Identity Crisis (Boy x Boy)

Part Fifteen

He twisted open the cap to the bottle, flashing a smile at me. "Not typically, but the boss promised to bring in donuts today." He said 'donuts' with more enthusiasm than he had used with me in the past forty-eight hours. Apparently his priorities were geared towards food. I dreaded the day that he would leave me for a seven-layer cake.

Cody downed about half of the bottle and shivered before continuing with his explanation. "It's why I'm skipping the coffee. Definitely a punishing experience, but the rewards are worth it."

I nodded. "I suppose any pick-me-up could turn a Monday into something worthwhile." As I brought the mug to my lips again, I secretly wished that my own pick-me-up would come my way. Just then, my phone buzzed. Good one, life. I silently lamented. By pick-me-up I meant something to make my day bearable, not a literal 'Hey! I'm buzzing! Pick me up!' from my phone.

Setting the coffee down, I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and unlocked the screen. The notification alert was a text from my mother. I was now tense all over again. During my little retreat, I had managed to forget all about my parents. Of course, I wasn't actually planning on going back to see what torture they had concocted for me seeing as it was nearing seventy-two hours since the initial threat of what was to come if I didn't break up with Cody. Instead, I was planning on staying in a motel for a few nights until I had everything figured out. However, my plans were foiled upon opening up my text conversation.

Derek, you need to come home NOW. The text read. Someone broke into the house and rummaged through the basement and stole just about everything. Whoever did this also kidnapped your father. Hurry!

Attached to the message were three images. One of them was of the basement. Everything looked to be destroyed. Shattered glass and papers littered the floor while every single drawer was open. The only thing left in-tact was the identity machine, but the burglar definitely attempted to destroy it as indicated by the dents. The second image was just a close-up of said dents.

The third image, the most gruesome of the set, put me into a panic. It was of a piece of paper that had been written on with a permanent marker. The sign read: 'Turn yourselves in and he'll keep the remaining nine.' with a severed finger taped onto the bottom corner. As if that alone wasn't enough to make me nauseous, the blood smeared over areas of the paper made my stomach churn.

At the risk of sounding like a self-serving bastard, I normally wouldn't dare to think about rushing to their aid. With how reckless my parents were as criminals, they had this one coming to them. They could've pissed off a drug rival one too many times, or they could've killed someone who had direct ties to their own mafia. With the kind of life they lived, nothing was exactly far-fetched.

What set off the red alert in my mind was the threat. Whoever this person was knew my parents and what they've done, and by extension, they had to have known me and what I've done. The looming idea of them blackmailing us into turning ourselves in scared me to no end. Because if the cops caught on to my crimes, it would no longer matter whether or not Cody stood on my side because I would be behind bars.

I couldn't let that happen. I had come way too far to let everything go.

"You good?" Cody asked with concern. "You're, like, heart attack pale right now." Honestly, with all the stuff that was piled on me, I didn't totally dismiss the possibility of me having one.

"Family emergency," I replied. I quickly texted my mother back and told her I would be there, then looked up at Cody. "I gotta go."

"Well, shit," he gasped. "Need me to come with? I still have time to call my boss and tell him I'm sick."

"No!" I screamed in a panicked tone, which only seemed to increase his worry. No, he definitely couldn't come with. That would not only be the worst way to come out to him about who I really was, but it would also put him in danger. I took in a shallow breath before continuing, hoping to ease my voice. "I mean, I really appreciate the offer, but it really would be better if you didn't get involved."