Chapter 23
On my way in from the parking lot that evening I saw Devon sitting next to the pool. When I raised my arm to wave at him he signaled at me to come closer. He was reclining in one of the chairs surrounding the pool, wearing his black ARMY trunks and nothing else. His hair and shorts were wet; he had obviously been in the pool at some point. As I approached the fence surrounding the pool he stood up, slipping his feet into the flip flops that had been sitting on the ground beside his chair. He met me at the fence.
"Hey, what's up?" I asked.
"I just thought I should let you know," He spoke softly so there was no chance of being overheard, despite the empty courtyard, "I called the Anikitos this afternoon about what happened last night. He needed to know so he can deal with Brandon."
"I know," I replied, shaking my head, "I called him this morning before work."
"He didn't tell me that, but I'm glad you did. I'm worried that this is just the start, and that something bigger's on its way."
"Thank you for your concern. I'm doing everything I know to do. I'm avoiding Brandon for a while, and Bill is supposed to tell him not to contact me. If he does contact me, I'm to let Bill know immediately."
"I'm glad," Devon said, "I know you're smart, and able to take care of yourself, but I know what some of these guys are capable of."
"Did you tell Bill about your experience with these guys?"
"No, I didn't see a need to," he replied.
"I think you should, so that he knows what kind of people he's dealing with. I understand you're not going to him then, but now, he needs to know."
"I see what you’re saying; I'll call him back and let him know."
"Thanks." I reached up and laid one hand on top of his where it was gripping the bars separating us, "You want to come up for dinner?"
"Sure. Let me go change, and make that phone call and I'll be up in a bit."
"All right, I'm gonna go change and start dinner. I'll see you when you're get there." I headed back to the walkway leading to my apartment.
I quickly put together a simple dinner of left-overs out of the fridge for Devon and I. While we were eating my PCD rang, interrupting us. I pulled the small device out of my pocket and looked at the screen, the read out and picture told me that the caller was Brandon. I turned the screen so Devon could see it.
"I'm certain that Bill's told him not to contact me by now," I said, voicing my thoughts.
"Do you want to talk to him?" He asked.
"I'm curious to see what he has to say." I admitted.
"Then answer it, I'll keep my mouth shut so he can't hear me." He offered. Nodding I pressed the button to answer the small device.
"Hello?" I asked, putting the device near my ear.
"What did you say to the Anikitos?" Brandon demanded from the other end of the line.
"The truth," I replied simply.
"Did you tell him I attacked you?"
"No. I didn't tell him you attacked me. I simply relayed to him exactly what happened, no more, no less. I even told him that I broke your nose." I said calmly, trying to keep him calm.
"And are you in trouble for that?" Brandon wanted to know. I sighed, seeing where this seemed to be headed.
"No, I'm not, at least not that I'm aware of."
"You'd know it if you were," Brandon snarled, "But somehow, you get off scott-free, and I'm to be punished."
"I don't know what you want me to say Brandon," I said patiently, I looked at Devon across the table to see if he was hearing this. He was watching me, but gave no indication whether he was hearing what Brandon was saying.
"I want you to be sorry you got me in trouble and to say that you'll go to the Anikitos and tell him you lied so I won't be punished." Brandon all but snarled.
"That's not going to happen, Brandon. I didn't lie, and I'm not going to say I did." My voice was starting to lose the soft tone I had been trying to keep.
"So because of you, I'm to be punished tomorrow." He sounded more than just angry, but I didn't know what else to call it.
"No, not because of me, because of you, Brandon. I didn't make you do anything that would get you in trouble. I just felt the Anikitos needed to know about it."
"Why would you go to him, if not to get me in trouble?"
"I had to. Getting you in trouble wasn't a consideration, keeping me out of it was. What if we were seen? If I didn't go to him with the truth, then all he had to go by was whatever rumor he heard, and I couldn't do that."
"So because you couldn't keep your mouth shut, I'm gonna be punished. After all I've done for you, you can't get me out of this?"
"Brandon, I'm not going to go over this again," I was losing my patience; "Any punishment you receive is due to your actions, no one else's. You know how I feel about this, I've said for years that if you can't do the time, don't do the crime. And you know how I feel about not taking responsibility for your actions. We been friends for years, and I know you've heard me talk about this before."
"So it's going to be that way." He said flatly, disdain clear in his voice as he continued, "Just remember, it's only going to cost you in the end. If you would choose my side, then I would see that things go much easier for you." That sounded suspiciously like a threat.
"I'll keep that in mind. But it's not about taking sides; it's about right and wrong." I said decisively, "I'm going to hang up now; I've nothing more to say to you. Don't call me again for a while. I have no desire to speak to you as long as you're going to be like this."
"You'll regret this! Mark my words!" I heard him ranting on the other end of the line before I could press the end button and disconnect the call.
I closed my eyes for a minute, and took a deep breath before speaking again.
"Did you catch all of that?" I asked Devon.
"Enough to know he wasn't calling to tell you 'Have a nice day,'" He continued to watch me.
"Not hardly. Now the question is what now?" I picked up my fork and began to eat again.
"Seems obvious to me." He resumed eating as well.
"You don't have to say it. I know I've got to call Bill and let him know about this. I meant otherwise."
"Otherwise how?"
"I'm obviously not going to let him intimidate me. But at the same time I’m thinking it wasn't an empty threat. How careful am I going to have to be?"
"That's going to be up to you, but I'd rather you avoid seeing him at all for a while. I'm afraid the group he's mixed up with will soon turn violent."
"I have no intention of seeing him anytime soon, but I won't hide either. I’d prefer not to deal with whatever it is that he's involved in. I hope it doesn't devolve into violence but I'm not afraid of it."
Devon raised one eyebrow in question.
"I'm sure you remember, I was more than a bit of a tomboy." I said, waiting for the nod that indicated he remembered, "I'm sure you were gone by then, but I got into more than a few fights in high school. Mostly because I wouldn't let others tell me what to do, now that I think about it… Anyway, I'm not afraid of a fight, especially after I broke his nose yesterday."
"But you had the element of surprise on your side when you did that," He cautioned.
"I know, but I think I may have another element on my side. I don't think he'll really hurt me, at least not as long as he still believes that he can convince me to be his, like he said. He could have done a lot of damage with that slap yesterday, but he didn't, he tempered it. I won't have that limitation. If he starts a fight I won't hesitate to give it everything I've got to end it."
"Good. I'd hate to see you to get hurt because you didn't want to hurt him."
"Not a worry," I replied. We finished eating in silence.
As soon as we were though eating I called Bill and relayed to him that Brandon had called, and what had been said.
"I want you to stay away from him, Nickie." Bill said again.
"I don't plan on going anywhere near him, Bill, but I won
't run if he shows up again."
"I wouldn't expect you to. I do want to remind you to try to avoid witnesses to a confrontation."
"I'll try, but I can't make promises."
"I understand."
"I should probably tell you though, Devon was here when he called, and heard most of it."
"All right."
"But I doubt he'll be calling you this time," I let him know I knew Devon had called him earlier in the day, "As he knows I'm calling you now."
"Is he there now?" Bill asked.
"Yes,"
"Let me talk to him then," He requested. I went into the living room where Devon was going through the list of movies on my screen, trying to decide what to watch and extended the PCD toward him.
"Bill wants to speak with you," I handed him the device.
"Hello?" Devon said as I went back into the kitchen to clean up after dinner.