Just Another Liar

Chapter 20: Aurelio

We sat in our cabin deep in the biggest city in northern Canada, Whitehorse. It took a week to reach the town. After we stopped in Toronto to get new identities spun up and getting a steady stream of income from Deandre's stores of wealth, we traveled non-stop deciding not to move into Alaska since Canadian media coverage on us was null.

The cabin was a decent size with working electricity and hot water. It smelled deeply of pine and a fog appeared every morning. The city reminded me of where I grew up, a place that called itself a city but had a small town way of existing. I was unsure if I missed Texas. I was unsure if it was ever actually my home or just another place to hide.

That was what we were doing, hiding. Not more than a month ago, we were kings. The cars, clothes, men and women now felt like something of a past life. We would be there again one day. Deandre was not the person to settle for anything other than the best life offered. I was no stranger to struggle, so I was aware it did not last forever.

Milo turned from Deandre's side to rest his head on my chest. He was still sleeping; it was early in the morning. The gray outdoor light barely makes its appearance known over the curtains. His skin wasn't silky, he needed to shave, and he had been turning all night. The weight of killing his boss was settling over him, the weight of the life he took at the border changed him. The other day he made the error of looking up the news story and saw the memorial for her death. He saw the woman's husband begging for justice. He saw that weasel Scala fumbling to address the rushed case. It all pushed him into a breakdown.

It was hard to be there for him if I was being honest. I was glad the bitch was dead. The budding politician was the only person left that I wanted to put a bullet in. Deandre was actually the one to walk over and console him. He was seeing what I truly saw, except it was Milo without a mask. He was not guarding himself from us, which made me cling to him even harder than before. There was a feeling of doubt and mistrust, but I kept falling deeper and deeper in love with the man. I never thought I would be head over heels in love. Deandre and I had grown to love each other. With Milo, falling in love was a quick and desired thing.

"We need to talk about what we will do moving forward. We've been playing house for too long. You've been drinking again, and Milo's been moping. I can't live like this forever, it's been a nice change of pace, but that can get us caught. One slip and they will kill us, we killed so many cops there is no way we would even make it to trial."

Deandre had probably woken the moment Milo moved. I looked over at him and reached a hand out, touching his shoulder. He was correct in saying we had very little room for error. The further we got from America, the safer we would be.

"Let's just rest a little longer before we get into the shit show that is our lives, okay?"

He turned to look at me and nodded. We held that gaze for a long time, I could barely make out his face and he probably wasn't seeing much of mine since I needed to cut my hair, we all did. We desperately needed some maintenance and true relaxation.

Milo's breathing was the only sound for a long time. The puffs of his exhale tickled my chest hair. Small amounts of saliva falling from his mouth onto my nipple.

"Wake up," Deandre boomed. He had grown tired of waiting for our third to wake up, which I didn't even find surprising. Deandre was used to running things, having an empire under his control. Laying in a cabin, hiding in a cabin would drive him insane.

Milo startled awake, his hands prone for a fight and his eyes jumping around the room. With the show over, he was no longer some helpless guy, not that I considered him weak. I knew he could handle business. I still remembered how he took that punk down in my living room.