by Brook Wilder
“What the fuck,” he yelled suddenly. Someone or something had grabbed him from behind. He felt himself being hauled off the ground, and he shook his head violently as the world around him seemed to spin. “Let go of me, let go of me!” he said to his kidnappers. But it was no use. His eyes were darting back and forth frantically, trying to keep up with the changing colors of the sky as Aiden felt his body shoot through the air. He tried to look down but couldn’t; he must’ve been carried by at least four men. The neighborhood was so quiet that Aiden could hear nothing but the sound of their feet scurrying, whoever they were.
“Here, here,” he heard a voice say. His feet touched the ground again. Everything came back into perspective. Aiden narrowed his eyes and blinked repeatedly, the men’s faces swimming in and out of view. They were dressed in leather jackets; it was not long before Aiden recognized them as the Mercenaries. They were staring back at him with bloodshot eyes, all four of them forming a type of impenetrable human wall blocking his way.
“What do you want from me?!” Aiden asked, trying to squeeze past them. They had already ambushed him in the passageway between two houses, both of which were empty, if not completely abandoned. His body flung back like a slingshot, and he found himself on his back again.
“You’ve been bad, Aiden,” one of them said. His voice penetrated the silence; it made Aiden’s skin crawl.
“What do you want from me?” he asked again, his eyes darting from one gunman to the other. Their fingers danced around their pockets, as if ready to cock their pistols. Aiden wouldn’t dare try to squeeze past them again.
“Well, well, well,” Lee stepped out from behind them. Aiden could feel his heart drop to his knees. “Did you seriously think I would fall for that little game of yours?” he hissed. Aiden didn’t answer. Something told him he should just be quiet. “Oh, Aiden, how gullible of you! Did you think something like this would slip under my nose? What do you think I am? Some kind of idiot?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, his lips barely moving.
“I don’t wanna hear it,” Lee snapped. “Who is this Amy and what d’you know about her?”
Amy? “I don’t know her,” Aiden said, despite the fire boiling up inside of him.
“You idiot!” Lee snarled, grabbing Aiden by the collar. He didn’t resist; in the corner of his eye he could still see Lee’s men holding onto their guns. He was pressed up against the wall, Lee’s face only inches from his. “I’ve got my eyes on you,” he spat. “I’ve got eyes out everywhere, do you hear me? Everywhere.”
“Amy didn’t do anything,” Aiden said calmly. “She’s just a gullible girl… she probably didn’t know what she was doing.”
“Would a person that doesn’t know what they’re doing go ahead and buy weaponry from the black market?” Lee asked.
Aiden froze. He wanted to curse under his breath, but he held back, thinking that, if Lee were to find out about his plan, he would probably kill him right then and there. “I don’t know anything about that,” he said finally. If anything, it was a desperate attempt at getting Lee to believe him.
“Are you sure about that?” Lee asked, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He held it out to Aiden, and what he saw made his jaw drop. A miniature version of Amy was walking around a gun store, picking up the different types of pistols and looking at them. She then exited the store and met a man at a small alleyway, paying him what seemed like a generous amount of money in exchange for a brown bag bound by black string. Aiden’s eyes dropped to the floor. “Care to explain?” Lee spat again.
“I don’t know anything about that,” Aiden said. He knew he had no choice but to deny it, and it wasn’t like he knew about any of this to begin with. He had told Junie to be careful, that he didn’t want her getting involved in all of this, let alone her sister. She had no experience what so ever in dealing with gangs, or detonating buildings, or buying guns from the black market. If anything, Amy was just as impulsive as her sister; Aiden couldn’t believe something like this just went under his nose.
“Damn straight, you don’t!” Lee snarled. “Now, you listen, here… if you don’t stop whatever it is that you’re doing, I’m going to see it that you never have to live through another day again!”
Aiden felt a lump rise in his throat. He was surrounded by armed men from all directions; they were circling him like tigers. “Just let me go, and I promise you, you won’t need to worry about any of this, not anymore,” he muttered, despite himself. Lee exchanged brief glances with his men before he turned around to leave.
“We’ll see about that,” he said, disappearing down the passageway. Aiden was left dumbfounded. He got up on the balls of his feet, tiptoeing to the main street. He looked left and right before he sprinted for Junie’s house. He was furious. “Open up!” he said, pounding on the door. He cocked his head to the side and listened; he could hear thumping.
“Aiden?” Junie asked, her eyebrows furrowed. She stared at him through heavy-lidded eyes; it was only then did he realize she had been asleep. “What happened, what’s going on?”
Aiden barged inside. “I just got cornered between two houses a couple of blocks down from here because Amy can’t do her job right!” he hissed. He knew Matt was asleep; he couldn’t find it in him to wake the little boy up.
“What do you mean?” Junie asked, her eyes wide. “What did she do?”
“Lee caught her on camera trying to buy guns at some shady-ass place! He threatened to kill me!” he said, standing in the middle of the TV room with his hands on his hips. Junie just stared at him, unable to absorb what she was hearing.
“Fuck, fuck,” she said, stomping her foot against the floor. “Alright, I’m going to talk to her first thing in the morning… I’m going to fix this.”
“Listen, it’s not your fault,” Aiden said, walking towards her. He caressed her face with his hands, sliding them down the length of her neck. Junie couldn’t look him in the eye; in a way, she felt like she let him down. “I’m sorry I’m angry, I’m sorry I can’t control myself. It’s just that… this whole thing, it’s a hot mess. I don’t know what we’ll do at this point.”
“Hey, we’re going to figure something out, you and I,” Junie said, her eyes flaring up. Aiden took her hands and kissed them. That was exactly what he needed right now, some reassurance.
CHAPTER 14
“Did you hear?” Amy asked, setting her coffee mug down in front of her.
“About?” Junie asked, following her into the TV room.
“The Mercenaries… don’t you watch the news?”
“Cut it out, Amy, what happened?”
“Three gunmen crashed some teenager’s house party last night… his parents weren’t there, the kids were terrified,” Amy said, her eyes fixated on the TV set.
“Oh my God, did anyone get hurt?” Junie asked.
“That’s the thing… they don’t hurt anyone. They just crash into parties, sabotage events… just to terrorize the kids there,” Amy said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” There was a pause. “Junie, this is exactly why we need to do something about this.”
“Are we seriously going to go over this again?” Junie sighed.
“Listen, I know I screwed up… but I can make up for it, I promise I-”
“That’s enough, Amy,” Junie snapped. “I know you’re passionate about this, I know you want to stop those motherfuckers just as much as I do. But please, Amy, please, just let Aiden handle it this time.”
Amy rolled her eyes and clenched her jaw. “Oh, now you want me to back off?” she asked, glaring at her sister. “What happened to taking matter into your own hands, huh? What happened to dealing with it yourself instead of letting the police take care of it?”
“I never asked you to let the police take care of it,” Junie snapped. “I just told you to let Aiden handle it so we don’t get screwed over.”
“Fine, I’ll let him handle it,” Amy said, rolling her eyes. “But
I still want to be a part of this, one way or the other.”
“You will be… no one said you couldn’t help. But you need to be a little bit more careful,” Junie said, making a beeline for the kitchen.
“Where is Aiden, by the way?” Amy asked, slumping down on her couch.
“He’s with Tom right now,” Junie said, rather ominously. “He said he’d call me as soon as they finish… I don’t want you to bother yourself with it; for now, just tell me where you put the wine.”
***
“You don’t understand… she fucked up, big time,” Aiden said, holding his head in his hands. “I really didn’t want to keep this from you… but I promise you, I’ll find a way to fix it.”
“You know, I think you’re looking at this the wrong way,” Tom said, folding both arms across his chest. He sank in his seat like he always did, his cigarette dancing between his fingers. “Now, the Mercenaries know we’re planning something against them, they know a battle is brewing. They may not know what our plan is or how we’re going to execute it, but at least now, they’re shaken.” There was a pause. “The only question is… are you sure a final shootout would be the best way to handle this?” he asked.
“I’m positive,” Aiden said confidently. “You see, I’m pretty sure we can predict where the Mercenaries hang out these days… they’re becoming rather conspicuous in the way they’re trying to get their turf back.”
“You’re right… and I don’t think they’re going to loiter around trying to get their hands on new territory… they’ll only be wasting resources,” Tom said, crossing one leg over the other. “Very well, then, so we stick to our original plan?” he asked.
“It’s our most viable option,” Aiden said, peering out the window. Ever since he got cornered in that alley, he had been nothing but paranoid. “But I don’t know what we’re going to do about Junie… and her sister. I don’t know how we’re going to talk them out of this.”
“We’re not going to,” Tom said, his lips curving to a wry smile. “They’re going to be a part of our plan; after all, they’re two women, and we can always make use of women in our plans.”
“But I don’t want Junie to get involved in this,” Aiden said, rather defensively. “It was dangerous enough having her hang around that shed while people shot each other’s brains out next door.”
“I thought she was already passionate about this, that she wanted to take a part in it,” Tom said, tilting his head sideways. “Listen, Aiden, I understand why you’re scared, I really do. But what I’m trying to tell you is that she and her sister aren’t going to be directly involved in this; they’ll be behind the scenes… getting us supplies, Amy will be teaching us a thing or two about building those bombs…”
“Well I hope this is the last time either of them needs to do this,” Aiden said, shaking his head. It was like the more he thought about this, the closer he felt to giving up. He couldn’t stand putting Junie in this situation all over again; it was of a little comfort, though, that she was adamant on being a part of this. But Aiden thought that, if anything were to happen to her, he would have no one to blame but himself.
Taking damage to a whole new level: the Mercenaries sabotage a Pee-Wee baseball game near Westshire Ave.
Aiden let out a sigh. He turned to look at Tom, but he was already staring at him, a cheesy grin plastered to his face. “Tell me you still don’t think we need all the help that we can get,” he said. But Aiden didn’t say anything. The corner of his mouth twitched, but he shut himself up. He knew he needed both Junie and Amy alike, he just didn’t want to admit it, even to himself.
The next morning Aiden found himself pounding on Junie’s door. “Hey, woah. Easy, there,” she said, squinting through the sun. “Matt just left for school, come on in.”
“Hey,” he said, stepping inside with his hands stuffed into his pockets. “Sorry I woke you.”
“You didn’t,” she said. “I always walk Matty to the bus station so he doesn’t have to go alone… especially nowadays, there’s no telling what could happen.” There was silence.
“I wanted to talk to you,” Aiden said finally. He marched across the room and just stood there, waiting for Junie to come sit down. “Junie, you know I care about you, right?” he asked.
“I’d like to think so,” she said, collapsing on the couch next to him. She crossed one leg over the other, eyeing him intently.
“And you know I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you, right?”
“Right,” she said. “What’s this about?”
“Last night I was up thinking about the operation… and I want you to know that, no matter what you say, I’ll never forgive myself if anything were to happen to you.”
“But I already told you, Aiden, I-”
“Wait, let me finish,” he interrupted her. “I know you want to do this, which is why I’m not going to try and stop you,” he said. “Junie, I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way about a woman before… but that doesn’t mean I’m going to try and control you. If you want to do this, then I’m going to support you as much as I can, but I’m also going to try and protect you as much as I can.”
“I appreciate that,” Junie said, forcing a tight-lipped smile. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Yeah.”
“When all of this is over, what’s going to happen to us, with us?”
“I can’t tell you what’s going to happen to us, but I can tell you what’s going to happen with us,” he said, taking her hand and kissing it. “I’m going to be there for you, as much as I can, whenever I can… I’m not going to forget you, Junie.”
“I’m never going to forget about you, either,” she breathed. She didn’t know why, but something inside her shriveled up when he said that. Deep down she hoped that, when all of this was over, they would still pursue whatever it was that they had. But it felt to her that he didn’t want that; it didn’t seem like it, anyway. She opened her mouth but no words came out, and she felt the inside of her cheeks dry up like prunes. The truth was, she was disappointed, but she didn’t really know why. She couldn’t discern her feelings, or why she expected to hear something different in the first place, but she pushed her feelings aside and forced a smile; she had more important things to worry about, or so she tried to convince herself.
CHAPTER 15
“Hey, Junie, I need to talk to you,” Amy whispered through the phone. “Can you meet me at Vinny’s?”
“Depends, what do you need to talk about?” Junie asked. “And why are you whispering?”
“Something about the operation,” Amy said.
“Say no more,” Junie said. “I’ll drop by your house in a little while, instead... we can’t risk being heard.”
***
“Hey,” Amy said, popping her head out through the inched open door. “Come on in.”
“What’s wrong?” Junie asked, her eyebrows furrowed. She made a beeline for the liquor cabinet, pulling out the first bottle of vodka she could get her hands on.
“It’s a little early to be drinking, don’t you think so?” Amy asked, a worried look on her face.
“Don’t worry about me,” Junie said, scratching the top off and popping the bottle open. She poured herself a shot and downed it all in one gulp, and then she turned to Amy, eyeing her expectantly. “So?”
“Alright, well, I’m having some trouble finding all the supplies,” she said, bringing her hands together and walking over to the couch. “I’ve been in contact with a bunch of the Rebels lately; we’ve been discussing the possibility of finding a timer.”
“Do you need a specialized timer?” Junie asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Yeah, but we can’t find it anywhere,” Amy said, pursing her lips. “And a bunch of other supplies… I’m starting to think we’ve hit a dead end.”
“I have an idea,” Junie said suddenly. There was a pause. “But I’m not sure you’re going to like it.”
“And what is that?” Amy asked, foldi
ng both arms across her chest.
Junie’s lips curved to a smile. Before the laugh came, its anticipation flipped her expression. “How much do you miss Mike Hangly?” she asked. Amy burst into laughter.
“Oh my God, what are you implying?” she chuckled. “Do you want me to get back together with him?”
“I never said that,” Junie said, rolling her eyes sarcastically. “All I’m saying is that you can pretend to want to get back together with him just so, you know, he can help you figure out where to get the timer, how to set it up so it works, stuff like that.”