“Mr. Lee.”
“Yes, Mr. Mackelson?”
The bald teacher scanned through Zephia’s homework assignment, doing quick calculations in his head. After a few seconds, he took off his glasses and tapped the papers with his fingers.
“So, why are you turning in Zephia’s homework for her? How did she even get an extra assignment? If she’s doing the homework, why isn’t she coming to school?”
Joel took a deep breath to calm himself, getting ready to say the lines he had rehearsed in his head the entire morning.
He blinked, maintaining a poker face. “Mr. Mackelson…you gave me the extra assignment to give to her. You sent me to the office a week ago to get her address to drop it off, remember?”
While it was true that Joel went to the office last week, that was to pick up lunch from Huck. Huck was confused, but was willing to drop off a few leftover wings in the school office at Joel’s request. However, all Mr. Mackelson would remember was that Joel did indeed go to the office last week, so the teenager could give whatever reasoning he wanted for that event.
Mr. Mackelson frowned as he scratched behind his left ear. “I don’t…what? I never gave you an extra homework assignment. I…huh?”
Joel shrugged. “I was confused too. I think you said something along the lines of ‘getting to know my classmates’? If you want, I can stop dropping off the homework to her.”
Mr. Mackelson rubbed his face. “I…really don’t remember any of this. Why don’t I remember this?”
Joel shrugged. “Maybe you were busy preparing today’s quiz? I dunno.”
Mr. Mackelson sighed, rubbing his forehead with a dry hand. “I…sure. I guess. Maybe.”
“So…do I keep dropping off homework to her? I live only two blocks away from her, so she’s on the way home for me.”
Mr. Mackelson frowned. “I mean…I guess? Wait, why isn’t she coming to school then?”
“I dunno. You just told me to drop off her homework.”
The teacher muttered something. “Ah, whatever. As long as she’s focusing on her studies, I guess. Do you need an extra worksheet for her, then?”
“That’d help a lot, yeah. Oh, while you’re at it, can I have a note from you with your signature?”
The bald teacher raised a pale eyebrow. “...Why?”
“Last time, Zephia’s older sister was skeptical of me, thinking I was some evangelist or something. I think a simple note would make things more easy in convincing her.”
“Ah, sure. Why not.”
As Mr. Mackelson turned around to fiddle with his printer, Joel let out a shaky breath in silence. It was a dangerous gamble, but it paid off.
He had turned his lie into a truth, and could use that as an excuse to dig into the sisters’ background.
...
As he knocked on the sisters’ door, he went through a mental checklist of what he needed to do. As Bera opened the door, he looked at Joel with a raised eyebrow.
“Hey. Homework, again?
Joel waved his little note in the air. “Yeah. I also have a note from Mr. Mackelson to prove I’m legit, if you want to read it.”
Bera took the note, read it with a small frown, then shrugged as she handed it back. “Eh, guess you weren’t lying. Alrighty, get in.”
As Joel stepped in, he looked around. There was an empty bakery bag on the kitchen countertop, more crumpled papers on the living room mattress, and a hamper with some clothes thrown around it.
The pair walked down the dim hallway and approached Zephia’s door. Bera knocked and called out to her sister, “Homework boy is here.”, nodded to Joel, then returned to practice her guitar and singing.
Joel gingerly opened the door and looked down to see Zephia on the mattress looking back up at him. She held a pencil and a notepad, and was frozen mid doodle. He nodded to the disheveled girl.
“Uh, hi. I have more homework.”
Zephia tightened her lips, but nodded. Joel came closer to her and sat down. He unzipped his backpack and pulled out the folder containing her assignments. He handed the entire folder to her, then reached into his backpack to pull out a professional sketchbook accompanied with professional sketching colored pencils. She looked at the latter items with confusion.
Joel frowned. “I dunno why, but some classmates missed you. They told me to keep them anonymous, but they pitched in to buy you these.”
Was that a lie? Absolutely: Joel had bought both out of pocket with the money earned at the bar, but he figured the lie and money was worth giving her motivation to open up a bit.
Zephia stared at the sketchbook and pencils, stunned and confused. She gingerly picked up the book, flipping through the pages and smelling the “freshness” of the paper. She then opened the sketch pencils, getting a feel for the grip.
After a few minutes, she looked up at Joel with extremely cautious, yet hopeful, eyes.
“...tell them thank you.”
“Yeah, for sure. Now, let’s get to math, shall we?”
The two of them spent an hour working on formulas. While Zephia still worked at her clumsy and slow pace, Joel did notice her eyes having a bit more focus than the last time they got together.
...
As they scratched out the last few problems, Joel looked up at Zephia. “You get X equals twelve?”
Zephia hesitated. “I got seven and a half.”
“Plug seven point five back into the equation. It doesn’t add back up.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
Joel tapped his pencil against the assignment as he slowly tried to word his questioning in his mind. If he asked without caution, it could freak out Zephia. If he asked too ambiguously, then she might not understand what Joel was asking. As he waited for Zephia to catch up, he carefully crafted his next sentence.
“Hey, Zephia.”
She looked up. “Yeah?”
Joel hesitated. “Can I see your drawings?”
Zephia frowned. “Why?”
“Kinda curious, to be honest. I don’t know why your classmates would gift you a sketchbook and pencils. I mean, if they did, your drawings must be good, right?”
It was now Zephia’s turn to hesitate, as she weighed her dislike of showing someone her drawings versus her showing her appreciation to Joel. As she turned back to her assignment to finish her homework, Joel simply waited. As she arrived at the conclusion that X did indeed equal twelve, she looked up with small determination in her eyes.
“Yeah I can show you a few sketches I guess.”
“Cool.”
She brushed aside some other papers on her mattress and pulled out a tiny notepad, handing it to him. As Joel opened it, he was surprised: the sketches were extremely detailed, with different doodles of characters from various shows to simple “still life” sketches of flowers in vases or whatnot.
After looking through the notepad, he looked up with fascination sprawled across his face. “These are…good. Like, genuinely good.”
Moment of truth. He took a small breath. “Do you have an art account online or something? It’d be nice to follow.”
Zephia chewed her bottom lip. “I…we don’t have wifi in this house, so no I don’t have any. Accounts, I mean.”
Joel pushed a bit more. “Why not use the library’s wifi? It’s only a few blocks down, and it only costs five bucks to make a library card.”
Zephia hugged her shoulders. “I’m…not too used to going outside, sorry.”
Joel shrugged and backed up. It was small, but he made progress. “Eh, ur call.”
A few minutes passed as the pair scratched out some more problems. However, while Zephia was genuinely struggling on some equations, Joel spent his time thinking of the next step. In a few minutes, Bera would probably start walking to The Bottlecap for her job, so he could tag along using his job as an excuse. With small talk, he could probably squeeze out some more info behind why the sisters lived so frugally. If all went well, Joel co-
…then his phone buzzed twice quickly.
Joel flinched, his face draining of heat. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, dreading the sender. If it were one buzz, that could theoretically be a text from Huck. Might even be a coupon from an automated message. Two buzzes in rapid succession meant it was a message from Gumbi. The only person who would message him on that app would be…
The teenage boy quickly pulled out his phone to check the username. It was Jordan.
Joel quietly cursed. He had forgotten to turn off locations on the app. Jordan knew where he was. Joel quickly read the contents of the message, and then hastily began packing his bag. Joel’s sudden movements roused the attention of Zephia, who looked up with curiosity.
As he stuffed papers into binders, he spoke rapidly as he got up. “Sorry, something just came up. That homework isn’t due for two days, so you have time to finish it. Gotta go, sorry.”
“Oh, okay. Thanks for stopping by.”
Joel briskly nodded and stepped out of the room. He gave a quick wave to Bera, who looked up at the sudden movement coming from the hallway, and stepped outside the house.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.Shit.Shit.Shit.Shiiiiiiiii-
Joel dialed in Jordan’s number, and tried to calm his breathing as the phone rang. When Jordan picked up, the higher pitched voice on the other end spoke rapidly.
“HolycrapyouactuallypickedupareyoualrightwhathappenedwhyareyouinBlackerd?”
Joel winced, having conflicting feelings. As much as he missed her voice, Joel wasn’t too sure where to go from here. “Hi, sorry. Phone died on m-”
“Like hell it did! I saw you moving around on the app. Why haven’t you called back?Things were crazy around here! Mr. Giddles was hounding the school like crazy! Something ab-”
Joel winced as he cleared his throat, sweat droplets slowly beading on his brow. “Y-yeah. About that…did you tell Mr. Giddles where I was?”
“Hm? I mean, kinda? I told him that you were in the general area of Blackerd because I saw your location on Gumbi, why?”
Shit. “Look, I need a solid favor from you. Don’t tell him any more information about me, ok? I can’t say too much because it’s a personal issue, but I promise I’ll make it up to you when I return.”
“Ah…eh sure, got it. But seriously, are you ok? I haven’t seen you online in days, you don’t show up to school, and there are rumors going aro-”
Joel coughed. “I…real talk? I’m not doing that hot right now, but I swear I’m trying to fix things. I’ll try to be back ASAP.”
“But the rumors s-”
“Rumors will be rumors. No idea what they’re about, but it’s probably because I’m not there to defend myself. When I come back, it’ll probably fade away.”
“Fair. Wanna run a few rounds of Z.O.M.S.? I just finished my homework.”
“I want to, but I have a part time job that I’m running a bit late to. I’ll try to give updates when I can though, alright?”
“Boooooo. That’s fair though, see you around?”
“Ye-actually, before you hang up, when did you tell Mr. Giddles about me?”
...
That day, the teenager worked at The Bottlecap with a cluttered mind. Between serving bottles of Hermes, starting up the fryer for wings, and restocking the minifridge below the bar, he wasn’t sure what the best plan was. Mr. Giddles got the heads up that Joel was in Blackerd a few days ago, meaning the deadline for Joel’s plan was much shorter than normal. He would need to make a decision on whether to commit to his plan with Zephia, flee Blackerd, or to face the music at home.
Suddenly, a cold slime ran down Joel’s back, causing the boy to jump. He turned around to see Gustavo smiling.
As the ice cube rattled out of Joel’s shirt, the bartender rubbed Joel’s shoulder. “Kiddo, you seem out of it today. You doin’ alright at home?”
The teenager quietly turned back to the minifridge and continued to stock cheap name brand beers. “I…kinda. Yeah, I’m fine.”
He couldn’t see Gustavo’s face, but it wasn’t hard to imagine his concerned mustachioed face. “You’re about as good as lying as Huck. I won’t pry, but you ever need to talk or take a break, let me know, aight? I ain’t soulless.”
“Thanks, Gustavo.”
“Call me Gus, kid.”
“Ok, Gus. T…that feels weird. Is it fine if I keep calling you Gustavo?”
The mustached man faked tremendous sorrow, clutching his chest. “Damn, I feel old now. Sure, whatever floats your boat.”
Joel and Gustavo manned the bar the entire night. Bera’s songs filled the air, her voice usually being drowned out by the banter of drunkards, but she didn’t seem to mind. As time passed, Victoria stopped by with Ally, the sisters giving an enthusiastic greeting to the Hispanic and the Asian, and began to order bottles of Hermes. Shortly after her arrival, Huck would come by, nodding politely to Bera (who nodded in response), Gustavo, and Joel. After the sheriff’s appearance, Bera would leave the bar an hour later, with Victoria (having flushed cheeks and red ears), Ally, and Huck all following suit thirty minutes later. As the bar’s hours slowly came to a close, Gustavo would annoyingly shout at blacked-out drunkards as Joel scrubbed the floor. The empty bar closed up for the night, and Joel mustered up the courage to ask for some time off.
As Gustavo locked the bar up, Joel cleared his throat. “Hey, Gustavo?”
“Hm?”
“Could I have the day off tomorrow? I want to do something.”
“Eh, sure. Gotcha. Does Huck know about this or…”
“Erm, no. He doesn’t.”
Gustavo’s eyes twinkled as he winked. “Gotcha. We’ll keep it a secret. I’ll tell him you’re FIFOing in the back or something.”
Joel’s heart felt lighter. “Thanks, Gustavo.”
“Mhm.”
Tomorrow would be Saturday. If Joel had everyone’s schedules down, it would be the perfect day to dig a bit deeper into Victoria and Ally.
...
‘Hey, Ally?’
Ally looked up from her doodles with wide eyes. ‘Yah?’
‘Where exactly do you and Victoria live?’
‘Me and Vicky live with some friends in a blue house!’
Well, that was to be expected. A kid her age wouldn’t really know an address. ‘A blue house, huh? Is it near school? How do you get there?’
Ally scrunched up her eyebrows as she began to chew on her colored pencils. ‘Uhhhhhh… We walk from the left of the school, until we hit a stop sign. Then we go left. Then we go past another stop sign. Then…’
As Ally spoke the instructions, Joel was quietly scratching out lines and symbols on the corner of his homework assignment. Sure, they weren’t the most precise, but if they were enough for Ally to memorize then it would have to do.
‘...and after the blue trash can, the house is on the left! It’s blue!’
‘Ah, gotcha. Thanks, Ally! That’s pretty cool!’
Ally grinned widely as she proudly tilted her head to the ceiling. After Joel gave her a smile, he turned back to his paper and began to think. Victoria seemed to be hiding things, and what better place to start digging than their house? Sure, he had no right in digging into another person’s business…
…But it seemed fun. Plus, if all went well, they would be excellent candidates to pin his crime on. Did he need any more reason than that?
...
Once Huck left the house to meet up with some people, Joel waited a few minutes before departing the apartment himself. Once he walked to the school, he pulled out the homework assignment with the instructions to Victoria’s house, and began to mutter to himself.
So…first they went straight…
After two failed attempts (requiring a decent amount of backtracking), he found the blue trash can Ally had mentioned. He turned his head, and lo behold: a very faint blue house. As Joel glanced at the chips in the house’s paint, cracks in the driveway, and the yellow in the garden, he couldn’t help but feel as if the house were poorly taken care of.
According to Ally, the sisters would go to the park around this time for an hour, so Joel had some time. Normally, roommates would be a problem…but Joel could simply just ask them questions about the sisters. As he knocked on the frame of the screen door, he could hear rustling from inside the house. The shades in front of the windows shimmered as if someone were trying to peer who was at the door. After confirming who was at the door, footsteps echoed throughout the house before a disorganized woman opened the door with baggy eyes. She groaned.
“Whaddya want, kid?”
The first thing Joel’s eyes were drawn to was her attire. She wore lingerie. Sheer lingerie.
Joel choked and averted his eyes to the ground, heat spreading from his ears to his entire face. Despite all that had happened, he was still a very healthy teenager.
The woman at the door took note of his sudden bashfulness and rubbed her eyes. “You good, kid? Did you have any business?”
Focus, Joel. Don’t be defeated by boobs. As Joel slowly raised his head, he tried his damndest to not leer at the groggy woman. “I, uh…Does Victoria live here?”
“Blondie? Yeah, why?”
Score. “Could I ask a few questions about her? It’s a bit of a long story.”
“Like the fuck you are.”
Both Joel and the woman flinched at the booming voice that rang from deeper inside the house. Footsteps echoed throughout the house as a man wearing a bathrobe appeared on the other side of the screen door. He had a sharp face, and a sharper glare. He scowled.
“You a customer? How does a brat like you know about Victoria?”
Customer?
Joel stored that small snippet of information into the back of his mind and swallowed nervously. The man wasn’t the tallest and was armed with nothing but a bathrobe, but Joel couldn’t help but feel intimidated. “I’m friends with Ally, and was just worried about Victoria. I was hoping to get to know more about both of them.”
“No. Fuck off.”
The man seemed agitated, but perhaps he could be bought with money. Joel slapped his pockets, feeling for his wallet. As he did, the man’s eyes flared up as he reached for something behind the door, causing the woman to yelp as she backed away from the doorframe. The man’s hand pulled up back into view, and Joel found himself staring down the barrel of a pistol. Heat drained from his face, and his mouth became a desert.
The man spoke calmly, with anger. “Tell me where your weapon is on your body, and I might let you live. I dare you to lie.”
Sweat beaded on across Joel’s brow. Words failed him. Nothing felt real, but Joel couldn’t help but tremble regardless.
Speak. God, speak. If you don’t he’ll shoot. You’ll die. Speak.
Joel opened his mouth, and choked. He coughed once, fearing that every single action might result in the man’s gun being emptied into Joel’s body.
After two short coughs, he opened his trembling mouth. “I swear I have no weapon. I was looking for my wallet. You can search my body. Please don’t kill me.”
The man calmly looked into Joel’s eyes. He then nodded to someone behind the door frame, presumably the woman from before. “Olivia, check his pockets. That’s an order.”
The woman’s voice stammered out from the house. “B…but…”
The man groaned. “Fucking…then grab that gun, and hold it as I search him.”
There was some rustling as the woman reemerged into view, her trembling hands wielding a similar gun. She limply pointed to the teenager. The man, without breaking his gaze from Joel, scowled.
“Hold it straight. If all goes well, you won’t need to fire it.”
Olivia’s eyes watered as she swallowed, but she strengthened her grip on the weapon. Once she did, the man placed the gun out of view inside the house and opened the screen door. He approached Joel, eyeing him up and down. Joel’s heart thumped wildly. Though the man was unarmed, Joel felt as though he were in no less danger. The man quickly patted down Joel’s waist, emptied his pockets, rubbed his legs, and patted his shirt and back before concluding that Joel was indeed unarmed. The man waved at Olivia, and she released a breath of shaky relief as she quickly put the gun down onto something inside the house.
The man nodded to Joel. “Are you fucking insane? Who the hell moves so suddenly in this part of the neighborhood? You asking to die?”
Joel swallowed, shaking his head. There was no gun pointed to him, but Joel still felt as if he weren’t allowed to speak. The man noticed Joel’s locked jaw, and rolled his eyes.
“You can speak.”
Joel took a deep, but shaky, breath. “Sorry, I’m new in this area. I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”
The man stared at Joel, and it took all of Joel’s willpower to not immediately curl up and cower.
His eyes were still rigid, but his brow softened ever so slightly. “New to this area, or new to Blackerd?”
“Both, sir.”
The man sighed, and scratched his head. “This part of Blackerd is very dangerous. It isn’t safe for a brat like you here, so go home.”
Joel hesitated, wondering if it was worth it to speak up against the man. “B...”Joel coughed. “But, Ally lives here, right? Why, if it isn’t safe?”
Dante’s eyes narrowed, obviously suspicious at Ally’s name being mentioned. “Not your business. Now get out.”
Joel swallowed, then noddd to his wallet which was thrown on the floor. “Please, sir. I’m willing to pay you for the opportunity to ask questions. All the cash in that wallet.”
The man frowned, bending down to scoop up the wallet off the floor. He opened the wallet, and raised an eyebrow to the contents inside. “How does a brat like you have this much money? You run away from a rich family?”
“No, sir. I worked a part-time job, sir.”
“Mhm. New to the city, and immediately a part-time job?”
“...Yes sir.”
The dark man pulled out a bill from the wallet and rubbed it between his fingers. He then put it up to the sunlight, confirming its legitness. After a second of pondering, the man nodded and swiftly pocketed all of the cash from the wallet.
“I’m only gonna answer surface-level questions. This isn’t a normal occasion, so be grateful.”
“Thank you, sir.”
The man hesitated for a brief moment, before stepping out of the way and gesturing to the house. “Get in.”
Joel stiffly nodded as he looked at the man’s feet, revealing matted blue slippers. Joel hesitated before stepping in, wondering if it was safe to speak out of line.
“Uh…do I need to take my shoes off?”
“No. Keep them on.”
“Yes sir.”
As Joel entered the decrepit house, the first thing that hit him was the smell. It smelled like stale grease, combined with a lingering spice that Joel couldn’t fully describe. As Joel took a quick peek at the living room, he was only able to catch a glance of a few guns on a coffee table before the man pushed him roughly, propelling Joel forward.
“Eyes forward, brat. Mind your own business.”
Joel snapped his head forward as he stiffly walked into the kitchen, from where he was greeted with a dining room table with papers and bills scattered everywhere. The smell of pizza grease combined with the smell of paper and the same spice Joel had smelled from the entrance, but more…bitter.
The man pulled out a chair, and nodded to Joel. Joel timidly sat in the chair, and the man plopped down in a chair adjacent to him. Olivia quietly nodded from the kitchen entrance, then scampered off to the living room. The man grabbed a mug of water beside him, and took deep gulps as Joel nervously rubbed his arms.
The man put the mug down, then looked up at Joel. “So, do you know who I am?”
“No, sir.”
“Good. Let’s keep it that way. Now, is it a coincidence that you came here while blondie stepped out?”
Joel hesitated, wondering if he should lie. “No, sir.”
The man leaned back in his chair and nodded. “Figured as much. Now, what do you want to know?”
Joel closed his eyes, trying to visualize a list of questions to ask. “Er…why does she live here?”
“Blondie can’t afford another place, so I gave her an offer to live here. She accepted.”
“How did you guys meet?”
“She was gonna jump off a bridge, then changed her mind.”
Joel blinked. The answer was spoken in a blunt tone, but the contents of his message was alarming. “Wha… bu…” Joel cleared his throat. There would be a time and place to ask those questions. It would probably be a waste of time asking this man.
“Does Victoria work?”
“Yep.”
“Do you know the occupation?”
“Mhm.”
“...Can you tell me?”
The man raised an eyebrow. Joel cleared his throat.
“...sir?”
“She’s a prostitute. A shitty one, but a prostitute nonetheless.”
Joel coughed, caught off guard by the answer. Was the man joking? Was he lying? When Joel looked up to ask about clarification on the answer, the stern face of the stranger told Joel everything he needed to know. Victoria was a prostitute. There was no reason for the man to lie, he didn’t give a damn about her. He stated her job as a matter of fact. The sky is blue, humans breathe, and Victoria is a prostitute.
A new wave of curiosity washed over Joel as questions began to formulate in his mind. As much as he wanted to ask everything, Joel knew that the man’s patience was very finite and that not every question was important. So, Joel scrunched his brow trying to formulate the questions that truly mattered.
“Who knows about her job?”
“Nearly everyone in this part of Blackered. Some folks in the ‘good’ part of Blackered. The pig.”
“Uh…the pig, sir?”
“The sheriff, shitass.”
“Oh. Does…does Ally know?”
The man’s brow softened just slightly, before creasing again. “No. As far as Ally knows, Victoria works as a crossing guard.”
“How long has she…I mean, Victoria. How long has Victoria been working as a…uh…”
The man scratched his hair, flicking up fingers in his free hand. “Roughly around three years, give or take a year.”
Joel’s mind was still swimming with all these new developments, but he forced himself to stay focused. “Do you know about her tattoos?”
“I’ve seen her naked. How the fuck would I not know?”
The implications of that statement swirled in Joel’s mind, causing a flurry of rage, arousal, shame, and curiosity to blend into a mush of… well, nothing. It simply left Joel stunned and speechless. A few seconds passed before Joel blinked rapidly, trying to blink away his moment of astonishment.
“I mean, why does she have them?”
“Not telling you.”
Joel stared at the man in confusion. “What? Why not? I mean, why not sir?”
The man nodded to Joel. “Like I said, I’m only answering surface level questions. The question you asked isn’t surface level.”
Joel frowned. “Wait, so her prostitution is ‘surface level’, but information on her tattoos isn’t?”
“Yep. You don’t know jack shit, obviously, but everything I’ve said to you is fairly common knowledge to the average citizen of Blackerd. However, her reasoning for her tattoos is a personal one, so you don’t get to know about it.”
“Her nearly jumping off the bridge is common knowledge?”
“Nah, but consider it a freebee for me pulling a gun on you.”
“Oh. Uh, is there anything else about her that I don’t know?”50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVPE664VnPV
“Yep.”50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIFRpi751NS
“C…could you tell me? Sir?”
“Not until you ask me, no. But I would make it quick, time’s tickin’.”
Joel internally cursed. Sure, he now had tons of new information on Victoria, but there were too many avenues to explore from this point, too many to the point where Joel wasn’t sure where to begin. Joel’s mind became so overwhelmed that he blurted out a random question just to buy time.
“Do you hate Victoria?”
The man raised an eyebrow. “Hm?”
Joel flinched, quickly backtracking. “I…uh…I mean…you seem to dislike her, so I just…uh… sorry b-”
The man’s eyes softened a smidge, as he stared off in the distance. “I can’t hate someone for doing their damndest to survive.”
Joel hesitated, unsure of whether to commit to backpedaling or to prod further. “How… how does that wo-”
The man quickly got up from the table, slamming his hands on the table causing Joel to flinch. “Aight, question time over. Get out.”
Joel tensed up. “Yes sir.”
As he was escorted to the front door, his mind raced as it jumped one thought to another, webbing together hypotheses and new questions. As he stepped out onto the porch, Joel turned to face the man. “Uh…”
The door slammed in his face without as much of a nod or a wave. Well, the entire meeting could have been worse. Joel could’ve been dead.
From the few answers that the man had parted with, Victoria and Ally were not suitable scapegoats. Too many knew of them, and they were being protected by that man. No, he would need to stick to Zephia and Bera.
Still…Victoria, a prostitute? It felt weird to consider, much less accept as fact. Joel checked his phone, alarmed at the time that had passed. The blond sisters would be back within an hour, so he needed to book it back home.
As he pulled out his scribbled instructions, Joel cursed as he realized that he would now need to reverse all his instructions to properly navigate home.
So…uh… from the right of the blue trash can…
...
50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU2z6Po9ZZl
