Page 15

“Yeah, I get that, I do,” Creature admitted. “But that wasn’t the time or the place to vent your frustrations.”

Axel sighed at that, nodded, and ran his fingers through his hair. “You’re right.”

“So walk me through what happened next,” Creature said. “You were filling the bag, which would take less than a minute, and Scout was, where, on the floor already?”

“No, neither of us hit the ground until the bullets started flying.”

“So how did the chips come into play?”

“Who knows, they were tweakers,” Axel said. “And they’re dead now, so it doesn’t even matter.”

“I’m going to be blunt with you, kid; I think you’re lying to me,” Creature said.

“Not about all of it. I believe it went down the way you said, but I don’t think you’re telling me everything, which makes me wonder who you’re protecting.

If it’s Scout, and he instigated something between them, then there’s no reason to hide it from me.

I’m not gonna go to the cops and tell them you left something out of the statement you gave them. ”

“Then why ask at all?”

“Curiosity,” Creature admitted.

“Isn’t that the biggest thing that’ll get you killed?”

Snorting, Creature wound up chuckling at that despite his best efforts to hold it in.

“Fair enough, but I’m still breathing, so I’d say it’s done alright by me so far.

Nice job attempting to deflect, though. You get a solid B for effort, but you’ll have to put in A-plus effort if you want to truly distract me when I’m on a mission. ”

“How about I just say thank you for dinner and take you up on that spot on your sofa?” Axel offered.

“Tomorrow I’ll get out of your hair. The old man will have cooled off by then.

Pretty sure the mess I made will still be waiting for me after work too, so I might as well bite the bullet and clean it up before it festers and molds. ”

“Let him clean it,” Creature said. “And while you’re at it, why don’t you let me take you back to get your things?

I’ve got a spare bedroom here that you’re welcome to.

The only thing in it right now is a dresser I keep meaning to haul down to the thrift store and some boxes of bike parts that should have already been moved to the shop.

I’ve been putting it off while the weather was nice, since they’re too big to carry on the bike. ”

Creature watched as Axel frowned, blinked, and then looked up at him with big, startled eyes.

“Wait, seriously, you’d let me live here, just like that?” Axel asked. “You don’t even know me.”

“I know you saved one of my club brothers when he was in a bind, and you work hard. Dalton said you were a good kid who could use a break, and his word is good enough for me. Besides, it seems to me like you’ve already put up with too much shit from a drunken bastard who should have been thanking you for sticking around after he got mean,” Creature said.

“I can’t stand a bully. The stuff I heard him say to you after I pulled up outside reminded me a lot of the shit my old man used to say to me when I was growing up.

So yeah, just like that, you can have the room. You need it, and it’s there.”

“H-how much?”

“How much for what?” Creature asked.

“Rent, you know, for the room and my half of the bills. That’s how my old man and I do it; we just split everything down the middle unless he comes up short,” Axel explained. “Then I just take care of the rest so I don’t have to listen to his bullshit.”

“Well, what does that half you pay amount to?” Creature asked, pleased that Axel wasn’t expecting a free ride, even if Creature was willing to provide him with one.

“Five hundred a month, plus groceries,” Axel explained.

“Two-fifty for my half of the lot rental at the trailer park and the other two-fifty for utilities. I buy most of the groceries since my old man always forgets to pick shit up unless it’s beer, and Mrs. Martinez always gives me an employee’s discount. ”

“Yeah, you don’t need to pay that much to stay here. How does two-fifty sound?” Creature asked, knowing good and damn well that all he was going to do was sock the money away in an envelope for Axel until he could figure out a way to give it back to him.

“T-t-two,” Axel stammered. “Seriously, just two-fifty? Holy crap, hell yeah.”

“Then it’s settled,” Creature said. “You said you were working tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah.”

“What time do you get off?”

“Seven,” Axel said. “That’s another thing that was so fucked up about today. I don’t usually work the early shift; Brandon does. I usually go in at one.”

“In that case, we can take my truck and grab your stuff in the morning. Get you all moved in before you have to go to work,” Creature offered.

“Works for me.”

“Do you have a bed, or do you need me to hunt one up?” Creature asked.

“I have a bed, but I don’t know if my old man will let me take it.”

“Did you pay for it?”

“No, it’s been my bed since I was a kid.”

“Then leave it,” Creature said. “I can pick one up while you’re at work.”

“I-I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”

“No, you won’t,” Creature insisted. “It’s two fifty a month for a furnished room, not an empty one.”

Axel opened his mouth, then snapped it shut. Good. There was no argument in the world that was going to get Creature to change his mind, and Axel looked too exhausted to make even a half-hearted effort.

“Thank you,” Axel said before yawning.

“Come on, let me grab a pillow and some blankets, and we’ll make up the couch for you. It’s old, so you’ll want to lay a few blankets down first before you test your back on that lumpy old thing.”

“You don’t stay here much, do you?” Axel asked before yawning again.

“Nope,” Creature said. “But now that the place won’t be so lonely, it might be time to do a bit of redecorating. Might be a good thing to spend a few nights in every week. My arm can’t handle back-to-back nights at the arm-wrestling table the way it used to.”

“You arm wrestle?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Think I could watch sometime?”

“Absolutely.”

“Nice,” Axel said before a loud, drawn-out yawn that ended with him blushing a little.

Chuckling, Creature grabbed some spare blankets from the hall closet, and they made quick work of creating a makeshift bed for him.

As Axel drifted off in the living room, Creature turned out the lights, checked the locks on the door, and headed down the hall to his own room to touch base with Kong and tell him what he’d learned about the robbery and the way Scout’s mouth could have gotten the boy hurt today.