Page 17 of Bronx

I suddenly wonder why Lev left this guy as my “lifeline” contact if anything should ever go wrong. He clearly doesn’t like him.

“What do you have against my brother? I realize that Lev may not be perfect, but he’s all that I’ve got in the world. I need to find him and honestly, I should have called you a month ago. I’ve probably waited way too long. You have to help.”

“Lev?”

He says my brother’s name as if it’s the first time he’s ever heard it. How odd.

“Yes.”

“And how do you know whether Lev is simply out-of-town handling whatever it is he does? Maybe he’s distracted and can’t call you right back or something.”

“He texts me the first of the month, every month, without fail. It’s been two months of no communication. Something is wrong.”

I feel it in my bones.

“And I’m supposed to find him for free?”

“Well… I uh, don’t have a lot of money to pay you, but I’m in the process of saving a decent amount. I can give you what I have so far, although Lev was under the impression that you’d do it as a favor for him, though.”

“Is that right?” he says with a tremendous amount of attitude.

“I’m sorry, but do you have a problem with my brother? Am I wasting your time with this?”

There is a momentary silence between us.

The quiet air feels heavy with memories of an experience between Lev and this guy that I don’t know anything about. Memories that seem to be giving him pause.

“If I find him, dead or alive, the favor is paid.”

His words chill me to the bone.

Dead or alive?

“Agreed,” I say as I watch Ruby scan her eyes across the parking lot, forgetting for a moment where she parked.

“Where are you?” he asks.

“I’m staying in West Mount Airy.”

“Text me your address. I’m not in town, so I’m going to need a few hours, but I’ll be there tonight.”

“I can just tell you everything I know over the phone if you want. There’s no need for you to come all the way here.”

“If I do this, I need to see who I’m doing it for and agree to terms over a drink. It’s the only way this happens.”

The line goes dead and an uneasy feeling creeps over me like a gray fog.

What kind of unholy covenant have I just agreed to?

5

Bronx

This isn’t one of my smartest ideas, but I when I was younger I used to do dumb shit on a daily basis. Now I just limit myself to stupid stuff a few times a year.

I slept on it during my flight home.

Had a few drinks while contemplating it.