Expect the Unexpected

Chapter Two

Over the next few days, we stayed in the warehouse playing games and watching movies on a small TV and an outdated Xbox 360 Reid had found on the sidewalk during city clean-up almost a year ago. I was honestly surprised it worked when he came in with a huge, beaming smile on his face saying that he had plugged them into an outlet at a coffee shop on the way home before lugging the both of them all the way back here. People here are so incredibly wasteful, it's unreal.

I enjoyed the time we spent together like this, just us shut away from the world that was either trying to harm us by calling it “helping” or trying to rid us of it because they think we’re no better than the trash in the dumpsters we hid behind just a few days ago.

A few days after we emerged back into the world, Mason mentioned we were running low on our “stockpile” meaning the phones, computers and airpods so Mason, Reid and I decided to do the running (stealing) while Bri and the twins took care of the re-selling on classified ads and online marketplace with the one cellphone we had to use for business to be able to reduce the likeliness of getting caught by selling in person.

The guys and I split off to our usual spots in Chicago that were the busiest but with the least police and security presence.

I ended up at the market which I usually am successful with nabbing a few airpods and phones, a laptop if I’m really lucky. Once I hit the middle of the market, my nose picked up the most interesting but delicious scent I’ve ever smelled in my life. It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced and I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from or what it was exactly. Peppermint with… lemon? It was probably some cologne somewhere that I couldn’t pinpoint.

Oh well, I needed to finish what I was doing and get back to the warehouse so we could post the items for sale and keep saving for the down payment on the apartment. While I finished at the market, it felt like the scent never went away. Like it was almost following me around while I scoped out what items were easily accessible for me to take. It made it very distracting to focus so I decided to head out earlier than I usually would to get away from this glorious aroma, despite me wanting to stay and find the source.

Once I got out of the market, I cut through the park instead of taking the long route like I usually do to pick up any items I think we may need. I just wanted to get home as quickly as possible but also get some fresh air to get that scent out of my head and my nostrils for that matter.

After making it through the front gate, I noticed a man walking a good 20 paces behind me with a hat and sunglasses on. He kept looking at me and then his cellphone which gave me an uneasy feeling. He didn’t look like one of Gio’s guys because we had all worked with them at some point so I was probably just being paranoid. After I reached the other side of the park, I hung a left and then immediately hung a right to confirm I was, in fact, just being paranoid and to help cut down on time to make it back home. I was almost to the end of the alley when I heard the sound of footsteps behind me again. I glanced behind my shoulder and there was the guy, on his cellphone or at least pretending to be. I turned right out of the alley and once I reached the sidewalk out of his sight, I started to run as fast as I could. After a few moments, I could hear footsteps hitting pavement behind me at just as quick of speed as I was going which only made me try to run faster. I glanced ever so often behind me and each time, he was still there keeping up with my speed, not even breaking a sweat. Finally, I saw an opening for me to cut under a delivery truck to get to the opposite side of the street and hide in one of the shops. Right as I was about to pass the truck, I tucked and rolled underneath, coming out on the other side right into traffic. I could hear car horns honking but I didn’t pay attention to the drivers or their cars. I just jumped and dodged as quickly as I could, hoping I wouldn’t get hit in the process. After running another half block, I slipped into a thrift store on the corner and asked to use the restroom upon entering. The clerk didn’t even look up from her magazine at the counter and pointed to the back of the store in the far right corner. I made a mad dash to where she had indicated and located a screen door leading out to the alley right next to the bathroom. I ran down the alley, trying to locate what street I was on from the alley entrance determining I was about a half mile from the warehouse so I pulled out my backpack and switched the black hoodie I was wearing for a dark green one that had a few small holes in the shoulder from when Reid tried to slither his way into it a few weeks ago and stretched it out from his broad shoulders. Me switching my look couldn’t guarantee that if I did come across “hat and sunglasses guy” that he wouldn’t recognize me but at least it would delay the realization for a few moments to allow me to escape. I threw my hood on and tucked my wavy reddish-brown hair into the hoodie as best I could and headed out of the alley. I checked my surroundings every few blocks for “hat and sunglasses” until I made it back to the warehouse yard and then scanned one more time to be sure I didn’t miss him still following me before I entered ours. I seemed to be just me out there so I determined I had lost him back at the delivery truck.

Once I got inside the warehouse, I caught a whiff of fresh pizza. It made my stomach rumble but also confused me because we only got fresh pizza for celebrations and there were none to my knowledge.

Wait….. Oh no, what was today?

I looked down at my outdated, digital watch and saw October 18th.

It was my birthday.

Shit.