"Garrett!"
I winced and looked up at my mom with a sweet smile. "Yes, mother?"
"Don't even pretend like I can't see you feeding that dog under the table," she said, narrowing her eyes at me. "Michigan has his own damn food. You're going to turn him into more of a beggar than he already is."
"But he likes it," I said, and slipped Michigan another piece of toast. "He likes when I put peanut butter on toast."
"And I like when my dog isn't whining at my feet every time I try to have a meal," mom said, grabbing Michigan's collar and dragging him away from me. "You have your own food, you spoiled rotten creature."
Dad came into the kitchen and frowned at mom. "Why are you dragging the dog?"
"Your son is feeding him again," mom said.
"He likes peanut butter," I said, signing it out too in case he missed any of my words.
"That doesn't mean you feed it to him," dad said. "What are you doing today?"
"We're going to Akira's tonight to have a fire and watch a movie," I said, leaning back in my chair. "Hopefully something scary. A nice horror movie while we sit unsuspecting and defenseless outside."
"I worry about you so much," mom said with a sigh.
"But no plans for the day?" dad said.
"You're going to ask me to do something," I said, narrowing my eyes at him.
"You're right," he agreed. "I'll give you money, but I need you to go pick up Michigan's food. He's running out of the wet food, and you know he won't eat the dry food without it mixed in."
"Dad, no," I said in horror. "The pet store is in the south side of town. I'm not trying to get stabbed. Or shot. Or mugged. Or human trafficked. Or cornered by those people who ring the Salvation Army bell like Chinese water torture."
Dad pat my shoulder. "Stick to the pet store. I know it's in the south side, but it's in an open plaza, so there's not as much trouble there."
The south side of town was something the rest of us tended to avoid. It was the part of the city where crime rates were the highest, as well as a rapidly spreading drug problem and even some gang activity. It tended to branch out towards the neighboring city instead of inwards to the nicer parts of our city, which was the only relief. Unfortunately, the south side also held the only pet shop in the city, since the one in the north side had shut down.
Okay, okay, so I was overreacting a bit. I'd been to the south side plenty of times with no trouble. Chain stores tried to situate themselves in open plazas where there was less trouble. The main shopping area wasn't nearly as dangerous as the housing areas.
Mom knelt down and turned Michigan's face so he was looking at me. "Come on Garrett, you'll feed your brother peanut butter but you won't buy him his favorite part of his own meal?"
"Stop using his cuteness against me," I groaned. "Fine, fine, I'll risk my life to get Mich his food."
"Here. I'll even give you extra so you can pick up some snacks for you and your friends," dad said, grabbing his wallet and taking out some money. He handed it to me and pat my shoulder again. "Thanks, Gar. Your mom and I have to go help your grandmother today, or else I would've done it."
"You're luck you're cute," I said to Michigan, who barked happily in response.
"Are you ready to go?" mom asked dad.
"Yea, I put my tool box in the back of the car in case your mother needs anything fixed while we're there," dad said, checking the time. "Garrett, let us know if you're coming home tonight or staying at Akira's."
"Just assume I'm staying there. Have fun getting nagged by grandma," I said.
"Come on, Michigan. Car ride!" mom said, which earned excited barking and jumping from Michigan as she hooked his leash on. "We'll see you later, Garrett. I have my phone on me, so just give me a call if you do get mugged or stabbed."
"Always looking out for me. Thanks mom," I said, and waved to my parents as they left the house with Michigan.
I checked the time and got up, heading upstairs to throw real clothes on. I'd grab Michigan's food, get some snacks for tonight, and head home to grab my stuff before going to Akira's.
I changed and grabbed the car keys, heading outside. I paused for a moment in the driveway, tipping my face up towards the sun. There was a light breeze to combat the heat, and it was beautiful out. God, I loved the summer. Winter was great, because I liked to snowboard and go snowshoeing with my parents, but nothing beat a nice summer day.
I got in the car and rolled the window down, playing my music and letting the wind push my hair around as I drove towards the south side. If this breeze kept up into the night, it would be perfect weather for an outdoor movie and a bonfire.
It took me about twenty minutes to reach the pet store, and the shift of good side to bad side of the city was evident. Still, the plaza was comfortably busy, so I got out, made sure my car was locked, and headed into the pet store.
It took all my damn willpower not to go to the back of the pet store to look at all the cats and birds and other cute animals. My mom would kill me if I impulse bought a pet when I was just supposed to be getting food.
Thankfully, Michigan's food was a fair distance from the live animals, so I grabbed it and scurried my way to the front. I paid and left the store, looking around the plaza.
There was a Dollar Store in the plaza, so I made my way there. I'd grab snacks, and make my way back home.
The Dollar Store was air conditioned, the cold air making me shiver a little as I stepped inside. It was fairly quiet, which I was thankful for. I didn't want to deal with bumping into people every other step.
Making my way to the snack aisle, I looked around. We'd definitely want some chips, maybe even stuff for smores.
"-ran into them. No, I was just stopping by the store. Ain't me who started it."
If the voice wasn't familiar enough, the poor grammar would've given it away. I went to the end of the aisle and peeked into the next one, seeing Silas with his back turned and a cellphone up to his ear. He was looking at the little travel packs of tissues, situating his cell phone between his shoulder and his ear so he could have both his hands free to check his wallet.
"Yea, well, I'll be running late, I guess. Told Ray I'd take the bus back home, but I missed it. I'll catch the next one if they'll piss off," he said, sounding mildly annoyed.
"Need a ride?" I said.
Silas jumped a little, spinning around to face me with his hand clenched into a fist. But his body relaxed as he realized who was speaking.
My eyes widened a little though. Any other time, I would've been taking in the sight of his neat new haircut, the shaggy mess he'd called hair gone.
But right now, I was a little distracted by the blood leaking from his nose.
"I see why you need the tissues," I said at last.
"What do you want?" he demanded.
"A way to go back in time so I could avoid this awkward moment, but that's unlikely so I'm not really sure anymore," I said.
"Huh?" He shifted the phone a little. "Nah, ran into one of your brother's friends in the store. Yea, yea, I'll call you later. Don't worry about it. Ain't a real problem. They're small time nuisances." He hung up and tucked the phone into his pocket.
"South side trouble?" I said, gesturing to his nose.
"Just trying to get some tissues and some witnesses," he said. "Mind your own."
"If I mind my own, you'll have no witnesses," I said, gesturing to the empty store around us. "That defeats part of your plan. Beggars can't be choosers. Annoying witnesses are better than no witnesses."
I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be witnessing, but I was going to take a wild guess and say Silas had found trouble with the south side. A lot of the south side kids I went to high school with had dropped out, or graduated and turned to selling drugs. They formed their own mini gangs and harassed anyone that wasn't one of their own, especially if they were out here alone.
But if that was the case, then I couldn't just leave Silas here. I'd heard of people getting jumped waiting for the bus on a quiet day, when there was no one around to step in. Silas had been a troublemaker back in the days when he'd first come here, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the south side kids still held a grudge against him. He clearly wasn't safe here.
"I'm going to Akira's house," I said at last. "I can give you a ride. You were on the phone with Kaito, right?"
"Don't need a ride," he said.
"Look, buddy, if you want to go out and get your ass kicked, that's a strange hobby and I'm judging you a lot," I said. "I promise a ride to Kaito's house won't be super awkward. Just moderately awkward. I'll even let you pick the music."
"Ain't afraid of a little confrontation," Silas said, wiping the blood off with his arm before it could drip onto his lips.
"Apparently you're afraid of an English lesson," I muttered, snatching the tissue pack from him. He could play tough guy all he wanted, but I wasn't just going to leave him here. "Tell you what, grab whatever you want. My treat for eating your food."
"I don't need you to buy me shit. I'll get those tissues and take the bus," he said with a shrug.
"I will call Jack right this second and have him put me on the phone with Ray," I threatened. I wasn't sure how much authority Ray had over Silas, but if Silas lived there, surely Ray had to have some sort of control over him.
Sure enough, the slightest bit of unease flickered in his eyes. "Go for it. I'm sure Ray'll kick that bastard out before he ever takes a phone call from him."
I took my phone out, starting to put in Jack's number. "Guess we'll find out."
Silas hurriedly reached out to stop me. "Fine, fine. Damn, you're a pain. I'll go with you. Just...don't tell Ray. About my nose, I mean. I had to fight with him to come out here alone in the first place."
I wasn't trying to be overly obnoxious, but I also couldn't bring myself to just leave Silas here knowing he'd be in danger. It was better to annoy him into letting me drive him to Kaito's house than to shrug it off and leave him here alone.
"You're still buying me whatever I want," he said moodily, pushing me out of the way so he could go into the food aisle.
As he looked around for something, I grabbed chips and smores stuff, waiting until Silas had decided on a bag of chips and a drink. I took us to the checkout, the cashier eyeing Silas's bloody nose but not saying anything. I used to work retail and I knew that after so long, you just became immune to all the weird shit you saw.
I paid and led Silas outside. He took the tissues from me and held one up to his nose, tipping his head forward a little.
"Something wrong with your nose, Silas?"
Silas looked up at the voice, pulling the tissue away from his nose. "Gonna be something wrong with your face if you don't piss off."
Two boys and a girl stood there, and I recognized them from school. I knew the boys were cousins, and the girl was dating one of them. One of them had been expelled from school for fighting and drug dealing, and clearly he was still living a healthy, productive life by harassing Silas in a parking lot.
The one who'd been expelled, Troy, I think his was, stepped forward. "Want to say that a little louder?"
Silas raised his voice. "Gonna be something wrong with your face if you don't piss off. Catch it this time?"
Troy punched him in the face. "Catch that this time?"
"You punch like a sissy," Silas said, rubbing his jaw. "Go hit the gym before you waste your time hitting me."
I looked around, praying someone would be watching this ready to call the damn police. But people dutifully ignored the trouble in the parking lot, because it hadn't gotten out of control enough to cause an inconvenience to anyone else yet.
"Hey, I'm trying to go home, not to jail," I said to Silas. "Let's go already."
Troy looked over at me, eyeing me, trying to figure out why he recognized me. I mentally groaned. Oh, no, I didn't like the way his eyes lit up. I knew what that meant. He knew my infamous nickname.
"I know you. You're that slut kid, Guzzling Garrett," he said, and the two behind him snickered.
I bowed a little. "Guzzling Garrett at your slutty service." Shit. I can't believe he recognized me and remembered that nickname. Bowling For Soup were right; high school never ends, even when you get expelled from it to go live your dreams of being an aggressive drug dealer.
"Not surprised trash like you found a c um dumpster like him," Troy said to Silas, shaking his head. "Probably sucking each other's dicks."
"More action than you get. Unless you and your cousin share her," Silas said.
"Say shit about my girlfriend again, fucker," the other boy said, stepping forward.
"Yea, go ahead, run that big ass mouth of yours. You've got nothing to back it up with," the girl said.
"Wasn't judging you, darling. You can sleep with whoever you want. Your body. Just wondering if they like to keep things between the family a little too much," Silas said with a shrug.
"Speaking of family, we have a pair of brothers to get back to," I said, trying to nudge Silas away towards the car. "No time to waste here."
"Now hold on, he threw a punch and I want to throw one back," Silas said, looking genuinely stubborn about it.
"I won't have to tell Ray about your nose if they break it. He'll connect the dots," I hissed.
Silas reluctantly let me push him back. "This ain't over. Don't go showing your face or I'll fuck it up, asshole."
"This is our side of town. You know what'll happen if you go showing yourself around here again," Troy said.
"Doesn't look to me like you own the place. You're just more trash in these shitty streets," Silas said.
"And on that note, we're leaving," I said, tugging Silas away.
He kept himself tensed up until we were in the car with the doors locked. He grabbed a new tissue and held it to his nose.
"Trouble with them in school?" I said.
He shrugged. "Always had a mouth on him. Thought he needed to learn some manners. I see he knew you."
"Not me. Just my, uh, nickname, I guess," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "Don't take to calling me that. I'll set your house and your single tomato on fire."
"Already knew you had that nickname," Silas said, which surprised me. He knew that and he didn't call me that even when I pissed him off? He noticed my expression and shrugged again. "People are more than the rumors about them."
"Don't get crumbs all over my car," I said, tossing him the bag of chips he'd picked out.
I started driving, wondering how Silas could be so damn savage to Troy and his friends, but not even tease me with my embarrassing nickname. The nickname had come around a while back in high school, when someone started a rumor that I'd been sucking guys off in the bathroom during my free periods. It had started out as dick guzzler Garrett, and evolved into Guzzling Garrett. That certainly wasn't a fun period in my life, but I'd found that playing it off eased the sting of it and made it lose its hype quicker. I never did find out where that rumor came from, but it, along with the nickname, had caught on and spread far too quickly for my liking.
Silas grabbed my aux cord and plugged his phone in. I wasn't sure what kind of music to expect from him, but relaxed as he played a familiar band. Good, I didn't have to listen to music I thought was shitty on the drive back to our side of the city.
I pulled into Akira's driveway a while later, putting the car into park and unlocking the doors for Silas. He looked over at me, having not said a word the whole drive. His nose had stopped bleeding though, and he thankfully held onto the dirty tissue instead of setting it in my car.
"What, not getting out?" he said.
I shook my head. "I have to stop home first. I was sparing you from extra time with me. I figured I've annoyed you enough for one day."
"If you're coming back, then I ain't free of you yet," Silas said, pushing the door open. "Thanks for the ride, I guess. I'd say thanks for the food, but this still isn't enough to make up for what you ate the other day."
"Grudges aren't healthy," I said, grinning a little. He raised his middle finger at me and shut the car door, heading up the driveway and knocking on the door.
I made sure someone let him into the house before leaving the driveway and heading back towards my own house. I was just grateful that parking lot incident hadn't escalated into anything worse. Relieved that we had made it through that with minimal injury to Silas, I tried to focus on how fun tonight would be with my friends.