by David Horne
A few times over the past week they had edged on that conversation, but the tattooed man had always switched the conversation, changing the subject when it got to how this sort of thing made him feel.
That bothered the programmer in ways that he didn’t like. There was that last bit of connection that they should have figured out how to make. Instead, he walked out of the apartment, grabbing the key on the way out of the room. He was going to check on Alex down at the laundry room.
But he heard talking on the other side of the door as he approached. He paused. Alex must have been on the phone. “What do you mean?”
A pause. Whoever he was talking to must have been talking.
“You mean that some of them got away? You know we can’t stay here forever, right? I’m sure Popper told them where I’m living.”
Benjamin gasped. Alex was still in danger. He slipped back to the apartment and finished cleaning. There was no way to explain what he knew to Alex now. He would just have to play it cool. He remembered that gun that he had in his apartment. The one that he had hidden when he had cleaned up Alex’s home. It just might come in handy by the time this was all over.
There was uncomfortable silence when Alex came back. They finished cleaning and took off in separate vehicles back to the same apartment complex. It was there that Benjamin started to put together a plan. He would stay guard that night and see if something came of the fact that some of the guys were still hunting for him.
There wasn’t much else to do. But when they both got home, Benjamin was exhausted. He slumped on his couch without really unpacking his clothes. Alex had opted to stay at his own place. He couldn’t help but wonder what the man was doing over there.
He dozed a bit, on and off through the night. He wasn’t used to pulling all-nighters anymore. He had pulled normal office hours for the past few years and it was hard to do it.
He had been dozing when the shouting started. Someone was getting upset in the apartment next door. Benjamin jumped to his feet. He had been afraid of this happening but hadn’t expected it to happen this soon. He dug around in the drawer next to the sink as he heard the thump against the wall.
As he headed over to the next door, he dialed the police on his phone, placing it next to the door frame before he rounded the corner into the open studio apartment.
Inside the room was a man he didn’t know. He couldn’t see Alex at first, but he knew that the man was there. He pulled the gun and pointed it at the man. “Drop it.” Benjamin tried to sound strong and in charge.
The man wheeled around. “Who the hell are you?” When he moved, Benjamin saw the man that he had come to protect. Alex was just starting to stir from having been forced against a wall. The man was injured at the least.
“Doesn’t matter. It’s time for you to leave.” Benjamin stood his ground. He wasn’t going to show weakness even if he was terrified.
“You must be the asshole next door.” The man scoffed. “Why don’t you scurry on back home and cower.”
“I’m the one with the gun here.”
“You sure about that?”
Benjamin realized he may have made a mistake, but he was already committed. “You just stay there.”
The man pulled his own gun out of his belt. “You even know how to use that thing? Because I guarantee I know how to use this one.” Benjamin didn’t know anything about guns, but the one facing him seemed a hell of a lot bigger than the one in his hands.
“Drop it.” But his voice cracked.
“You don’t know anything about what’s going on here.” The man shook his head.
“I know a lot more than you know. Just leave him alone.”
“Or you’ll kill me?”
“If I have to.” Benjamin wasn’t sure if he was capable of it, but then he thought of Alex laying there on the floor. He glanced over and realized that Alex was pulling himself to his feet. He just had to keep the man busy until the cops showed off.
“You don’t have it in you.”
“You would be surprised what I have in me.” Benjamin didn’t realize what he said.
But the other guy must have realized that there was a dirty joke in there. The other man just laughed, and then Benjamin saw the man go down. A shot went off. But it was impossible to tell where it went because both the mystery gangster and Alex were rolling around on the floor, trying to get control of the weapon.
Benjamin couldn’t tell who was winning until Alex finally stayed on top, slamming his ex-friend’s head into the ground. He dropped the weapon. He didn’t accidentally want to fire at Alex.
The police started to file out of the stairwell, surrounding Benjamin and moving in to pull the men apart. The rest of the ordeal was an exhausting blur.
Nothing came into focus until he felt Benjamin’s hands around him. “Are you ok?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I think I am.” Benjamin sighed and leaned against a nearby wall.
“You saved my life in there.”
“I didn’t want you to get hurt.”
“They’re going to take me to the hospital. Will you come with me?”
Benjamin nodded and got up. “I’m sorry.”
“What are you sorry for?”
“I don’t know.” Benjamin shook his head. Everything was going to turn out. He knew it. This fight was finally over.
Epilogue
Alex looked in the mirror. “This is so uncomfortable.” He was trying to remember how to tie his tie, but it was always a struggle. “Why is it fashionable to choke yourself?”
“Because it looks good.”
“It doesn’t cover enough of my tattoos.”
“Nobody is going to notice your hands. You look too handsome.”
Alex decided not to follow that line of thought. It was going to end with both of them in bed again and they didn’t have time to do that. “How does this stupid thing work again?” He tugged the tie again, but it just looked like a knot.
Benjamin laughed as he walked up behind him. “That’s because you’re not the suit type.” His hands wrapped around the tattooed man’s shoulders and adjusted the tie. It was like magic how it landed perfectly.
“Why do I have to wear this thing again?”
“Because the lawyer said you should at least try to look professional for this. Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”
“You say that now, but that doesn’t make it true.” Alex groaned. “This isn’t me.”
“You’re going to do just fine.” Benjamin straightened the tattooed man tie. “This is only a short while. You just have to go to court and tell them what you know and they’ll take it from there.”
“Are you sure? It’s been months of this. I feel like it’s never going to end.”
Benjamin smiled. “This is the last trial, that’s what they said. You have a chance to finally be free.”
“Will that ever actually happen?” Alex looked disheartened.
“Yes, and you know what you’re going to do after this?”
“What?”
“You’re going to go to culinary school and you’re going to be happy. And we’re going to be happy.”
“You can’t make that promise.” Alex felt the desperation start to well in him. He hated the fact that he was stuck here, dealing with a thousand issues all at once while he was trying to work. He had talked to so many people and dealt with cops from all over the country. He had traveled to various courts and this was finally going to be last one, or at least that’s what they said.
And he hadn’t even been required at most of the trials. Several members pled for lower prison time, but the entire gang was going to down. This was the destruction of the gang. And he could feel the pain from it. This was the place that he was going to be and he was safe.
The most important fact of it all was that Benjamin would be safe. Even though Benjamin had been working back for the company that he had left, the man had worked hard in his off hours on the app that he had hoped to develop and his work was finally
starting to make some money.
If it continued, soon Benjamin would be able to leave the office once again, this time on the better terms of having a completely separate income. An income that would likely turn him into a client of the company rather than an employee. And Alex was about to start going to culinary school. He was already training in the kitchen of the bar and had found himself a real talent there. And he had one more thing that he wanted to do before this day was done.
This was a new life. And he wanted to do more for it. Benjamin was still adjusting his tie when Alex took his hands. “Benjamin. Slow down.”
“We only have so much time to get you to court.”
“You know that you shouldn’t be in the courtroom. They don’t need to see you there.”
“But I can be outside supporting you. I got the day off of work and everything.”
“I know, I know. Just relax. It’s going to be fine.”
“We need to leave if we’re going to make it in time. They’ll escort us from the police station.”
“I know how it works. Just calm down.” Alex smiled softly. Benjamin was naturally a nervous guy when it came to stuff like this. Even after everything that they had gone through he didn’t like how this was going. He was very ready to see Benjamin less nervous.
“I can’t help it. After all of this, it’s all going to be sane again. We can maybe have a normal life.”
“And that’s exactly what’s going to happen. Trust me.”
“Let’s get moving. You look very responsible.”
“How responsible?”
“The same level of responsibility that is going to charm anyone on that jury. You’re a very handsome man.” Benjamin was smiling as they left the apartment. He still technically had his own apartment, but he had spent most of his time in Benjamin’s place.
In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time that he slept alone. And he didn’t particularly want to.
Quickly Alex checked his pocket as he made his way down the stairs and to the car. Benjamin was driving. He always did for these days in court. Benjamin had managed to always get the time off to come along and Alex was grateful for that.
The trip to the courthouse was peaceful and it was almost possible to forget why he as there. Benjamin waited in the car while Alex went inside and gave his testimony. The gang wasn’t powerful enough to cause a lot of trouble. At least not enough trouble to put him into witness protection or anything of the sort.
This was the last trial and the most important one. He stood in front of Popper and told of the murders that he knew of, informing the jury of all of the crimes that Popper had done.
And then it was over. His part in the ordeal was done and he was released back to the public.
Alex made his way out of the building and to the car. Benjamin was reading some tech article on his phone while he waited with the air conditioner blowing in the car.
He took a deep breath and walked to knock on the car window.
Benjamin looked over and smiled, lowering the window. “How did it go?”
“I think he’s going down for breaking into my apartment and worse things.”
Benjamin nodded. “Then it’s all done, right?”
“Unless I get called back to do something else, it looks that way.”
“You want to celebrate?”
“I was thinking that we could. There’s a nice place over there that we can pick up some lunch.”
Benjamin climbed out of the car. “I already paid for parking here, I don’t want to have to pay for it again.”
“I don’t mind walking with you.” Alex grinned as they made their way out of the parking lot and to the nearby deli. “We’ve been at this place a lot lately.”
“I’m hoping that this is the last time.”
“It may not be.”
“Why not?” Benjamin paused in front of the building and looked over at Alex. Alex kept smiling at the other man, his hand sticking in his pocket.
“Maybe we’ll miss this place. Or just be in the area at some other time.”
“That’s an awful lot of maybes.” Benjamin laughed and opened the door.
“Wait a second.” Alex grabbed Benjamin’s arm.
“What are you doing?” Benjamin turned back around.
Alex was already on one knee by that point, a nervous smile on his face. “I wanted to ask you a question.”
Benjamin looked dumbfounded. “Is this?”
Alex pulled out a box. “It is.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“It’s happening anyway.”
Benjamin stared down at the box as Alex opened it up. “Are you sure?”
Alex laughed. “I think I’m supposed to be asking the questions here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Benjamin Langtry, will you marry me?” Alex took the moment to ask the question because Benjamin didn’t seem to be able to focus on anything other than how confused he was.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’m very sure. What do you think?”
Benjamin shook his head as if he was trying to clear it. “Yes. Yes, of course, I’ll marry you.”
Alex stood up and wrapped his arms around Benjamin, picking him up. He swung the computer programmer around, happy as he could be. Their life was going to be so much better after all that they had been through. “I’m glad that you’ve stuck by me through everything.”
“I can’t believe this is happening.”
“It’s happening, all right. We get to start planning it whenever you want to.”
“Are you even interested in planning a wedding?”
“I would do it for you.” Alex laughed.
They celebrated over a nice lunch at the deli. “You were right. We probably will be coming back here at one point.”
“When we celebrate this day again?”
“Which is probably going to happen a lot.” Benjamin laughed out loud. “I’m so happy. I wasn’t expecting this.”
“How could you not expect this?”
“I guess I just never thought about it. There was always so much going on.”
“There’s a lot less going on now.” Alex smiled.
“But I think we’ll be coming out again.”
“I think it’s worth the drive out here.”
Benjamin had a smile on his face that wouldn’t go away no matter what he did. Alex knew that he had made a fully happy man. Benjamin hadn’t been asked to be brought into this. He hadn’t asked for anything, but he had done so much to protect Alex, and all of that was because of the love that they shared. “You’re worth a drive anywhere.”