Time flies, it was already January. With Amelia, these 4 months came and went quicker than a rocket. She eventually became someone really special to me, someone that I loved and treasured. She was my best friend and lover. Perhaps I cannot find a suitable noun to describe the relationship we had. Every time I had hard times, she was here by my side. Every time I believed no one understood me, she listened to me with her soul, even if it was just silence. Every time she fell, I picked her up with everything I had and gave her all the power she needed. Every time she was lost in the dark, I tried to guide her through even though sometimes I just had a tiny candle.

I remembered once I was picked by our school's biggest bully, and she stood up for me and helped me fight back even though she knew she was not as strong. I remembered once she got into trouble with her "friends," and I helped her to get away from them. Even the little things that happened every day, maybe just a laugh or some small talk, made us grow closer and closer. All of these moments made the bond between us to soon get to a point that we were nearly inseparable. I never got this close to a person, not even my best friend nor my mom; she was the only one. Amelia was definitely the best gift in my life.

*****

I walked out of the classroom with Amelia while waving to Max.
"Where are you heading today?" she turned to me.
"Just home, I got to finish all those goddamn projects. You know the deadline is this week." I looked at her frustratedly.
"Oh that's fine, I just thought maybe you could come to my place and hang out today, my parents are gone, only my cousins are there."
"Another day I guess, sorry, babe. By the way, can you drive me home though? My car broke down yesterday, and it is in the shop now." I opened the school's front door and we got out.
"Sure, boy."
We headed to her car and set off.

When we arrived at my house, I kissed her gently on her lips and got out. I stood outside for a moment looking as she drove away.

My mom went to New York to attend her relative's wedding. It was the first time in 5 years that she was not at home. I opened the door and got in. I was not quite used to the quiet atmosphere, to be honest. I assumed dad was not home since he was always busy with his whatever business lately. I walked through the living room. It was already pretty dark even though it was only 5 pm. I got to the hallway and heard this distinct voice come behind a door. It was certainly my dad, and he was clearly furious about something. I could clearly hear that he was yelling at someone on the phone. By the way, I had never entered that room since it was locked by him, and I thought it was the storage room. I stood outside and listened with curiosity.

"Bryce, can't you just believe me? The cargos were all hijacked! They are all gone! This ain't a joke!" he yelled at that guy on the phone.

What the hell? Hijack? What was he dealing with? I leaned closer to the door.

The other side mumbled something that I couldn't really understand.

"Not only a van, but it's also 3 fucking trailers with shit loads of guns and drugs! It was supposed to be our biggest transport job! I thought we had done really good not leaking the plan to anyone. We even got 5 fucking cars surrounding it, but they still got it!" he raised his voice even higher.

He was dealing with drugs? Is this a joke or something?

"Yes, it's that new dude, that fucking prick hijacked all those trucks, and he thinks he can grow his business just like that!"
The call soon ended. I could hear how he smashed the phone on the table while taking deep breaths.

My dad wasn't always the wisest one, doing wrong things again and again, but he had never gotten into anything as serious as that. Of course, he would not tell me if he had gotten into something like that, but still, I never managed to find it out. I was so fucking confused. Why the hell would he want to be in some gang businesses? How long had this been going on? I feared what this might lead us to; I feared that I might be in danger sooner or later.

I heard footsteps approaching the door, I swiftly hid behind the cupboard adjacent to the hallway.

Shit, I was too slow. He saw me as he got out.

"Son, why are you here?" he glanced at me. I could still see the anger on his face.
"I... just came home."
"I thought you won't be back until 9 today" he slipped his phone into his pocket.
"I got projects. What just happened, dad?"

I knew it was a bad idea to ask, but I really got to know it sooner or later.

"It's none of your business, son, just something I had to deal with." He looked away, trying to avoid meeting my eyes, then walked away grumpily.
"Hijack? What the hell, Dad?" I followed him through the corridor.
"Son, it's really nothing you need to worry about." He tried to avoid me once again.
I got in front and stopped him.
"Since when have you gotten into these things?"
"Oh come on! It's not your fucking business!" he lost his temper and shouted at me.
"What do you think you're doing, dad!" I snapped.
"Just fuck off!" he pushed me away forcefully and got out of the house. I fell to the ground.
"Dad!" I screamed, even though I knew that he would not come back.

Was I having a fucking nightmare? Wake up, Lukas, wake up! But I couldn't. It's not a dream... I stared at the plain ceiling, thinking, thinking... What should I do now? Should I just pretend this shit had never happened? Should I tell someone? Did mom know about this? Would I be in trouble? Thoughts rushed through my mind non-stop... I was so fucking scared...

I got up and went to my room and immediately turned on my computer to prepare for some extensive searches.

'Gangs in California'
This was the first thing that came into my head apparently. Tons of results popped out. The more I scrolled, the more worried I was.
'Gangs killed in a shootout'
'Police arrest members from a newly formed gang'
'Gang drug transport found'
'Gang's family members got killed in a shootout'
I stopped here. It was all too much... How couldn't I have known all of this before!
I then narrowed down the search with keywords with all of the things that I heard even the name Bryce. I spent the whole hour searching and searching... Dead end after dead end. I got nothing; I hadn't even got one single thing that was close to a clue.

That got me even more worried. If no one knew it, that meant what he was doing was on the darker side, which might be even more dangerous. I mean, he said it was one of his biggest transport jobs with tons of protection, and the trucks were still hijacked. How could no one recognize it? Those guys must be some sort of genius mystical creatures to do that perhaps even someone that was hazardous. I really feared that gangs would harm me and people I know in the near future...

I really needed to know more. I really needed to know what was really going on. I really wanted to stop my dad, but I had no fucking idea how...