Moonhaven

Chapter 15: Evil Lives

Jeremi hadn't noticed Alex racing towards him, so he threw the grey hood of his hoodie on, and tightened the drawstrings around it so that his eyes were covered.

Alex finally caught up and threw an arm around Jeremi, making him flinch back and nearly trip over himself. Alex steadied him and smiled his diplomatic smile. "Hi."

Jeremi stumbled with the drawstrings as he loosened them up, and then took a panicked look at Alex, along with the rest of his surroundings. "Oh...it's just you. H-hey. What's good dude?"

Alex studied him. "Never mind me, what about you? What's bad?" Jeremi laughed, but Alex didn't miss the apprehension in his tone. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Ye-yeah."

Alex watched him, but Jeremi kept his eyes moving as if looking for something, or someone. "Here," Alex said, and handed over the skateboard.

Jeremi brightened at last. "Whoa, you brought back Frances! Thanks, man. Don't know how I could've forgotten him."

Alex grinned. "So you're one of those people, huh?"

"Oh, heck ya! Let me tell ya, when I get a car, I'm naming her Francesca." They both erupted with laughter.

"Does the name Frances mean anything special?" Alex asked him.

"Nope. Just like how the name sounds."

"Noted. So, who was that guy in the turtleneck?"

Jeremi froze. "What? W-what guy?"

"Just before, I saw you talking to someone in this black turtleneck. You didn't really look happy about whatever is was he was saying to you."

"W-what? You got it all wrong, man. I was...alone, talking to myself. There was no one else with me. Don't worry too much, bro. This summertime Canadian-heat already got you hallucinating. It's all good."

"Mhm...so, then, what were you talking about with yourself?"

"Huh? Oh, um..." Jeremi was quiet for a long moment, as Alex waited patiently. "Look man...I know what Ziro says about secrets, but could you keep one for me?"

Alex blinked several times, his fluttering open and closed. "A...secret?" He wondered if this was a test planned by Ziro, but he decided it might be worth it to fail. "Yes. I can keep a secret. Promise."

Jeremi observed him, his eyebrows drawing together nervously and his shoulders writhing against his hoodie. Alex could see his hesitation, and realized that this probably wasn't a test after all.

"Ok listen, there's this...other side to me that's been acting out recently, in a not-so-great way. So my dad's really been in between jobs lately, and about a month ago I saw this notice on our front door that we were going to get kicked out of our house. My dad doesn't know I saw it, but I wasn't just gonna stand around. I needed a job obviously, any would work, and that's what I got one day when I went to my dealer's usual spot."

"Vampire dust?" Alex guessed.

"Yeah...he needed a man to deal in Moonhaven. So my 'evil' side — the side that's been acting out, started telling me that I had no better choice but to take the opportunity. And the other side — my 'live' side, which I won't say is some moral compass. It usually just pushes me to live my best life, but this time it just totally agreed with the evil side. So I took the job, and things were going good until..."

"Until?"

"...I may have been sampling the merchandise recently, and sharing it with the group for free. The 'live' side kept saying not to worry, that I could pay it back no problem, that my dealer wouldn't even notice. But, he did...and so did my 'evil' side. It said to me, 'You got a week to pay back seven hundred. No skipping out of town, and don't even think of pulling one over me'."

"It threatened you."

"Just...a little bit. Don't even worry cuz I already paid him back today. I just scraped together what I'd saved up to help my dad, some tooth fairy money, and there you go. Bullet dodged. It definitely won't happen again."

Alex thought he was hearing things. "Again? You're still going to do that job?"

"Y-yeah. You know this kind of job...easy to get into, not so easy to get out of, I guess. The 'evil' side keeps telling me not to quit. I mean, I still gotta make extra some money for my dad anyway, so why not?" His angular face formed a vivid smile.

Alex stared back at him, visibly worried, but Jeremi's countenance didn't budge. "That tattoo..." Alex's gaze had flickered down to Jeremi's left hand.

"Ah, yeah, got that like a week after getting the job. I used to be all about 'living'," he held up his right hand, "but what no school tells you is that 'living' can come at a cost of doing something 'evil' to get by. But like I said man, don't worry. The situation is under control. I'll definitely tell the group after I've re-earned a lot of money to help my dad. So remember to keep it a secret, kay?"

Alex let out one lengthy, exasperated sigh. "This must be what it feels like to be a criminal."

Jeremi shrugged before beginning to laugh, "you get used to it, in a good way, usually."

Alex joined in the bout of laughter, then bent his head back to peer at the sunny sky, the ashen clouds slowly clearing. "I've decided..."

"Hmm?"

"This secret I'm keeping for you is really big. Therefore I'm demanding you do something for me in return."

Jeremi eyed him suspiciously, but ultimately nodded in agreement. "Name it, man."

"You have to think of a nickname for me. 'Dude', 'man', and 'bro' are not going to cut it."

Jeremi laughed once more, the sound raspy yet catching. "Really, is that all? Okay, okay. How about...mhm...ooh, 'No-Nick.' As in 'no nickname', yet at the same time it is. Imagine messing with people with that. Ha ha! How 'bout it?"

Alex tried to be serious for whatever reason, but he couldn't hold back his explosive laughter. Jeremi joined him, and in no time at all they were both a chorus of cheerful hysterics.

Alex's phone suddenly beeped loudly, and he pulled it from his back pocket to see that it was text sent from Carsyn:

'Come to Halcyon. My ridiculous uncle wants to meet you, so let's just get this over with already. We'll eat and hang there till it's time for the meeting. Hurry up.'

Jeremi stepped closer to et a closer look, and read the phone screen. "Ah, lady lavender calls. You better run like the wind, No-Nick."

Alex nodded. "Hey, Remi."

"Hm?"

"Just...be careful. I've seen a lot of movies that involve gangs and getting involved in things that are illegal and dangerous. They never really turn out as the main character thinks they will at first. And I know life isn't a movie, but sometimes the movies are scary realistic. So, be careful."

Jeremi spared a peaceful exhale, and fiddled with the lobes of Alex's ears. "Promise. And thanks again for Frances. Now you should get going already." He retracted his hands from Alex's ears, then placed a hand behind Alex's head, pushing him gently in the direction of Halcyon. Alex used it as a jump start and began jogging the rest of the way.

Jeremi watched him for a while, nodding approvingly. He placed Frances down on the concrete ground, placing his feet firmly aboard, and skated away while whistling a melody of quietude.