Baby, You Are the Weapon I Choose

“Are you going out?” my dad asked me as I stopped to check myself in the mirror by the stairs on my way down. It was 6:45, and from the directions Christine had texted me, it would take me at least 15 minutes to get there.

“Yeah, I have a date with Christine,” I told him, still looking in the mirror. I ran my hair through my hair, smoothing it out for a bit. With the humidity, it was slightly frizzy today, but nothing a little Jonas power couldn’t fix. Well the Jonas power of stealing Nick’s mousse. Luckily, I was the best at stealth.

“Already?” my dad asked, clearly impressed. I smirked. As if he had to expect any less. He clasped my shoulder, high with pride. I smirked, feeling slightly put off at the same time. Most guys got praise when they won their football game or some other sports event. I got it when I got a date with the girl who’s dad I was supposed to kill. Funny how our lives were. “Good job son.”

“Thanks,” I said, looking away from the mirror. “I should go. I have to pick her up.”

“Good luck,” he said, and watching me walk down the stairs.

“Hey Joe,” Nick stopped me as I headed out the door.

“Hey man, what’s up?” I asked, walking. I had to get to her house. I couldn’t be late when there was so much riding on this. Everything about me had to be gentleman-like and charming. And the first step was punctuality.

“Can I talk to you really quickly?” he asked, walking with me. “It’s really important.”

“Hop in,” I sighed, knowing he wouldn’t stop me unless it was important.

“You’re going on your date though, right?” Nick asked, not moving yet.

“Yeah, but I’ll drop you off to the garage, and you can wait there till Kevin’s back changing cars to head home,” I told him. We could never bring the cars directly home. There was too much riding on secrecy, too much effort put into stealth to give it all away because someone saw our car. Call it just another precaution, but it had to be done. “It’s on the way, and Kevin should be done soon.”

He nodded, and got into the seat. I quickly texted Christine that Might be late due to traffic. I might have wanted to be charming and gentleman like, but no stranger was more important than family. Still, I was slightly relieved when she texted me back to say she was running a little late as well.

“So what’s up?” I asked Nick as I started driving.

He sighed. “Dad wants Kevin to train me.”

I stared at him incredulously. This was what was so important. I voiced my aggravation.

He took a deep breath. “Joe, you don’t understand. Kevin is leaving. He’s stopping. He’s moving out and just staying in the band to get away from our – other job.”

“What?” I stared at Nick, confusion and shock thick in my voice.

“Kevin just told dad before he left for the job,” Nick shrugged. “He said this was the last one. He wasn’t going to do it anymore.”

“Did he say why?” I asked slowly. He was getting out of it? He was leaving? He was putting it all on my shoulders.

Nick shook his head. “But he did say that he couldn’t do this anymore. We weren’t doing it for the same reason anymore. We weren’t doing it because of the bad people. We were doing it for money, and that he wanted out.”

“What did dad say?” I asked, taking all this in. I was still so surprised.

“Oh he yelled,” Nick sighed. “He said Kevin was basically turning his back on family, and stuff.”

“Kevin must have loved that,” I scoffed. He wasn’t just throwing his back on us. He was throwing it all on my shoulders.

“It was pretty bad,” Nick agreed. “Kevin laughed and said that this was no family. This was murder. They both just got really calm then. And Dad asked Kevin to stay as long as it took to train me, so we didn’t suffer from the long too much. And eventually Kevin agreed to that, but he said it was his last job.”

“How’s he going to teach you then?” I asked, rolling my eyes as we neared the garage. “This isn’t a theories kind of thing. It’s practical.”

“That’s what I asked,” Nick shook his head. “He said he’d go with me, and teach me the ropes, but he was never going to take God’s hand and kill another person again.”

I stared out in front of me as I pulled into the garage. I stopped the car in the spot next to Kevin’s real car, his hybrid. He wasn’t back yet. I put the car into park, and sighed, looking at Nick, waiting for him to continue.

“I need you to teach me Joe,” he said.

“Kevin’s just as good,” I reminded him. “And it’d be more you doing stuff if you learned from him.”

“I don’t care about that,” he said. “I know you’ll let me pull a few jobs every now and then. But Kevin – you know we never really got along, because he thinks I’m too much like you. And I am. I’m so much more like you. I would never leave. I would never desert everyone, just like you wouldn’t. We’re nothing like him, and I don’t want him to teach me.”

I sighed. “I’ll talk to dad, okay?” I asked. In truth, I was just staring out in front of me. Nick had no idea how wrong he was about me. I was like Kevin, more so than I realized, I saw now. He wanted out, and he was getting it. I felt a surge of hatred filling me for my older brother. He was leaving, which made it impossible for me to ever do the same. It was all on my shoulders now.

“Thanks,” he grinned.

I sighed as he got out of my car. I looked at the time, and cursed softly. I would have to speed all the way not to be even later to Christine’s. I hoped this Christine thing would go quickly. It wasn’t that I was scared or anything. Hell, I didn’t even like her. I didn’t even know her. But there was something there, something about Christine that made me wonder how this would end. He would be dead, of course. That was my job. It was either him or my mom. Like I said before, no stranger’s life came before family. And somehow, Kevin was getting away from that.