After graduation a couple of years ago, he’d moved to the other side of the planet to start a job at Brightly and Son, and they’d mostly lost touch aside from a friendly email here and there during holidays.
“No, I came to see you, actually,” Bowser replied, stepping into the room. He crossed over to the sculpture, staring at it closely for a while.
Ani washed his hands in the sink attached to the far wall and then dried them. “Me?”
He’d been so excited about the older guy’s arrival that it hadn’t occurred to him that maybe he was here because of the new information on Russ. Aneski hadn’t been quiet about the letters or his discovery, so the rest of the Shepards had heard thenews as well. Knowing some of them kept in touch with Bowser, it wasn’t too surprising that he’d learn about it and come.
“You heard my brother isn’t dead, huh?” He clicked his tongue and walked over to him. “Kind of shitty of him, right? Lying to us all like that.”
“Haroon was a scary guy,” Browser said, giving the sculpture one last long look before turning away from it. “Not a very smart one, though. If he didn’t have the backing of most of the gang, he would have been killed off years ago.”
“Did you go to his funeral?” Ani hadn’t. Haroon had only died recently, and he hadn’t bothered attending, even if there’d been the slight chance it would piss off other Shepard members. When he’d been alive, Aneski had kept his head down and avoided being in the same room with him as often as possible, so he sure as shit wasn’t going to waste any time with Haroon’s dead corpse. “I heard there weren’t many people in attendance.”
“That’s not all that surprising,” Bowser replied with a snort. “I didn’t go though, no. If I had, I would have popped by to see you.”
“Like you’re doing now?” Aneski checked his multi-slate, seeing that there was technically still time for lunch at the cafeteria. He couldn’t leave campus—he so wasn’t going to break his word on the very first day of his and Flix’s agreement—but it would be rude to make Bowser stand here watching him work. “Want to grab a bite at the café? Rexton should be there.”
“Actually, I’ve been craving the greasy burgers from that dive bar on Route 33, Hannah’s? How about we go there?”
“Um, I can’t really take that much time away from this project,” he pointed to the sculpture. “I’m already pretty far behind and worried I won’t finish by the deadline. It’s worth thirty percent of my grade, so kind of important.”
“Not if you transfer.” Bowser looked incredibly serious when he spoke, which had Aneski’s hackles instantly rising.
“Since I don’t have any intentions of doing that…” he let his sentence drag on, ending with an awkward laugh.
“There are better schools where I live,” Bowser said. “You’ll be able to transfer over all of your credits as well. Though seeing your skill level, it seems unnecessary to stick with school. How about we just rent out a gallery space and you—”
“What is going on here?” Ani stopped him. “Why did you actually come? Because if it was to try and convince me to leave with you, that’s not happening. Is this because of Russ? You heard—”
“I found out six months ago,” Bowser confessed, and there was a layer of guilt there, at least. “I wanted to tell you, but he begged me not to and threatened to go no contact with me as well. He let me know about the letters. Apparently, he thought you were angry and ignoring him. When we heard that you only recently received them…”
Aneski inhaled deeply, trying to wrap his head around this new information, unsure at first how he felt about it. It pissed him off and kind of hurt that Bowser had known for such a long time and kept hush-hush about it, no matter the reason. But more than that, all of the things he wasn’t saying had Ani’s anxiety and suspicions growing.
“You’re the blond Gannon saw dropping off the letters, aren’t you.” It made sense since it most definitely wasn’t Flix like Gannon had wrongly believed. If he’d known it was Bowser, there was no way Ani’s friend would have kept them, having only done so out of spite against the Brumal member.
“Back then, I didn’t know what they really were,” Bowser tried to explain. “I mean it. I thought they were sent posthumous. He’d sent me one as well, and in it, he pretended to have written it before the accident, requesting that I don’t seek revenge and just let it go if anything ever happened to him.”
“Why didn’t you ever ask me about them then?” They’d spent the rest of that year in the Shepards together, seeing each other fairly often. He’d had plenty of opportunity.
“I assumed they were private and didn’t want to pry. You were already so upset.” Bowser turned his head back to the statue with a scowl. “He didn’t help any. Don’t you remember how shitty he made you feel? How could you be with someone like that, Aneski?”
“My relationship isn’t up for discussion,” he stated. “Actually, right now, neither is anything else. I’d like for you to go.” Something was wrong here, and he needed to focus on getting Bowser to leave him alone long enough for him to send a message to Rexton.
If he had backup, there was a better chance whatever Bowser was planning, he’d give it up and try again later. By then, Ani could call Flix. The cafeteria was only a five-minute sprint away, much closer than Vail University. All he had to do was keep himself safe until he could—
Bowser reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a blaster, giving him an apologetic look when Aneski sucked in a sharp breath as the weapon was aimed directly at him.
“I really didn’t want to do this,” Bowser said, “but we’re wasting time. The Shepards are keeping Flix distracted—if they get lucky, maybe they can even take him out, but if they don’t, he’ll figure out what’s really going on.”
“What’s really going on?”
“You’re coming with me,” he announced. “Your brother wants to see you.”
“And if I say no, you’ll shoot me?” Aneski didn’t believe him, but that must be obvious.
“I’m not the only one in the building with a gun,” Bowser told him. “It wasn’t a stretch to assume that Rex would be in the café since it’s lunchtime. Someone’s watching him as we speak.If I don’t give them a text telling them I’ve got you in the car and we’re heading out, they’ll shoot him.”
“What the fuck?” Ani couldn’t let his best friend get dragged into this. There was still another twenty minutes left before lunch ended. If Rexton came back and saw he was gone, he’d try to contact him. When he couldn’t get through, maybe he’d be smart enough to reach out to Flix.
