As usual, Clyde was at the shop already when I got there, everything set up, ready to go. He was leaning against the bench as I went in, smiling down at his phone.
"Hey," he greeted me when I came in, glancing up for a second.
"Morning," I replied. "What are you grinning about?"
"Just Bonnie, being a dork," he replied, slipping his phone in his jacket pocket, then shrugged it off and dumped it in the office.
"So..." he clapped his hands together, then hesitated for a moment, glancing up. "Are you all good?"
"Good?" I repeated, not sure what he was getting at.
"Yeah," he went on. "Apparently you and your dad were going at it last night."
"Jeez," I swore. "Did anyone not hear that?"
Clyde shrugged, fiddling with a socket wrench.
"I don't know if anyone actually heard what was said," he assured me, "Axe sounded pissed, apparently, Jack texted me this morning. I thought I should check up on you."
I was starting to understand where Jenna was coming from, when she said that she'd hate everyone knowing your business. I had really hoped Clyde wouldn't hear about this, but it was a small town, and we were a tight knit group, so I shouldn't have been surprised that he knew. At least it was only my closest mate.
"He didn't like that I was there," I told him with a shrug.
"But you're there a lot," Clyde pointed out. "It's not like you're a kid, and you aren't getting involved with any of their shit..."
Clyde trailed off, picking up on my hesitation.
"Or not." He tilted his head, cocking an eyebrow.
I shrugged.
"Are you in some sort of trouble, or something, man?" He glanced outside, setting down the socket wrench, focusing his full attention on me. "You need me to do something?"
I grinned, shaking my head. It was so typical of Clyde to jump straight to my defense without even knowing why he was defending me. I loved that about him.
"I'm not in trouble," I assured him. "Axe found out I asked Beast for a favor, and that I did one for him."
"And... by favor, you don't mean getting down on your knees in some alley somewhere-"
"Fuck, no!" I replied, recoiling, and he smirked. "How many times did you say you got dropped on your head as a baby, again?"
He shrugged.
"A few. But you know I don't judge people for that," he responded. "Twenty bucks is twenty bucks-"
I punched him in the shoulder to shut him up and he laughed.
"But, really," he continued, picking up the socket wrench again. "What kind of a favor is it that you had to ask Beast?"
"You know," I shrugged, trying to evade the question.
"If you can borrow his sexy chopper to pick up chicks?" Clyde joked and I laughed, shrugging again.
"Something like that."
"Really, dude," Clyde was looking at me expectantly, wearing his stern older brother face again. "What's so bad that you can even tell me?"
I hesitated a second longer, but I knew I couldn't avoid this. He'd figure it out, which would make it even worse that I didn't tell him. I just knew that he'd hate what I'd done, despite my reasons. I needed Clyde in my corner, more than anyone.
"I asked him to go after Lucas," I admitted, keeping my tone light, making out like it wasn't a big deal.
"What?" Clyde did a double take, dropping the wrench, stepping back as it clattered to the ground. "Fuck."
I kept my eyes on the part I was working on, avoiding him.
"You mean kill?" He confirmed.
"If it comes to it."
"Fucking hell, Ace," he muttered. "You put a hit on someone?"
"It has to be done," I finally defended. "Do you seriously not agree with that? What if he did that shit to Bonnie?"
"Then I'd kill him myself, very fucking slowly," Clyde answered, his expression darkening. "That's not what I'm getting at, though, that prick needs to die. Painfully."
"Then what's your problem?"
"Do you know how much you pay a dude to off someone?" He raised an eyebrow and I winced.
"You want to ask a little louder?" I grumbled. "I don't think the people on the other side of town heard you."
"It's a lot," he answered his own question, just as loudly, completely ignoring my comment. "Which makes me wonder what the hell it is you had to do in return."
"I had to deliver something for him."
"So, you're his paper boy."
"It was a once off thing," I assured him.
"It doesn't add up," he argued, crossing his arms. "That's a huge favor you asked him for, even for the Specters."
"Why do you know so much about this stuff anyway?" I demanded, trying to change the subject. "Did you used to be a hit man, or something."
I said it as a joke, but with Clyde, I wouldn't have been surprised. Actually, it would explain a lot more than it wouldn't. I could imagine him doing something like that. He'd be good at it.
"We aren't talking about that," he said, a little too sharply. "We're talking about you being in Beast's pocket."
"God, you sound like my dad," I rolled my eyes at him.
"What did you have to deliver?" He asked firmly. "Bro, if you're in trouble, I can help you out, you know?"
"I'm not in trouble," I insisted. "I just had to deliver a kilo of coke to someone, and the Specters would protect Jenna."
Clyde said nothing for a while, but I could see him working his jaw, thinking over what I'd just told him.
"You're fucking around with drugs now?" He said, glaring at the engine in the car instead of at me, which was bad.
"I know you hate that shit-"
"I 'hate' that little kids get abused by their parents," he scoffed. "They're the people who are supposed to protect them, no matter what. I fucking despise drugs, and how it fucks people up, makes them do that sort of shit. Fuck, you know that, man."
I felt the guilt resurface, and I frowned at the ground as Clyde worked at the engine, a scowl plastered across his face.
Great, now my best mate hates me, too.
"What were you thinking, Acey?" He stared at me intently, waiting for my answer.
"I was thinking," I said firmly, meeting his eye and holding it, "that I'll do whatever I have to do to keep Jenna safe from the guy who wants to keep her as a fucking sex slave."
I saw the muscle in his jaw twitch as he glanced away from me for a second, and knew I'd convinced him. I was speaking his language now, talking about something he could understand; doing whatever it took to protect someone you cared for.
"There's someone the next town over, who deals coke," I explained to him, and he focused his attention back on me. I told him about the Gypsy and the gang that was there at the party, and the part they would play in taking down Lucas and his fucked up organisation.
"They promised to sell Lucas out if Beast could provide for them in his place." I concluded. "That's what I was delivering."
"How do you know you can trust them?"
"Beast told me that the Gypsy learnt everything thing she knows from her dad," I explained. "But he abused when she was a teenager, you know? Then, she had her own daughter, he did the same thing to the kid, so she killed him, and took over the family business."
"Fuck," Clyde muttered, watching me intently, hanging on my words.
"Yeah," I agreed, nodding. "She won't stand for it, apparently."
Clyde was nodding slowly, his face smoothed out from the angry expression into something more sympathetic.
"Why didn't you tell me, man?" He wondered. "You could have gotten rolled at that place. You know I would have had your back."
"They were like you," I laughed. "Just looking for a fight."
"I don't go round looking for fights," he argued, but I fixed him with a doubtful look and he shrugged.
"If you ever have to do anything like that again," he said, glancing toward the office where the phone was ringing, "you make sure you tell me what's going on, yeah?"
I agreed as he went to answer the call.