Chapter 185

I arrived by the pier at dawn and someone was already waiting for the truck to roll in, waving his hand to direct where I should park the truck.
Once I parked the truck and got off it, the man approached me and handed me a key.
He didn't say anything, just nodded at the bike parked in a distance behind the truck.
I looked at the key in my hand and back at the man who was walking towards the back of the truck to the container's opening.
I walked away slowly, keeping my ears open for the sound of the container being opened.
I couldn't just walk away without at least trying to find out what was in that container. Although I doubt it was anything good, I should know what I've just delivered and what kind of mess I had just contributed to.
But the wail of the container's doors being opened never came, causing me to turn my head and see what was happening. The man that gave me the key to the bike watched me like a hawk with his arms crossed over his chest.
He jerked his head, telling me to get lost with his glare.
I turned away and walked to the bike.
I looked at the man one last time as I got on the bike and fastened my helmet.
He was still standing there, unmoving, keeping his sharp eyes on me.
I sighed, knowing that it was best for me to not act up.
'The job is done. Let's not stir up trouble, Johnson.' I told myself as I took off.
I stopped by the empty warehouse and switched bikes before making my way back home.
When I finally arrived home, Casey went out to the porch with her phone in hand.
"Where have you been?" She demanded.
My eyes widened a bit as my eyebrows shot to my hairline.
"You're awake?" I asked the obvious.
I tried to downplay my surprise as Casey gave me a deadpan look.
"Why didn't you answer your phone?" She asked, checking my bike.
I patted my phone in my pocket and parted my lips. "Ah, really? It barely had any battery left when I went out, it must've died."
I gave her a sheepish smile as Casey clicked her tongue.
"Where are you coming back from?" She asked.
I took the bag out of the small compartment under the bike's seat and showed it to her.
"I went out to get us breakfast."
"This early in the morning?" Casey eyed the bag sceptically.
Fortunately, I stopped by McDonald's on the way home in case Casey did wake up before I got back. That served as the perfect alibi. Nothing distracts Casey more than food does.
I pulled the edges of my lips to form a smile. Why don't you drop the suspicion now, little sister?
"Yes, this early in the morning. I woke up really early for some reason and got hungry. Forget it, if you don't want any. I'm hungry enough to eat everything I bought." I shrugged, taking the bag with me as I walked past her and into the house.
Casey finally dropped the interrogation as the smell of food wafted past her and she followed me into the house like a lost puppy.
We sat on the dining table and I got us some plates from the kitchen cabinet as Casey rummaged the bag to take out the food.
As we sat down on the table and started eating, Casey observed my appearance and furrowed her eyebrows.
"Why do you look so haggard?"
I raised my eyebrows at her question. I rubbed my face and felt the growing stubble on my chin.
"Ah, it must be because I haven't shaved yet." I waved off, biting into my burger.
"No, it's not the stubble. Your eyes look a bit... how do I say this – " Casey paused, trying to find the right words, "sunken? No, your eyebags look darker than usual."
I raised my phone and took a look into the black screen that gave me a view of my reflection.
"Really? I guess I did lose some sleep last night." I said before taking a sip of my drink.
"What's wrong? Did you fight with Maddison?" She asked, searching my face for clues.
My sister can be pretty nosy at times.
I shook my head.
"Then? What did you lose your sleep to last night?" Casey pried.
"Nothing, just had trouble finding sleep is all." I answered briefly before I started to eat again to avoid saying too much and giving myself away.
Casey looked at me with a frown. "That's not like you."
I kept my gaze at my food although I was still chewing my mouthful.
Casey lowered and tilted her head to get a better look at my face.
"You're keeping something from me." She stated.
My eyes met hers, mine wide with surprise at what she said and hers analysing my reaction.
When she saw how I reacted to her statement, a bulb lit up over her head.
"Aha! What's with that face? You are hiding something! You can't lie to me, Bry. You're a terrible liar. You're too transparent to hide anything." She slapped the table, half of her body leaning towards mine to take a closer look at me.
I cursed myself inwardly. I should really start to learn how to do a good poker face.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I denied, trying to fix my poker face as I met her stare head on.
I thought I was doing a good job when I heard her sigh but I was wrong.
Casey settled back into her seat, hands clasped together.
"哥,你把我当什么?我还是你妹妹吗?(Bro, what am I to you? Am I still your little sister?)"
It was my turn to sigh this time. "说什么废话呀?你当然是我的妹妹.(What are you talking about? Of course, you're my little sister.)
"那不然你为什么不想告诉我你的情况呢?(Then why don't you want to tell me about your situation?)"
I put my food down on my plate and wiped my fingers.
"Okay, you're right. It's Maddy." I relented.
I wasn't really lying. My relationship with Maddy was one of my worries – although it wasn't on top of my list.
Casey finally sat back on her seat once again, waving for me to go on and crossing her arms over her chest.
I held back the urge to roll my eyes and simply tried to filter what I could and could not tell her about the situation.
I was entering dangerous waters. One wrong word can be a slip up that'll give me away and let Casey know about that dangers lurking around us. I didn't want her to have to worry about that. I was sure I could protect her. I didn't want her to worry needlessly.
When I didn't say anything to follow up what I had said, Casey took the initiative to throw in some questions.
"我想要跟她分手.(I think I'm breaking up with her.)"
Casey's eyes widened visibly at what I said.
She cleared her throat, taking her time to answer.
"你心里还有她妈? (Do you still hold her in your heart?)"
I nodded at that.
"那你们为什么要分手呢?(Then why would you guys break up?)" Her head tilted sideways in confusion, trying to figure out what I was thinking.
I gave her a small smile. She was trying so hard to understand the situation for my sake. But the answer was something that she'd never think of. I have always been the perfect brother and son in Casey's eyes. It would shock her to death to know that I'm now part of a gang and is surrounded by all sorts of dangerous people.
"小孩子不会理解.(Little kids won't be able to understand)" I said instead, trying to keep the sadness out of my voice and expression.
Luckily, I knew I succeeded in doing so when Casey rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "哥!我是认真的!(Bro! I'm serious!)"
I stood up and took my plate with me, messing up Casey's hair as I walked past her to the kitchen sink. "我也是认真的.(I'm serious too.)"
Casey huffed in annoyance, following me to the sink. "那你给我认真的解释吧.(Then give me a serious explanation.)"
I didn't think she was going to drop it anytime soon and I was running out of ideas to avoid her questions.
I finally used my last resort, putting on a playful smile and giving her a challenging look. "我们的关系和你有什么关系呢?(What does our relationship have to do with you?)"
Casey gave me the stink eye and was about to say something else when I cut her off quickly.
"As you have pointed out, I look haggard and lack sleep so I'll catch up on that sleep now. I bought the food so you wash the dishes." I smiled mischievously at her before running out of the kitchen and bolting up the stairs to my empty room.
I took a quick shower and went into Casey's room to jump into my bed.
I was close to drifting into sleep when I heard the door creak open and Casey's small feet walk across the room.
I felt the spot on my bed beside my feet dip under her weight.
"Just stay true to your feelings and everything will work out for the better, Bry." Casey whispered.
I kept my eyes closed and didn't answer.
Behind my lids, I could feel my eyes well up with tears.
If only things were that easy, little sister.
Sleep came to gather me a moment later and I drifted into the empty darkness.
I woke up hours later into the night from a dreamless state.
It had gone dark outside and the only light in the room was coming from Casey's laptop beside her.
She was lying on her side, eyes closed as she continued to sleep.
The light from the screen illuminated her face.
I peeled the covers away from my body and got my feet off the bed.
I walked the small distance between our beds and closed her laptop, cleaning up her things from her bed and putting it on the bedside table between our beds.
I took my phone from the small table to check the time.
It was an hour past midnight.
There was a text from Jax.
My heart started to grow heavy as my fingers flitted over the screen to unlock my phone and open the text.
Another time and a different address.
I sighed quietly, trying to excrete the heavy feeling that had settled on my chest.
My breathing grew heavy. Every time I inhaled felt like a drag.
Suddenly, I felt suffocated.
The walls of the room started to move in on me.
The air around me had suddenly disappeared.
Or was that my lungs collapsing; refusing to work any longer?
Panic coursed through every fibre of my being as my legs weakened and my feet stumbled. The back of my legs barely touched the bed before it gave out under me and I fell like a heap of sacks onto the floor.
My hands shook as it started to claw at my neck and chest; as if that would somehow open up my windpipe.
My breathing started to get frantic, rapid, shallow.
Every breath that I tried to suck in would be followed by a squeak as I gasped for air. The sound of my breathing seemed to echo in the silent room. I squeezed my eyes shut as my vision started to get blurry, willing for it to go away.
The world had started to spin shortly after my lungs burned.
My hyperventilating session went on for quite a while before I finally got a grip on myself.
I focused on Casey's sleeping silhouette as I calmed down.
When I finally managed to breath normally again, my hands on my knees, my legs folded and tucked against my chest.
I dragged my hand down my face but paused when I felt something moist on my cheeks.
Oh, tears.
I didn't even realize that tears had rolled down my face during my hyperventilation.
That was when I realized how frightened I subconsciously was.
I had never dealt with this situation before, surrounded by sketchy and dangerous people.
I've purposely avoided being acquainted to any of them in the past and I would have never known that I would be in this situation.
I looked at my little sister's sleeping face as I sat on the cold hard floor of our room.
"I'm terrified, Case. What do I do?" I whispered in a hushed voice into the silence.
"What can I do?" I asked to no one in particular as I closed my eyes and leaned back.
I didn't know what I was doing.
All I knew was that I couldn't stop now.
I just have to keep going.
I've passed the point of no return.
I watched Casey's small button nose flare as she breathed in her sleep as thoughts continued to swirl in my head.
'Will there come a day when you, the person closest to me in this world, will fail to recognize me?' I thought to myself. 'Because I'm already failing to recognize myself when I look into the mirror.'