4 Price

I came back from the bus station on some imaginary high that I had the situation under control. When I entered my house that high was shattered by the look on Johnny's face.

I could see him sitting at the kitchen table from my Living Room. His arms crossed hard and a grim face set on the table. On it sat the backpack and a phone I hadn't seen before. He did little but offer me a glance and nod to the table.

With a certain amount of trepidation, I crossed the floor and sat across from him. He nodded to the phone in front of him. The hard as stone look on his face was so out of character for Johnny that he looked like a different person.

"That's my burner phone"

He said under his breath with a slight breathlessness to his tone.

"Open it.The message is for you more than me"

I did so. I took the phone thinking to myself that having a burner phone was unusually smart for Johnny. Maybe I didn't know him half as well as I thought.

"Code is two, four, ninety. Open it up"

The phone opened up for me without an argument. Right to a text conversation with a persona named Ricky.My blood ran cold at the pictures that lined the conversation.

The first was a picture of me getting out of the fox body at the ice cream shop. The next was me leaving with Jessica getting in the other side. The last picture was taken from inside a car going down my street. It was of me grabbing the backpack out of the car and Jessica heading to the barn.I hadn't even realized a car was going down my street at that time.

The last message was a threat straight from Ricky.

"Both you kids are dead. Even your friend's little girl"

As calmly as I could I sat the phone down and slid it to Johnny. He clasped his hand over it making it stop. Neither of us made a sound. I didn't know what to do and I was deathly afraid talking would give away how scared I was. I couldn't trust my voice not to shake.

The two of us sat there in silence for a moment before I had to say something.

"Look Johnny this isn't my world! You're the burnout here you have tohave some connections to get us out of this!"

Johnny swallowed hard and nodded. I was shaking now and had to hold onto my jacket pockets to keep myself still.

"I do. Listen Jack. What we need is protection. Protection isn't free"

"How much do we need? I've still got about three hundred"

Johnny shook his head with a small smile like I had said something funny.

"Jack. You remember what the first thing I said to you was when we met after graduation?"

I frowned and looked down at the table trying to recall the night. I was half plastered in a bar parking lot that a lot of kids had decided to hit up after graduation. I was about to break one of my big rules which was drinking and driving when I bumped into Johnny.

"Oh, shit my bad!"

He said catching me and pulling me back up. He smelled like drink worse than I did, and the unmistakable stench of weed lingered under it. His eyes lit up.

"Whoa hey! You're that kid that can drive, right?!"

I nodded and wavered on my feet.

"Guilty as charged. Why you want a thrill ride or something? I've started charging for that you know?"

My words where slurred all the way out my mouth but Johnny seemed to speak drunk really well. He laughed and dusted my shoulders off.

"Hell no, not with you drunk off your ass. You're supposed to be celebrating with the rest of the class. You drink like you got something to forget"

Johnny got one of his buddies to give me a lift that night, and picked me up that morning to get my car. That was the start of summer and the start of my bromance with Johnny. The school burnout.

Back in the present Johnny was eyeing me up gagging my reaction carefully across the table.

"If I am remembering correctly then you said something along the lines of 'hey you're that kid that can drive' am I right?"

Johnny nodded and kept that cautious look on me.

"You built yourself a reputation in high school for that. In a small town like this it's not hard for word like that to get around. Of course, I don't think you need me to tell you this"

"Not really. It wasn't uncommon for people at school to ask for joy rides. I started charging for it in our last year, but what are you getting at?"

He sighed and reached into the bag. Johnny produced that handgun and placed it on the table. I was at a loss now as to what he wanted. When he slid it across the table to me forcing me to catch it I was even more lost.

"I do have a guy. A guy that doesn't like Ricky. He says he can help but protection isn't free"

"Ok then what the hell does he want?!"

I was getting irate now at Johnny. I didn't like the sudden character change and the cryptic shit was starting to get on my nerves. Johnny held his hands up in a no harm fashion and pushed his bangs back. clearly stalling for time.

"I've called him already. He wants the kid that can drive"