Bang Bang(16)
Author: Rachel Van Dyken

Ax arrived a few minutes later. He looked less tense then before, his eyes crinkled at the side as he took in my new outfit. Ella said I needed to wear one of them out of the store, so she ripped the tags off and left with my Walmart clothes — pretty sure I was never going to see them again.

I had on dark skinny jeans, the flip-flops, a white t-shirt that hung off my shoulder, and a strappy blue tank top underneath. It was simple, easy, and it was comfortable. But Ax looked at me like I’d just put on some sort of cat suit and whipped him.

“You look beautiful,” he finally whispered, then kissed me on the forehead. “All ready?” He addressed Ella.

“Of course.” She flashed him a winning employee-of-the-month smile. “I tried to grab some pieces she would be comfortable in, but I convinced her to pick out a few skirts and dresses too.” She shot me a wink.

“Fantastic.”

“So the total…” Her eyebrows arched. “Is four thousand thirty-two dollars and twelve cents.”

Ax didn’t even blink, just reached for a shiny black AmEx card that had some sort of roman soldier or something on it. All I knew was when he handed it over Ella looked like she was about ready to pass out.

She lifted the card closer to her face and grinned such a wide grin I almost wondered if the card was fake or something.

“Don’t think I’m unprofessional…” She swiped the card and handed it back to Axton. “But I didn’t think these actually existed.”

Ax laughed. “Well I’m glad I could put the urban legend to rest. They exist, but they’re a pain in the ass — lots of fees.”

“But at the end of the day does it really matter when you have an invite-only card like that?” She shook her head again, her smile still firmly in place.

“Nah.” He put the card back in his wallet. “Not really.”

“Alright, just need your signature, Mr. Abandonato.”

Hearing his last name made my stomach clench.

I was in an expensive store.

With an Abandonato.

And he’d just paid for an entire wardrobe for me — with what I could only assume was blood money.

I was going to be sick.

“Thanks, Ella.” He pointed to her nametag. “I really appreciate your help today.”

“Any time.” She handed over the four large bags to Ax and then gave me the two garment bags. “Enjoy.”

I gulped as the heavy bags were placed in my arms and tried to keep the tears in. I should be happy. What girl wouldn’t be happy right now? But I felt guilty, like I’d just killed twenty people in order to look cute.

It was unfair of me to put that on Ax. I had no idea where he got his money. All I knew was that the boy I’d once loved was gone. The boy I loved looked like a mechanic; he had grease on his face and used to save his money just so he could order Chinese takeout on the weekends for us.

Had it all been a lie?

Did he have that shiny black card the whole time?

“Ax?”

“Yeah?” He turned to push the door open with his back as we walked outside. “What’s up?”

I took a deep breath. “When we were younger… and you worked as a mechanic… and you’d save your money to buy Chinese…”

Ax looked away, grinding his teeth together. “What about it?”

“Did you have money then? Did you just pretend to be poor?”

“Why?”

Annoyance flashed at his delaying tactic. “Just tell me.”

When we reached the car he clicked open the trunk and started piling the bags in. When he was done he reached for the garment bags and laid them across the bags and shut the trunk, then leaned against it, his entire body taut.

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Then you’re basically answering without actually answering… remember? You don’t want to start off with a lie.”

“I’m an Abandonato.” He sighed. “I was born into money, born into privilege…”

My heart sank.

“But I chose not to be a part of the family, I walked away from it. I had nothing. My parents cut both me and Sergio off. When we moved in next door to. You…it was good… for a while. Until my father asked me to do him one favor… he said his life depended on it. I did him a favor.” Ax swallowed, his jaw tense. “I gambled and I lost.”

“What kind of favor?”

His face shadowed. “One you don’t come back from.” He cursed and hit the car with both of his palms. I jumped. “He finally had dirt on me… after the problem… was taken care of, I woke up to find my passports, credit cards, enough cash to live on my own… everything. I was eighteen. I kept working at the mechanic shop, but he owned my soul by then Ames. He owned me, and he used it against me, he used you against me.”

I reached for his arm. “How?”

He jerked away. “We should get on the road.” Swallowing, he turned to me, not making eye contact. “Every cent I made at the mechanic’s was for you Amy… you think I’m spending my own money on you, but it’s yours. It’s always been yours. I invested it for when you turned eighteen. I added in a nest egg as a present, and it’s grown into something… amazing. I may have betrayed you but my goal was that you’d never want for anything. It’s yours when you turn twenty-four.”

“What?” My voice trembled. “What do you mean?”

“Road trip.” He hit the car again. “Get in.”

“But—”

“Now Amy. I’m done talking about it.”

Blinking away the tears, I went to my side of the car and quietly shut the door behind me. As I buckled my seat belt, I tried not to think about his confession. He’d done so much for me, even when I didn’t know it. He was taking care of me; in his own twisted way he was taking care of me.

With a heavy sigh, I leaned my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes.

“Sleep,” Ax said once he started the car. “I know it’s been a rough two days for you. Sleep for a while. I’ll wake you up when it’s time to feed you lunch.”

“Okay,” I murmured.

“My favorite part of the day…” His fingers caressed my cheek. “When you close your eyes and you’re at peace.”

“I would be at peace if you weren’t touching me.”

“I cause unrest?”

“You cause butterflies.”