“Damn near close.” He murmured.
His words left me feeling uneasy and wondering why he took the job with my dad in the first place. Had he hoped to change his life for the better or had he taken it because he felt like he had nothing to lose? I feared it was the latter and that he was willing to succumb to the same fate as his dad. Mikey had no ambition to be anything other than a failure because that’s what he had put in his head, but I knew better deep down Mikey was a good guy. I saw his drive to excel as a manager at Temptations and when the shit hit the fan there was one thing I was certain of beyond a shadow of a doubt he would’ve risked his own life to save mine.
His phone rang immediately interrupting my train of thought and I watched him fish the phone out of his pocket. He glanced down at the caller id before turning the screen towards me. Whoever was calling showed up in Mikey’s new phone as “Don’t Answer”.
“What are you doing?” I said, reaching for the phone as he slid his finger across the screen to answer the call. “But it says—“
Mikey shrugged his shoulders winking at me as he brought the phone to his ear. “Hello?” He placed the call on speakerphone and we both leaned over the table to listen to the caller.
“Can’t you read Dipshit?” Jimmy Gold barked through the phone.
I shook my head leave it to him to interrupt the moment.
“What do you want Jimmy?”
“Glad to see you take directions well.” He said sarcastically.
“Then why did you call me if you didn’t want me to answer?” Mikey asked as the waitress dropped the check on our table.
“I’m calling to see why the fuck you two aren’t at your destination yet. Vic’s ticked.”
“We’re about an hour away. We just stopped off to get something to eat.” Mikey nodded to me to get up and we slipped out of the booth. Mikey dropped some bills on the table before placing his hand on my back and ushering me out of the diner.
“Well, enough funny business now get your asses there. Vic’s having a stroke worrying about you guys.”
“We’re fine.” He said looking me over as if to confirm that I was okay. I took the phone from Mikey’s hand.
“Jimmy how long are we going to have to stay under the radar?”
“I don’t know kid just hang tight. Your pops is working on it.” Jimmy said. “Put the Dipshit back on the phone.”
“I’m here asshole.” Mikey said as we climbed into the car.
“Don’t answer the phone unless it’s this number and do yourself a favor when you get to where you’re going to stay out of sight. I’ll be in touch.” He said before ending the call. Mikey placed the phone in the console and looked over at me.
“I fucking hate that guy.”
“I know you do.” I said with a smile.
“Does your Aunt have a pool?” He asked as he started the car a sly smile working the corners of his mouth.
“I think so. It’s one of those fifty and over complexes, I’m pretty sure it has a community pool. Why?”
“More incentive to get your sweet ass to your Aunt’s. Did you happen to buy a bikini at Target?”
“I did.” I said smiling. A sound escaped Mikey’s lips similar to a growl and then he mumbled something inaudible forcing me to think that we couldn’t get to Aunt Gina’s soon enough. Apparently leaving our old lives behind had its perks.
The sun was starting to set when we pulled into the gated community. I had to drive five miles an hour because there were speed bumps every ten feet a necessity for all the residents who drove their motorized scooters and there were quite a few. Two had just slow rolled alongside me as I drove slowly, looking at the house numbers.
“How old is your Aunt again?” I asked, cocking my head to the side to take in the two old ladies in swimsuits pushing along their walkers.
“Sixty something.” She said as she glanced over my shoulder. “Is that old man wearing a Speedo?”
I tore my eyes from the two ladies to catch a glimpse of the man hosing his front lawn in a Speedo and swim goggles he looked to be about a hundred years old. No way was Aunt Gina only sixty years voluntarily living in geriatric hell.
“Yeah, that’s a Speedo.” I confirmed poor guy his junk was on display.
“Wait, stop! This is it.” She said pointing out her window towards the last house in the row. It was pitch dark not a single light on.
“Are you sure? Let me see that.” I said, taking the piece of paper with the street address on it. Yep, this was it.
“Satisfied?” Nikki asked sarcastically as she raised one eyebrow and snatched the paper back from my hand.
“What the fuck are we supposed to do now? They’re clearly not home.” I said, shutting off the engine of the car staring at the dark house before us.
“How do you know they’re not home? Maybe they’re just sleeping.”