The Worst Choice

Nash.

“Okay, we’re heading to church,” Levi’s mom announced, pulling a coat over her dressy top. “You sure you boys don’t want to come with?”

“I’m not feeling that good today,” I lied from my spot on the couch. “Maybe next week though?”

“I just don’t want to go,” Levi mumbled from the recliner. I glanced at him and saw that the chair was as reclined as possible with his head resting back and his eyes closed. Every time I looked at his black eye it only pissed me off further. These guys had issues with me, not Levi . They had no right to beat him up just because he was associated with me. That only made my stomach churn more; if they were trying to speed up the process of me paying them back, who knows who they would target next. These guys were well-connected and probably could get information on anybody with the simple click of a button. I didn’t know how far they would go- all I knew was that I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if Ashlyn got hurt because of me.

“Do you have Aspirin left or do you need more?” Levi’s mom’s voice broke my thoughts. She walked over to him, frowning as she lightly touched his eye. He hissed, causing her to retract her hand quickly. “Sorry.”

“I have enough, its fine,” Levi insisted. “But can you bring me the ice pack before you go? I think I punched myself in my sleep or something, my eye is killing me.”

“Of course,” she replied with a nod, hurrying into the kitchen. In a matter of seconds she had returned with the ice pack and began listing off how to properly take care of it and tips on how to keep his eye relaxed. I focused my attention back onto the TV, ignoring the guilt that was gnawing at my conscience. “Nash, since I know my son will probably not do as he is told, keep an eye on him?”

Levi groaned. “Mom, I am not five years old. I don’t need anybody to babysit me, especially Nash,” he complained.

I chuckled. “Will do, Ms. J,” I responded with a small salute.

She thanked me before pressing her lips to Levi’s head and ruffling my hair as she said goodbye and made her way out the door, ushering Levi’s sister out as well. I listened closely, waiting until I heard the sound of the car leaving the driveway before walking over to my stuff, searching for clothes.

“What are you doing? It’s noon on a Sunday, what the hell do you have planned?” Levi asked.

I pulled out clean boxers, a pair of jeans that looked clean enough and a black sweatshirt before turning to him. “I have a lunch date with a dick in an hour and I don’t plan on being a second late,” I responded.

He raised an eyebrow under the ice pack that was pressed to his eye. “Why are you going out to lunch with your dad?” he asked.

“What? No, not my dad. Roman,” I corrected, walking into the bathroom and quickly changing. I brushed my teeth before exiting the bathroom, plopping onto the couch as I pulled my shoes on.

“How are you getting there?” Levi asked, eying me curiously.

“The bus. That’s part of the reason why I’m leaving so early,” I replied.

“Wrong answer,” he claimed, pushing the recliner down and standing up, dropping the ice pack onto the table. “I’m driving you there and going with you.”

I scoffed. “While that’s sexy and chivalrous of you, I’m gonna have to say you’re wrong,” I told him, chuckling. “This is the guy that beat the shit out of you not even 48 hours ago. Why would you want to go?”

“Because I don’t need want him to think that I’m scared of him or he got to me,” he answered. “Also, for the record, he did not ’beat the shit out of me’. He got a couple big guys to throw some punches, big deal? I held my own.”

I laughed, shaking my head as I grabbed the faded white hat from beside the couch and put it on. “I think you left some tear stains on the furniture,” I teased.

“Fuck off, I didn’t cry,” he grumbled. He slipped his feet into a pair of brown slippers that he wore around the house. “Let’s go,” he instructed as he grabbed the keys and his phone as he walked to the door. He turned to look at me once he made it to the door and realized I hadn’t moved from my spot. “What?”

“You’re not only leaving the house like that, but you’re going to talk to a mafia boss-like guy wearing that?” I questioned. He looked down at his bright yellow shirt that had a big picture of SpongeBob’s face centered in the middle of it, black and white plaid pajama pants and brown slippers that looked like they belonged to his mom instead.

“Actually, I am,” he said. “Show this mother fucker who he’s messing with.” With that, he opened the door and walked out. I laughed in disbelief, shaking my head as I made a mental note to make sure nobody had access to any forks or knives- or spoons, for that matter. I walked out of the house, locking the door behind me and got into Levi’s car. “Where to?” he asked, pulling out of the driveway.

“That small diner by Target,” I answered.

His eyes widened and he glanced at me. “You mean that hole-in-the-wall diner?” he asked. “Dude, you know he’s probably planning on murdering you, right? That place would have few witnesses and I’m sure he has the money to pay them to keep their mouths shut. Or hell, he’d probably kill them too.”

“Levi, shut up,” I told him, rolling my eyes. “We’re just going to talk.”

“Yeah, right,” he snorted. “What is there to talk about, anyway? He already relayed the message Friday, why does he need to see you again?”

I shrugged. “He didn’t, I got a hold of him,” I responded.

“What the fuck? Why?”

“Because we need to get a couple of things straight before I bust my ass to pay him back,” I told him.

“You’re not going to have an ass to bust once he gets sick of your shit and pops a cap in your ass,” Levi claimed, causing me to roll my eyes again. This is why I didn’t want him to come.

“Look, just remember, while I may not have won the fight, I have fought this guy and I put up a damn good fight, too,” I reminded him. “Without his group of morons and weapons, he isn’t that scary.”

“Well, that’s irrelevant because he always has said group of morons and weapons on hand, ready to kill,” he muttered. “But whatever; your death wish, not mine.” He shrugged. “What does Ashlyn think of you going to see him?”

“Shit, that reminds me,” I mumbled. “Can I use your phone?” He fished the phone out of his pajama pocket and tossed it onto my lap. I dialed Ashlyn’s number, my thumb hovering over the call button. “By the way, she doesn’t know I’m going to see him. I don’t even think she knows he’s still in the picture right now and I intend on keeping it that way, alright?”

Levi lifted his fingers off of the steering wheel, as if he were surrendering. “Not my business to tell,” he assured me.

With that, I pressed the call button and put the phone to my ear. It only rang a few times before she picked up. “Hello?” she answered.

I smiled slightly. “Hey, you,” I replied.

She laughed. “Hey yourself,” she said. “What do you want?”

I let out a small scoff. “Well, that’s a lovely way to greet your boyfriend,” I joked.

“You did call because you needed something, right?” she asked.

“What makes you think I didn’t just call to say hi and ask how your day is going?” I questioned her.

She laughed again. “Because you don’t work today and, unless you needed something, I wouldn’t be getting that call for at least another two hours,” she stated matter-of-factly. I didn’t say anything for a few seconds, causing her to giggle. “Nail on the head, huh?”

“Anyway,” I emphasized. “About that note you mentioned yesterday, what exactly did it say?” Yesterday, after a little nap, I woke up to Levi saying that Ashlyn had called and wanted me to call her back. Naturally, I did, and she let me know that Aurora somehow knew that I had slept over and saved us from being caught- thank God- but she also asked why I left a note saying ‘got you’ in her mailbox and what it meant. And seeing as I didn’t leave a note, it gave me a bad feeling.

“I told you, it just said ‘got you’, nothing else,” she said. “Like I said, it was probably just a mix up or something. Maybe the mailman was just being weird because of the time Aurora almost backed the car into his truck last year, I don’t know. It’s not really a big deal.”

“Yeah, but it’s weird,” I commented before I realized I shouldn’t be worrying her. Whether or not it was an accident or something serious, I shouldn’t worry her about it. So I added, “It could be some creepy old guy trying to hit on you.”

Ashlyn laughed. “Creepy old guy? Then you might just have some tough competition, Mr. Carter,” she told me. I chuckled before hearing voices on her end of the phone. “Hey, I have to go play trucks with Alex. I promised him earlier and he keeps bothering me about it so I guess I should just-“

“Go ahead,” I interrupted, noticing Levi pulling into the parking lot of the diner. “I wouldn’t want you to delay playing trucks because of little old me.”

She laughed. “You’re an idiot,” she said. “I’ll call you when I’m done, okay? Maybe you can come over or something tomorrow.”

“Yeah, alright,” I said, spotting the familiar Russian sitting at an outside table. Looks like I’m not the only one who wants to be early. “I’ll talk to you then. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she said before I hung up, my eyes never leaving Roman’s face.

I opened the door and stepped out, giving Levi a look when he got out as well. “What you are you doing?” I asked him.

He scoffed, walking to the front of his car. “You thought I was just gonna play chauffer and not say anything?” he asked. “Silly Nash.”

“Look, just don’t say anything, okay? He doesn’t have to be here and I can’t have him walking off before I can say anything,” I instructed.

“Got it,” he said, but I knew him well enough that he’d up saying something stupid.

Despite that, I sighed and walked into the diner, him following me. Roman’s eyes met mine as soon as the door ding’d that there was a new customer. His lips twitched upward, his eyes narrowing at the sight of me. Not breaking the eye contact, I walked over and took a seat across from him. “Well, well, well, Nash Carter,” Roman broke the silence and stare-off, closing the newspaper he had in front of him and setting it on the table next to him. “I must say, when you called, I was rather surprised to hear from you,” he informed me before his gaze fell onto Levi. “But not as surprised as seeing you walk in here with him. Hello, how have you been? Levi, is it?”

Levi scoffed, leaning back and crossing his arms. “’I’ve been lovely, thanks,” he replied sarcastically.

“We need to get a few things straight,” I told Roman before his and Levi’s conversation could continue. I didn’t come here to listen to them share snide comments.

“Oh? And what exactly would those things be?” he questioned with a raised eyebrow. He spoke with such arrogance and calmness it pissed me off.

“You don’t fuck with people around me just because you’re having problems with me,” I demanded quietly, hoping not to draw attention from the few other customers in the room. “I’m the one who owes you money. Don’t go ‘sending messages’ to other people like you’ve been doing. I will get you your money by the deadline, I swear.”

Suddenly, his face held amusement. “I have to say that I’m a bit lost here,” he claimed but the tone of his voice told me otherwise.

“Basically, don’t beat up any of my friends- example, Levi,” I ordered, gesturing to Levi. “And don’t send anymore stupid little notes to my girlfriend. She is in no way involved with this. She doesn’t even know about any of this.”

Roman chuckled, leaning his arms onto the table as he laced his fingers together. “No, I think you’re the one who doesn’t know about any of this,” he responded. He must’ve seen my confusion because before I could even say anything, he was speaking again. Your debt’s paid off. Your little friend here just happened to be around only a couple hours before we go the money, so it was just bad luck.”

Levi snorted from beside me. “Bad luck? More like attempted batter-“

“What are you talking about my debt is paid off?” I asked, sure I hadn’t heard him right.

“Every cent you owed me, I got paid back. I guess it’s your lucky day,” he told me with a smirk.

“What did you do?” I growled. “I sure as hell didn’t pay that, so what did you do in replacement for the money?”

He laughed, his head leaning back dramatically. “I didn’t do anything. I got cash, told it was on your behalf and now you’re clear,” he explained.

“Who paid you?” I asked, wracking my brain to figure out who had that kind of money but I came back empty. Nobody I knew had that kind of money lying around to pay off my mistakes.

“They’ve asked to stay anonymous,” he answered, way too amused with this situation than he should be.

I turned to Levi, who looked just as lost as I was. “You sure Ashlyn knew nothing about this?” I asked him.

But before he could answer, Roman cut in. “Ashlyn? That’s your girlfriend you spoke of, correct?” he asked.

I sneered at him. “Don’t play stupid. She’s the one you sent the creepy note to,” I told him, wishing he would just up and leave or tell me who the hell paid off my debt.

“I’ve seen her with you, she’s quite pretty,” he commented, a glint in his eyes that I didn’t like. “But I can assure you that I haven’t done anything to get in contact with her. She was next on the list.”

“You’re lying,” I accused. He was the only person who would send something as simple yet creepy as ‘got you’.

“What have I got to lie about?” he asked. “I didn’t deny roughing your friend up a bit. I even admitted that your girlfriend was the next person I was going to send a message to for your payment. But I didn’t send any note to her.” Worry crossed my face; he had a valid point. But who else could’ve done it? Maybe it was just a big joke. “Looks like you’ve got somebody else after you. Or your girlfriend, I should say.”

I glared at him. “Fuck you,” I said through clenched teeth before standing up abruptly, the chair falling to the floor but I didn’t pay it any mind as I exited the diner and quickly walked right by Levi’s car.