after that? We have to do something unforgettable. We have to end this now – no more messing about.”
Raj gripped his knife, turned it upside down, and plunged it into the stage. He let go of the handle and it stayed upright. “Count me in.”
Allie folded her arms tight across her chest, and then let them loosen. “I don’t like it. You’ll end up getting hurt.”
“Think of it this way,” I said, wrapping my fingers around the knife handle. “If a man with a knife broke into your house and you had a gun, what would you do?”
“Hide and call the police.”
“And what would you do if that man found your hiding spot?”
She paused and let out a breath. “Threaten to shoot him.”
“Exactly.” I wrenched the knife out of the stage and held it up. “It’s settled. Gordie, where does your old man keep his gun?”
12. A Shot in the Dark
The streets of Rivertown-Warehouse District were empty and silent, and the chilled night air was like knives in my lungs. We’d be at risk of polar bear attack if it got any colder. Raj, Gordie, and I walked past the burnt-out remains of a car and into a dark alley.
Together, we passed an overflowing dumpster, and my nostrils twitched at the smell of dead cat and last week’s piss. The glow from a window on the second floor lit up a wall graffitied with a six-foot-tall pig in a top hat. Next to the pig, a speech bubble read, “But at what cost?”
Gordie shuffled on crutches next to me while Raj walked several paces ahead. We hadn’t spoken for several minutes, too busy quietly wigging out over what we were about to do. Some plans sound fine when hatched in daylight, but become truly scary when carried out near midnight. I didn’t know what to fear more: the problem, or our solution.
“Can I see it?” I asked.
Gordie stopped and leaned on one crutch, and slipped his backpack off his shoulder. Scanning both ends of the alley, he reached into his bag and lifted an object wrapped in cloth. He removed the cloth and held up a black handgun, weighing it in his hand as he examined it. “My old man said it’s a Ruger P90.” Using his thumb, he flicked down a small lever on the side. “That’s the safety.” He handed me the gun.
It was heavier than I expected, and colder. A week ago, I never would’ve believed I’d be packing heat in a downtown alley at night. This lump of steel would be our ticket out of this mess, or the worst idea we’d ever had. Either way, it was better than doing nothing.
“Is it loaded?” I gently touched my finger to the trigger.
Gordie nodded.
I lifted my finger. “You loaded it?”
“I didn’t know how to unload it.” He frowned.
I turned the gun on its side. “Here, I think I can remove the–”
“Leave it.” Raj put his hand over it. “What if Kyle calls our bluff?”
“You mean shoot him?” Gordie asked. “That’s not what we talked about.”
“Just a warning shot – only if we have to show him we mean business.”
I aimed the gun at the wall and squinted down the sight, feeling completely fearless for the first time since all this started. Headlights flashed into the alley, throwing a giant shadow of the gun against the wall. I handed it back to Gordie. “Put it away.” A van rumbled past and the engine noise faded.
Shivering, Raj folded his arms as we continued through the alley. “Whose idea was it to meet Kyle at midnight?”
“We don’t want to be seen with the gun.” I dug my hands in my pockets. “And we’re here to scare Kyle – midnight’s scarier than shortly before bedtime, right?”
Raj rapped his knuckles on the side of a dumpster. “What’d you tell him?”
“To meet me at the empty lot on Guoin Street at midnight.”
I pulled my phone from my jeans pocket. 11:34 p.m.
A cloud of mist escaped Gordie’s mouth as he let out a deep breath. “We should have asked Allie to drop us off closer.”
“It’s only two blocks from here,” I said. “We’ll be there in no time.”
He looked over his shoulder and flinched, nearly falling off his crutches, and searched the alley with his eyes. “Something moved.” He pointed at the darkness. “Over there… near the wall.”
“You’re jumping at shadows.” I patted his back. “Let’s keep moving. We have to get into position before Kyle gets there.”
Less than twenty feet away, an empty bottle clattered, and Gordie recoiled and stumbled sideways on his crutches. A gravelly voice called out, “Brother, can you spare a fiver?” A figure silhouetted in the shadows staggered to its feet, and then collapsed in a coughing fit. Gordie hobbled away at double speed.
At the end of the alley, we crossed the street. A short walk later, we approached the intersection with Guoin Street, and Gordie began to slow. “I don’t like this. I can hardly see in the dark even with my glasses on, and what if something happens? We’ll be stuck out here alone with Kyle.”
I squeezed his shoulder. “We’ll be fine.”
“It’s okay for you, but what about these?” He lifted his crutches. What if I need to run?”
Raj aimed an imaginary finger gun at Gordie. “We won’t need to run – we’re armed and dangerous. C’mon, we’re almost there. The hard part is over.”
“We need more time to think this through,” Gordie said. “Let's call him and say we'll do it tomorrow night instead.”
“What do you think’ll happen tomorrow at school if we don't do this tonight?” Raj asked.
“He’s right. It has to be now.” I squeezed Gordie’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”
We trekked along Guoin Street, crossing the entrance to an alley where a group of men, some hooded, huddled around a flaming metal barrel. Shadows flickered on the walls around them. They turned and stared as we walked past. Leaving Allie alone in a dark parking lot wasn’t the greatest idea, even though she was in her locked car.
On the next block, we arrived at an empty lot behind an abandoned gas station. Broken glass sparkled up from the sidewalk underneath the hazy glow of a streetlight. A dumpster crammed with trash stood in near darkness against the far wall.
“This is the place,” I said.
Pulling his jacket tight across his chest, Raj scanned the lot, glancing at the gas station and across the street at a warehouse surrounded by chain-link fence. Light filtered through the narrow slit windows that ran the length of the warehouse. He looked at me. “So, how do we do this?”
I pointed at the dumpster. “You and Gordie hide behind there.”
The look on Gordie’s face told me he didn’t have the stomach for any of this. He slumped on his crutches. “What about you?”
“I’ll wait for Kyle under the streetlight. When he shows, I’ll try to get him to see things our way. Back me up with our secret weapon when I give the signal, okay?”
Raj sucked air through his teeth. “Better you than me.” He bumped my arm with his fist and walked away, fading into the darkness. Gordie frowned and shook his head as he followed. Their silhouettes moved to the far end of the lot and crouched behind the dumpster. Raj called out, “It stinks like swamp gas back here.”
With nothing else to do, I moved into position under the streetlight.
11:46 p.m.
Steam billowed from a pipe on the side of a nearby building. Alone in the darkness, my senses kicked into overdrive. I scanned the night street, trying to make out shapes in the fog. Every sound, every movement, was Kyle lurking in the shadows. I sized up the distance to the dumpster: about sixteen steps.
Stray cats snarled and wailed in a neighboring alley. What would I even say if Kyle showed up?
11:55 p.m.
The tips of my fingers were numb, the first sign I was about to turn into a human popsicle. By the time Kyle showed, I’d be in a frozen coma.
12:01 a.m.
My breathing grew faster as adrenaline did its thing. I shifted my weight from foot to foot, trying to keep my ass from freezing off. No sig
n of life, even the cats had finally shut up.
12:06 a.m.
To keep busy, I kneeled to tighten my shoelace, and almost as if on queue, a bottle rattled across the sidewalk. A hundred feet away, a dark figure emerged from the fog, and then two more. I glanced at the dumpster, my heart pounding in my ears.
The silhouettes moved closer and stopped before reaching the glow of the streetlight. With eyes masked in the shadow of their hoodies, they haunted the empty lot like three faceless ghosts.
The urge to run was so intense I stepped back and had to make myself stop.
The figure in the middle took a drag of his cigarette, the glowing embers lighting up a bruised cheek, swollen and crusted lips, and a left eyeball reddened with blood. The store clerks had given Kyle an extreme makeover. He blew smoke from his mouth and nose.
No point in putting this off. Keeping my breathing steady, I said, “This ends tonight.”
Fink limped into the circle of streetlight, wincing with each step. “If you two aren’t going to stomp on his head, I will.”
Giving Fink satisfaction was the last thing I’d let happen. I kept my eyes on Kyle. “I mean it. You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. You’re going to get hurt.”
Kyle took another drag and let the smoke seep out of his mouth. It didn’t matter a damn if he wasn’t feeling chatty; we weren’t here to talk about our feelings – as long as he got the message. With a deep breath, I called out, “Last chance, Kyle. What’s it going to be?” My voice echoed down the empty street.
Kyle moved into the streetlight and spoke in a low voice. “Have it your way.” He flicked his