So, this place was abandoned in the early 70's apparently." James's voice echoed throughout the mall.
"Really? It looks older than that, it's only the 90's." I replied, my voice echoing back to him.
"Yeah, well, some people like to destroy instead of exploring." He stated as he made his way back over to where I stood. As we walked down the empty halls of the once crowded mall, we froze in our tracks as we heard running upstairs.
"What was that?" I whispered to James.
"It's okay Jerrick. We'll just go." He grabbed my shoulder to attempt to pull me back but failed when I stayed still. Loud music began playing throughout the entire mall.
My head slowly turning towards James, "Are we alone?"
His eyes looked up and all around, "I don't think we are anymore. Follow me quietly." He ordered me in a hushed tone. I kept my body low and silent, following my brother out of the mall. Once we got outside, we both ran to the car as I felt the cold air hit my face like a slap. Once we both got sat inside of the car, our heavy breathing filled the silence.
"I thought nobody else would be here." I said in between breaths.
"Well, obviously they walked here because there ain't no cars here." He replied, still attempting to catch his breath that got stolen by the cold air from him. I didn't see any shadows of people, or any people inside of that mall, but I didn't tell him that. My eyes travels to the corner, glaring at him suspiciously. Did he know something I didn't?
"So, did you see someone?" I inquired.
"No, but I heard someone. You did too." He coughed up a fit, finally ending with a clearing of the throat.
"It just doesn't make sense." I threw my shoulders up, groaning in frustration.
As we started driving off and back onto the road, he finally spoke up.
"You think I'm lying?" He asked but it came out as more of an accusation.
I laughed, "Of course not-"
"Well, then it's over." He spat out abruptly.

We got home and started eating dinner at the table with our mom and dad.
My mom spoke up first, "So how was your day Jerrick?" She asked as I slurped my spaghetti.
I stopped, allowing the noodles slip out of my mouth and hitting the plate with a plop.
"It was fine." I admitted. A little rough, but overall fine. But I never got into my feelings with anybody.
"That's good, and you, James?" She asked James who sat by me.

We all conversed for a while but dinner came to an end eventually. I helped my mom with dishes and a new topic got brought up.
"So I talked to Laurence's mom today." She started out. Oh no.
I scrubbed the plate in my hands, the water going down my finger tips.
"Really?" I put a fake "I'm intrigued" voice on.
"She said that he's grounded for two weeks however. Something about, he talked to this random radio guy." She explained to me.
I stopped scrubbing momentarily, "Do you know the radio guy?" She looked at me, her bouncy and blonde curls covering half of her face though her bright green eyes beamed through strands of hair.
"No, I just listen to music personally." She shrugged her arms.
Finishing up the plate, I replied again.
"His name is West." I informed her and she widened her eyes for a moment.
"West. What an interesting name." She smiled.