I sit on the railing of someone's porch steps in the 300 block of inner Eastwood. The houses here are falling apart and barely suitable for a family of four, let alone the families of six and eight that reside.
Ivan is waiting for someone named Jerome to open the door and come with us on this supposed "job."
"Hey, if any pigs come by, just act normal," Ivan casually tells me as he waits at the door.
Nodding, I notice an obese woman sitting on her porch about three doors down, staring at Ivan and me. She's in a nightgown and slippers during the middle of the afternoon enjoying a cigarette and something bright red in a cup which resembles hawaiian punch. There's a paper towel wrapped around the bottom of the cup to catch the sweat on the glass. Her arm raises and she brings the glass to her lips while keeping one eye on on Ivan.
Some kids speed by on bicycles and pass me doing stupid tricks I could probably do without any problems, but I just watch and let them show off. I really hate kids.
Finally, I hear Jerome open the door and step out onto the porch with Ivan. He gives me a quick glance and then proceeds to whisper something to Ivan. I just sit pretty and wait, crossing my arms at my chest.
"Eliott, this is Jerome. Jerome, this is Eliott," Ivan quickly says with no enthusiasm whatsoever.
I smile faintly and exchange a nod with Jerome. He has fair skin with deep blue eyes, messy blonde hair swooped to the side like he just woke up. He was exactly the opposite of what I suspected.
"Now that all the polite shit is over, follow me," Ivan mumbles as he strides past me onto the sidewalk, waving us down with him. He begins walking up the sidewalk so I awkwardly follow him.
"Who wants to drive?" Ivan asks as he walks in front of us with confidence — way more than I have.
"Not me," Jerome mumbles after a few seconds of silence.
I feel my stomach drop as I focus on my feet treading against the sidewalk.
"Eliott, can you drive?" Ivan suddenly asks me, pointing a finger back in my direction.
"Uh, no," I mutter and shake my head to further affirm my answer.
"The question was: Can you drive? Not 'do you have a legal license?'" Ivan tells me again with a raised voice.
"I guess I can, but I was never behind a wheel before..." I tell him as we round a corner, making our way deeper into the inner city.
"Fuck. I'll just drive, okay?" Ivan finally says in what sounds like one long, whiny sigh.
I nod and feel a bit guilty for not sucking it up and getting behind the wheel. But in all honesty, I've never driven anything in my life besides a bike... if that even counts as driving.
"We're all packing, right?" Ivan quietly asks us once we're stopped in an alley, staring at Jerome and I with some degree of intensity.
"In what sense..." I cautiously ask Ivan.
His eyes roll and he leans in closer to me, mumbling a bit quieter than before.
"A gun, you fucking idiot," he whispers, slowly saying the last two words for annunciation.
Jerome catches Ivan's attention to show him his gun, tucked under his jacket somewhere. I open my arms in confusion and stare at Ivan for a few seconds. "You literally asked me to come with you after I had a job interview."
Ivan's lips curve downwards and he shrugs. "So what?"
"So what? I didn't know this was gonna be a Russian mafia mission."
"Alright, alright, how about you just watch or something?" Ivan calmly tells me while gesturing me to drop my hands down to my side.
"I'm okay with that," I sigh, honestly feeling a lot of relief.
Ivan begins walking again and Jerome and I follow like soldiers. I don't stay too close to him but Jerome is practically behind his shoulder, lighting a cigarette that's propped in his mouth.
Ivan must have heard the click of his lighter, because a few moments later he's playfully reaching behind to try and grab the cigarette. I watch intently because it takes my mind off wherever we are going.
Jerome kind of backs away awkwardly and I can see Ivan's expression change as he turns his head over his shoulder to see who it is.
Ivan and I make awkward eye contact for a second.
"Sorry, I thought you were Eliott," Ivan mutters under his breath so it's barely audible.
Jerome seems to brush it off and calmly take a drag.
I realize I'm smiling, and I don't know if it's because it was funny or because Ivan thought I was following that close behind him.
I bite my lip to cease from looking like an idiot as we turn a corner into a narrow alleyway. Upon first glance, there's an old volkswagen parked to the right, the side view mirror tucked in so it wouldn't scrape against the building.
"Here's our ride, It's narrow as hell here so you're just gonna have to climb over the driver's seat to get to the other side," Ivan announces as he examines the car. I carefully watch with a tilted head as he sticks his hand up above the tire, wincing a few times before pulling out keys.
"Let's go," he mumbles again as he wipes the keys off on his shirt.
Ivan holds the driver's door open so Jerome can crawl across and I carefully slip into the back seat. The car is a silver with plenty of rust and a beat up exterior which makes me curious as to why we're being so cautious with it. The inside smells like straight up weed and every other foot there's a stain of some sort.
The car comes to a rattling start and I feel the vibrations as Ivan starts driving down the narrow alley towards the road. I'm almost confident cars are not supposed to be here.
"Where exactly are we going?" I mutter quietly as the car jolts to the right onto the road.
"You'll see," Ivan tells me as his eyes briefly scan the rear view mirror to look at me, "don't become a problem."
I shut my lips and lean back against the seat, looking out of the overly-tinted windows.
"I just hope Beeja is okay with you coming along," Ivan mutters quietly, almost to himself, his eyes scanning the mirror one more time to meet mine in an unsettling way.
Jerome chuckles in the front seat and reaches out the window to straighten the side mirror, throwing his cigarette into the street.
Who the hell is Beeja?
---
So I'm basically fully recovered and it's A W E S O M E to use my arm again! I haven't been feeling particularly creative, but I finished this chapter for you guys. I hope I can get back in the groove of things soon. Enjoy!
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Eliott Price Should be Dead
General Fiction[boyxboy] [#42 in general fiction] Eliott is alive. He's navigated through foster families, group homes, and no home. Through it all, Nigel has been by his side. Now that high school is over and they've found a place - a real home - to live with t...
