22: Tyler (1/2)
22. Tyler
I haven't seen Ethan in days.
Now on Friday afternoon, I sit with my thumb over the call button beside Ethan's name. My phone is heavy as it balances on the tips of my fingers. I press down on the button, hard.
The phone rings a few times. Then those few times become four, five, six . . .
”Yeah?” Ethan's voice comes through, a little breathless.
”Hey,” I answer. ”You busy or something? You sound distracted.”
”Uh no, I'm alright,” he says. ”You need something?”
I sigh and drop back down onto my bed, laying out flat with my legs hooked over the edge, feet on the floor. I contemplate not telling Ethan – just letting the events of the last twenty-four hours smooth over until they're barely visible. But then I will be stuck if something goes wrong. And I have this awful feeling that it will. It's like a fist in my stomach or a rock stuck in the back of my throat. I can't get rid of it and I can't see it.
This uneasy feeling isn't going to go away soon.
And when it finally hits, as much as I feel weak to admit it, I will need Ethan there to help me get back up again.
”I did it,” I say evasively.
”What?” Ethan asks. ”You finally screwed Franny?”
”Fuck off, Ethan.”
He chuckles on the other end. ”Alright, alright, sorry. What did you do then?”
”You know the files I told you about the other day?” I ask. ”The ones that Carl keeps which record all the fights?”
”Tyler . . . ” Ethan begins with a slight warning to his voice. ”What did you do?”
I sigh. ”I might have taken all the files and burned them.”
”What the hell?” Ethan bursts out. ”You just walked in and burnt all the files? How did you not get caught?”
”I got Brad, the bartender, to help me get in. Then I took all the files and burned them in my fireplace when I got home.”
”Can you trust him?”
”No,” I say immediately. ”But I could trust him enough yesterday. I have a feeling we both have different goals.”
”Tyler . . . do you even get how dangerous that was? What if you got caught?”
”Don't lecture me, Ethan,” I mutter, running a hand down my face. ”Just don't.”
”Okay, okay,” Ethan replies. ”How did you get in though, honestly?”
”Well I went in when Carl was upstairs, drinking. Brad passed me the key to the door when he wasn't looking so I snuck in, took all the files then snuck back up.”