"What is the code for?" Evan repeated when no one said anything.
"No one told you?" Smitty asked. Evan nodded. Everyone looked away as if none of them wanted to be the one to have to tell Evan.
"What the code is for isn't really that important. It's just knowing the code that makes people want to kill you." Daithi said bluntly.
"You think I don't know that?" Evan spat. His frustration with their delay was making him angry. No one had bothered to say anything because they all thought someone else told him. All this time, Evan had no idea why Adam gave him the code in the first place, why he felt like no one could be fully trusted.
"It's for a vault." Smitty finally said. "It's where people who have large sums of stolen money keep said money until they do something with it. Of course, no one knows where this vault is. I imagine that John found out." Smitty sighed. Smitty's story came back to Evan, realization dawning on him.
"It's not the actual money inside the vault that matters, it's owning the vault and the code." Marcel explained. "You're like walking gold to Brian."
"And you probably were to Tyler too." Lui added.
"Owning the vault makes you king of L.A." Brock smiled. "Everybody owes you. It makes you untouchable. That's why Tyler wanted it so badly. We wouldn't be in the line of fire anymore."
"Couldn't you just kill the people who own it right now?" Evan was confused.
"Well...They are dead. It's just sitting somewhere in Los Angeles." Craig sighed.
"I thought you said that it makes you untouchable?"
"In theory."
"The point is, Tyler wanted it so we'd be in charge. We'd knock Brian down." Marcel said. The thought had occurred to Evan that they would just be replacing him. "Brian was so fucking close to the vault. He had Adam and then John got the location from the job Smitty and Tyler tried to do. But then Adam escaped and gave the code to you. I don't know if they still have the location." Evan shook his head. Unless John gave it to someone else, he took it to his grave.
"You were the closest that Tyler ever got to the vault." Craig said quietly. The room fell silent.
"What are we supposed to do?"
"Jonathan has the code and Brian probably has the location...There's no fucking point." Daithi stormed out of the room.
"We can keep doing the small jobs!" Craig called after him.
"Fuck that! Tyler promised us better!" Marcel snapped.
"We are better!"
"No, we're not. You should go back to fucking college."
"And you are gonna go back to nothing?" Craig shot back.
"No! I'm going to find the vault!"
"How? By stabbing us in the back too?" Smitty yelled.
"Brian's always been successful…" Brock's voice was barely a whisper.
"Stop! Don't say that!" Craig cried. "Please!"
"Brock's right. What have we been compared to Brian? Now Tyler is gone! What the fuck are we supposed to do?" Marcel cried.
"You're just saying that cause you got nothing to go back to." Smitty sneered.
"So do you! John fucking left you! Stole your car even!" Marcel cried.
"Fuck you!"
"Was that too fucking blunt for you? Tyler's dead! Brian and Jonathan have got it made! It's obvious who the loser is!" Marcel snarled. "What do we have? Some kid who says he knows the code! What if he's been lying this whole damn time? And if he does, what if it's not even the right code?"
"Then that would mean that Jonathan is wrong too." Evan spoke up, startling the others.
"We shouldn't be talking like this! We're better than this!" Craig cried. He sounded desperate.
"You keep saying that…" Marcel grit his teeth. "Are we? Are we really?" Evan's gaze was on a vase of roses on the table.
"Tyler-"
"Enough about Tyler!" Marcel cried. "Fucks sake, he's dead, Craig! What can he do now for us? Contact us from the fucking grave? Get your ouija board! Tyler's got a plan!" Craig got up suddenly and left the room. A few moments later, his bedroom door slammed and locked. Evan flinched at the sound.
"That's a bit much, Marcel." Brock sighed.
"Shut up. You know I'm right. We can't rely on Tyler anymore." Marcel snapped.
"You should have just said that." Brock's voice was sharper than Evan had ever heard.
"He still would have reacted the same! Craig's so fucking obsessed with Tyler." Marcel muttered. Evan glanced down the hallway in the direction that Craig had gone.
"I kinda agree with Craig. You can either just join Brian if you want to go after the vault or we can keep doing what we've always done, or just leave." Smitty sighed. "Brian's gonna pick us off one by one; either killing us or making us join if we don't do anything."
"What about Jonathan?" Brock asked.
"What about him?" Smitty turned his head, looking back at Marcel.
"Brian doesn't even trust him." Evan said as he met Marcel's gaze. "If Jonathan lied to you for years, you have to think about what else he'll do." The gunshot and the bloody pool flashed through Evan's mind, making him close his eyes to stop the tears.
"What, you think you know him know?" Marcel spat.
"No!" Evan cried, frustration bubbling up inside him. "I just know what he did." Smitty shook his head, getting up to leave the room. "Please. You can't leave. None of you can. You have to work together if you want to survive."
Marcel just shook his head and left the living room.
Evan couldn't sleep. He lay on what had once been Tyler's bed in this second hideout, staring up at the ceiling. He could hear Craig crying in the other room and someone was drunkenly rambling in the living room, their voice too slurred and quiet to make out the words. He wondered why he was still here. Why did he come back to them when there was nothing but misery here? He could go home, he had a feeling that they would let him go.
Evan's chest felt heavy. He couldn't stop thinking about Tyler and that bloody pool. He wondered if Tyler knew that morning; wondered if there was a creeping feeling making its way down his neck, telling him not to go. He wondered if Tyler had woken up that morning and thought about staying in bed instead. He wondered if Tyler had known that he was going to die and ignored it. He didn't blame Tyler if he did.
Jonathan's snarling face and his hands gripping his collar before shoving him back made Evan wince, another memory that he'd tried so hard not to think about pushing its way to the surface. He remembered the hot pavement of the school's parking lot and the flowers growing in the school's community garden.
Rolling onto his side, Evan forced the memory away. He wasn't going to think about that. The code replaced the flowers. Knowing what it was for didn't make it feel any better.
"Four, one, eight, two, five." Evan whispered. He imagined himself pressing those buttons on a keypad just like in a movie and a great bit vault door opening. Was that really what Tyler wanted? Was he really that greedy? Evan felt disappointed. Everything he went through was all for a vault. It didn't matter what owning it meant, he still felt used and cheap. "So cliche." He muttered. Brian was right; they were all horrible, shitty people. He felt himself getting angry at Craig who hadn't stopped crying. He probably thought he was above it all but he was rock bottom like everyone else. Evan's right hand curled into a fist. Tyler was above them. Tyler knew he was a horrible person, but he tried. Evan closed his eyes. Tyler was better. He should be more like Tyler.
"Hey...Hey, are you awake?" A hand shook Evan from a heavy, dreamless sleep. He rolled onto his back, seeing Marcel standing over him. It was still too early for even the sun out. Evan rubbed his eyes then looked up at Marcel with confusion. "Wanna go for a drive?"
"What time is it?"
"Does it matter?" Marcel asked. Evan shook his head. "You wanna come?"
"Yeah, sure." Evan muttered and got up, pushing the heavy comforter off. Marcel left the room to let Evan get dressed. He grabbed his jacket off the doorknob where he had hung it and slipped on his shoes, not bothering to tie them. Evan couldn't hear Craig crying anymore as he walked past his room. He imagined that he had cried himself to sleep a little while ago. Brock and Daithi slept on the couches and Lui dozed on an air mattress in the centre of the room. Smitty stood by the front door, holding a black duffel bag. When he saw Evan, he opened the front door, stepping into the hallway. Marcel followed. Evan felt that he had no choice but to do the same, closing the apartment door beside him. "Where are we going?" Evan asked quietly.
"For a drive." Marcel sounded tired. "Don't look at me like that. I'm not going to kill you." He gave Evan a small smile as the elevator opened. Evan followed them inside. This elevator had mirror walls. Evan stared at his reflection between Marcel and Smitty. He looked just as tired as them. He looked like he belonged with them.
"Can you remind me to complain to the building manager? Slow ass doors." Marcel said as the doors slowly creaked open. Marcel lead the way into the parking garage. Evan stared at the empty spot where the black and white Corvette should be. He hated to think about what might have happened to it.
The black and yellow Charger's lights blinked as it unlocked. Smitty held the seat forward for Evan to climb into the back. The engine rumbled to life. Putting his seatbelt on, Evan leaned back, his gaze still on the empty spot through the window as the car pulled out of its parking spot and headed for the door.
The waking city passed in a blur. Marcel didn't drive as fast as Tyler did, but fast enough to weave past other cars on the highway. The farther they went, the more the city disappeared, giving way to desert. As the sun was reaching it way over the horizon, Marcel turned off the highway, driving down a dusty road into the desert. When the car stopped, dust flew around the car like a cloud of smoke. Once Smitty had pulled the seat back, Evan climbed out, staring around the quiet open desert. He watched Smitty walk out in the desert to a rock, placing three empty pop cans on top of it before walking back to them, reaching into his jacket for a handgun. Evan jumped when he fired it three times, the three neon coloured pop cans flying off the rock. Smitty lowered the gun and walked back out to the cans, setting them back up. When he came back, he held the gun out to Evan.
"Your turn."
"I-I...What?" Evan stammered, shaking his head. "I can't shoot a gun."
"That's why we're out here." Marcel said, surprising him. "We're going to teach you."
"Why?" Evan cried.
"You gotta be able to defend yourself. To do the hard thing." Marcel sighed. Evan stared at him, wide-eyed. "If it's true... if you saw Tyler die and Jonathan wants to kill you and you got the code in your head, we can't help you if you can't help yourself." Evan turned his gaze back to the gun. "Just start with holding it." Evan nodded, reaching for the gun. It was heavy, but he knew it would be. Smitty moved away, standing beside him.
"When you shot, it will recoil so don't be too tense." Smitty said quietly. Evan stared at the cans. The gunshot followed by the splash of Tyler's body falling into the pool flashed through his mind.
"I can't," Evan said, shaking his head. "I can't do this." He turned to give Smitty the gun but he shook his head, gripping his shoulders to spin him back around.
"Yes, you can. What if Jonathan does come for you? You can't keep running away forever." Smitty said, his tone serious. Evan took a deep, shuddering breath.
"I just keep thinking about Jonathan shooting Tyler...I-I can't...I can't shoot someone." Evan said shakily.
"You aren't shooting anyone. Just some pop cans."
"Did you ever go shooting with your dad?" Marcel asked. "It's just cans."
"My dad died when I was five." Evan whispered. Marcel glanced up at Smitty. Evan didn't have to see their faces to know what their expressions were.
"You're an angry kid, Evan." Smitty said after a few moments. "I don't mean that in a mean way, I'm just saying it how it is. I know you're angry. I can see it when you look at me and everyone else. You're fucking pissed. You don't have to let that keep you back. Don't be scared of your anger. When you aren't really scared, you're dangerous." Even tensed at the word. Dangerous boy, Brian had said. His grip tightened on the gun. He pulled the trigger.
The can on the left wobbled but didn't fall. "There you go." Smitty smiled. "Again." Evan did as he was told. The recoil and the noise made him jump, his eyes closing. When he opened them, the can on the right was wobbling. Smitty didn't have to say anything for Evan to try again. The can on the right suddenly flew off the rock, the metal crumpled.
"You'll get better with practice." Smitty smiled. Evan smiled too.
Evan hadn't realised how hungry he was until Smitty handed him the bagel wrapped in greasy paper. They stood at the back of the corner store, the white neon of its ceiling lights harsh this early in the morning. The shelves in the centre of the store were filled with snacks, canned food and any other small thing someone might need. The fridges lining the far wall hummed. He had gone into the store to get breakfast with Smitty while Marcel waited in the car. Evan could see him through the store's window, a distant look on his face. No one knew what to do. Evan was stuck in the middle of it as if waiting for his trial. He wasn't even sure if they believed him about Jonathan.
"Do you want anything else?" Smitty asked, snapping Evan out of his thoughts. Evan glanced up at him, shrugging. "Go look for something." Smitty smiled. Evan nodded, walking away from the counter to wander through the aisles just as he had just over a week ago in the store close to home. He glanced at the bright neon cans and bottles in the fridges, then turned into the next aisle. The shelves were lined with candy and chocolate bars. He stopped, looking at the brightly coloured wrappers of the chocolate bars. He remembered Adam's smile when he offered him a chocolate bar.
His mind went to Craig who he imagined curled up on his bed, crying himself to sleep only to wake up to the misery and the ache of grief. Evan picked a chocolate bar and hurried back to Smitty.
Evan stood outside Craig's door, fidgeting with the chocolate bar in his head. He had been standing there for five minutes now, deciding if he should knock or not. After they returned back to the apartment, no one had said anything to Evan save for Smitty. He heard Marcel talking with Daithi, both struggling with deciding if they should leave or not. Everyone seemed lost. Tyler had left a torn hole in the family. Lui was gone; Brock had said he'd gone for a walk. A part of Evan doubted that he'd come back. Evan wasn't sure what Craig was thinking, about him, about all of this.
Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.
"What is it?" Craig's broken voice called out a few moments later.
"It's me." Evan called out. He heard footsteps on the bedroom floor and the door opened. Craig's eyes were red and puffy. He wore pyjamas and looked like all he wanted was to sleep.
"Are you okay?" Craig asked, trying to keep his voice steady. Evan nodded. "Is something wrong?" He shook his head. "Then what is it?" Evan held the chocolate bar out to him. Craig's brow furrowed.
"It's for you. You should eat." Evan said quietly. He managed a nervous smile. Craig smiled sadly and stepped back from the door, letting Evan in. They sat down on the bed while Craig opened the wrapper and broke the chocolate bar in half, giving Evan one of the halves. "Thank you."
"Thank you, Evan." Craig said, taking a bite of the chocolate. "Are you doing okay?" Evan shook his head. He wasn't going to lie to Craig. "I'm sorry this happened to you. I'm so sorry. You're just a kid. Just a kid." He shook his head. "It's too much." Evan took a bite of the chocolate, his eyes on the floor. "Tyler shouldn't have taken you alone. He should have waited, should have been smarter-"
"No. He thought he was doing the right thing for all of us." Evan said, looking up at Craig. "I'm not mad at Tyler. He deserved none of this. Tyler just got stuck...He got stuck."
"Stuck?" Evan bit the inside of his lip. He hadn't meant to say that but after Tyler's death, everything kept bubbling up that he had pushed down. Tears welled up in his eyes. "What do you mean? What are you talking about?"
"Nothing." Evan shook his head. "Nothing."
The hot pavement scraped up Evan's chin as he fell. He let out a cry of shock and pain, feeling blood drip down his neck as he managed to get up. The boys standing around him laughed and kicked him back down. Evan knew better than to have walked this way, he knew who always hung out on this side of the parking lot after school.
He had been lost in thought and it wasn't until he was stuck that he realised it was too late to get out.
They had surrounded him, taunting him and shoving him before finally tripping him. They never told him why they bullied him, only that they thought it was funny to watch him fall.
Pushing himself back up, Evan could do nothing when one of them grabbed his backpack, spinning him around to make him dizzy only to fall again. His palms were scraped and bloody. His jeans were ripped at the knees. Looking up, his dark, teary eyes landed on the flower garden at the side of the school. It was their community garden, everyone was supposed to do something for it but most of the time, it was just the younger kids that did the work.
The boys laughed as Evan got up, his heavy backpack weighing him down. Their laughter and words seemed to morph into one horrible, terrifying sound as they shoved him down again. This time, they walked away, leaving him on the hot pavement. He waited until they were gone before getting up. He hurried past their cars, towards the garden. He ducked around the corner, taking a deep breath. His chin and hands were bleeding and he was certain his knees were too but he'd worry about that later. He should have enough time before his mom got home to clean up.
He made his way into the garden, walking down the small dirt paths. A kid had forgotten a couple of brightly coloured gardening tools from the last time working there. He sat down by the tall sunflowers, their bright yellow petals reaching for the sky. He took another deep breath, closing his eyes. Surrounded by the flowers, he felt safe; no one could find him here. Among the brightly coloured petals, he was safe.