Chapter 14 – Tyler
“Okay what’s that one?” I ask Josh.
“Acrocanthosaurus!” he shouts proudly, pressing his finger next to me against the picture of a dinosaur that looks like a raptor to me. We’re reading from one of his dinosaur books on the couch while Ella fiddles on her phone.
“And this one?” I say, covering up the name below the picture of some thing with a long ass neck.
“Magyarosaurus,” he exclaims. I move my hand.
“Yup,” I chuckle. “You got it. That’s twenty-two in a row. You’re pretty good at this, huh?”
“I like dinosaurs,” he says happily.
“I can tell,” I say. “What else do you like? I think you’ve got these down.”
“How about this one?” he says, handing me a book with a bright picture of stars on the front.
“Ah, a space fan too, huh?”
“That is the Andromeda galaxy,” he points. “It’s a spiral galaxy that is two and a half million light years away, two hundred and twenty light years across. It’s going to collide with the Milky Way galaxy in three point five billion years!”
“Wow,” I say, genuinely impressed by the kid. “That won’t be good. Hope I’m not around when that happens!”
My phone buzzes from my pocket.
“Hang on a sec, bud,” I say, pulling it out. It’s Barry. I answer.
“Sup, Barry?”
“Dude, where the hell are you?” he says. He sounds either upset or excited, I can’t tell which.
“Why, what’s up?” I ask.
“I’m with Moore. We need to talk to you, man. Where you at?”
“I’m at a … friends house.”
“Friend? What friend? We’re your only friends,” he chuckles.
“I got other friends, dick,” I say softly, trying not to let Josh hear.
“Uh huh,” he says knowingly. “He’s at a babe’s house,” he says to Moore. I can hear Moore laugh beside him.
“Okay, well where,” he continues. “We need to talk.”
“I can’t, man. I’m … babysitting.”
There’s a long pause, then Barry cracks up. “What!? Babysitting!?”
Moore joins in on the laughter.
“Man, this babe’s got you wrapped around her finger already, huh? Listen, just give us the address, we have to talk. Take five minutes.”
I sigh and turn my head to Josh. “You be all right for a few minutes here Josh if I go outside?”
He nods, “Yup!”
“All right. Maple street,” I tell him.
“We’re downtown,” Barry says. “Be there in less than five.”
“Hey, I’m going over to Jason’s house for a bit,” Ella says, coming out of her room with a sweatshirt on.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I say, holding my arm out. “What are you talking about?”
“Jason,” she says like I’m stupid. “This guy I’m seeing. I’m going to his house for a bit.”
“Your mom didn’t say anything about Jason or going over to his house.”
“Well she probably just forgot to mention it. She’s forgetful.”
“Yeah. Right,” I say. She’s bullshitting, and it’s obvious, but she’s hoping I’m a pushover. Either that or she wants me to be the cool guy and be her partner in crime.
“No seriously—” She starts, but I cut her off.
“No, seriously, Ella. You’re full of shit,” I say. She looks taken aback at my language, but I don’t care. “I was a teenager once too, okay? Don’t try and pull one over on me or I’ll let your mom know you were a pain in the ass. Is that what you want?”
If looks could kill, I would be dead. Ella twists her lips in annoyance, looks at me like she wants to say something, then stamps her foot and storms back to her room. Her bedroom door slams so hard I’m surprised it doesn’t come off its hinges.
Less than five minutes later Barry texts me saying he’s outside.
“Be right back, buddy,” I tell Josh.
“Okay!” he says, happily reading from his astronomy book. How this kid is an expert on all this stuff is beyond me. I can barely remember phone numbers, let alone how far away a galaxy is or how big it is.
I tug open Jenny’s front door and step outside. Barry’s car is idling a block down the street. When he sees me, he shuts it off and he and Moore step outside.
“So this is it, huh? Where’s the babe?”
“Give it a rest,” I tell him. “So what’s so important?”
“We’re gonna hit a place, and we need your help.”
“Hit a place?” I say. “The fuck does that mean, hit a place. You killing somebody?”
“Robbing a place,” Moore chimes in, lighting a cigarette. “Pawn shop over in Stone Hill.”
“A pawn shop,” I say, wondering what the hell it is I’m hearing. “You two idiots want to rob a pawn shop? What do you want, some used laptops or something?”
“The place is a front,” Moore says, confidently blowing smoke. “Owned by some fake gangster from Boston.”
“And you know this how?” I ask skeptically.
“Come on, Ty,” Barry says with a laugh. “Don’t you know we know everything?”
This seems like a bit much even for these guys. Robbing a pawn shop? I mean, we’ve never exactly been on the loving side of the law, but everything about this is sounding like a bad idea. Fake gangster in Boston? What if that fake gangster turns out to be a real gangster and wants payback?
“This sounds like a bad idea, guys. How much money are we talking anyway?”
“Two hundred thousand,” Moore says, dropping the bomb. Is he serious? Split three ways that’s still not bad. That would cover my mother’s treatment and then some.
“Listen, guys,” I say. “I’ve got enough to deal with already. Nicky’s two seconds from killing my ass, and my mom’s sick—”
“Yeah, exactly,” Barry says, taking a step towards me. “Your mom is sick. Think about it. You do this job with us and you’ve got money out the ass. You can help her out.
I mean, he isn’t wrong. But still, I’m hesitant.
“So what’s your plan? You just go in guns blazing and ask for the cash?”
“Something like that,” Moore chuckles. “But with ski masks. Don’t need any positive identifications.”
Ski masks. This is starting to sound like something out of a mob movie or something. The problem with things like this, is that they always seem good until they don’t, and it’s when things go tits up that you find yourself in trouble.
“I’m gonna have to pass, guys,” I say. “But hey, that’s more for you, right?”
“Told you he’d pussy out,” Moore says to Barry. “Getting soft in his old age.”
Barry grins. They’re trying to goad me into it. “Yeah, I hear ya. I was holding out some hope though. Thought our boy was still there for us.”
“Guys, gimmie a fucking break,” I scoff. “You know I’m there for you—”
“Just not when we need you.”
“This isn’t me coming through for you in a pinch,” I growl. “This is you asking me to rob a fucking pawn shop owned by a potentially connected gangster!”
“He’s not connected,” Moore says, rolling his eyes. “Stop being such a pussy!”
“How many times have we come through for you?” Barry asks, raising his eyebrows. “That time you were in deep with Charlie? The tough guys from up North?”
Again, he’s got a point. You couldn’t ask for more loyal friends than Barry and Moore, and they have come through for me consistently time and time again. Of course, I never asked them to hold up a store either.
I look at Barry and realize that I owe them. I owe them both, and like it or not, I have to do this for them.
“Fine,” I say, sighing as I give in. “What’s the plan?”
They both smile at each other. Moore takes the last big drag from his cigarette and flicks it.
“We’re gonna go talk to Motorcycle Mike,” Barry says.
“Who the fuck is Motorcycle Mike?” I ask.
“Real crazy fucker,” Moore laughs.
“He’s the getaway driver,” Barry explains.
“Getaway driver,” I say, almost laughing. “Motorcycle Mike is the getaway driver? What are we doing, taking off on scooters?”
“He’s a hell of a driver too,” Barry says emphatically. “Got into BMX or some shit though and that’s where he got the name.”
“So now it’s a four way split?” This job is getting worse with every second.
“Nah,” Moore says with a smile. “We didn’t tell him what the job was. We’re giving him five grand, no questions asked. Guy’s crazy, I told you.”
“Okay,” I sigh, needing a moment to take this all in. I’ve just agreed to an armed robbery of a pawn shop owned by a potentially connected “fake gangster,” and being driven away by a getaway driver named Motorcycle Mike.
What could go wrong?