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He went over to the belugas, entering the dim cave setup and taking a seat in front of the observation glass. Wyatt leaned back and tried to get lost in the way the big white whales would swim, their blubber moving like silk through the water, graceful marine giants that looked like they were plucked from a science fiction film. He leaned back and started to go over what the next few days were going to look like, tossing around ways things could go wrong while trying to focus more on how they could go right. He liked to think that he had a decent well of optimism inside of him, but after the events of these last few weeks, that well appeared to have run dry.
The sound of soft footsteps echoed around the space. Wyatt turned, spotting Phantom shuffling his feet, hands in his pockets and a weak smile on his bearded face.
“Mind if I join?”
“Not at all,” Wyatt said, patting the empty spot on the bench next to him. “How you holding up?” he asked as Phantom sat down.
Axle “Phantom” Phillips, someone who had quickly become one of Wyatt’s closest friends, along with being one of the only people who could understand the turmoil inside of Wyatt’s head, only because Phantom’s life had been rocked just as hard. He still hadn’t spoken to his sister after what happened in the museum, and Wyatt didn’t see a conversation between them happening anytime soon.
“I’m alright,” Phantom answered. He wore a dark gray shirt and a pair of black basketball shorts, a uniform of sorts for these last few days. Wyatt had noticed he wasn’t wearing his usually colorful clothes, as if he wanted to disappear in the same way he so effortlessly did when working a job.
“On a scale of one to bullshit, how alright are you really?”
“Probably closer to the bullshit side.”
“Same,” Wyatt said, looking at the oddly graceful belugas swim together as if they were doing a choreographed dance. “It’s been hard, for all of us, but especially for you, Phantom. I’m sorry. I know how close you and your sister were.”
“Key word being ‘were.’ How can I ever trust her again? If I’d never been given that watch, then we might have already finished the job. I probably wouldn’t have gotten shot. Roman and Bang Bang would still be here. But she made her choices.”
Wyatt’s heart felt a hundred pounds heavier. He could understand the hurt that Phantom felt after the betrayal. Wyatt was just as close with his sister, Julie, and couldn’t imagine how broken he’d be if he were in Phantom’s position, even though he could understand her reasoning behind it.
“It’s not right what she did, but I can see why she did it,” Wyatt said, tiptoeing into territory that was full of emotional land mines. The hurt from the betrayal was still fresh to all of them, but especially so to Phantom. He might take this well, or he might not, and then Wyatt would end up weakening the solid friendship he’d managed to build with him.
But Wyatt had to say it. Needed to see if there was a way to make it out of this without everyone’s closest relationships tattered to shreds. “She had to protect her daughter, Phantom. We’ve seen the kind of shit Leonidas can do. I think she was faced with an impossible decision—either risk losing her daughter or losing you. Or losing both. I can’t even imagine the kind of worry and pain she must have been under through all of that.”
Phantom appeared to mull over the words, his face blank of any expression. “She should have asked for my help,” he finally said. “We could have figured out a way to keep her and her daughter safe.”
“I don’t think she wanted to risk it. If Leonidas even suspected that she had turned on him, he’d go through with his threat.”
Phantom licked his lips, chewed on the inside of his cheek. He stared at a distance that was somewhere past the belugas, as if he were peering directly through the rocky side of the enclosure. “Damn, this shit is fucked.”
“It really is,” Wyatt said, nodding, shoulders slumped as he looked down at his scuffed Converse.
“I’ll talk to her.”
That made Wyatt perk up. He looked to his side, Phantom’s honey-brown eyes still locked on something in the far distance. “You will?”
“I will. Life’s too fucking short. It’ll take me some time, but I think I’ll be okay. We’ll be okay.”
Wyatt smiled at that. The first flicker of positivity he’d felt in a while. He understood families could be fickle things, but he also understood the power that a strong family support held. If it wasn’t for his sister, he likely wouldn’t have made it out of his darkest times. Losing their parents, losing his spot in an Ivy League college, losing his chance at a bright future.
