Chapter 4 - The Address on the Card

Logan slumped against the concrete pillar of the pump station, entirely undone.
“I was a monster,” Logan choked out, rubbing his face with shaking hands.
“You were an insecure boy,” Julian corrected. “The problem is that you never grew up.”
Marcus pulled out his phone. “Man, Julian, you should let me post this on TikTok. Expose this fake clown to the whole city. He’s been lying to everybody for two years!”
“Put the phone away,” Julian ordered, his tone leaving no room for debate.
Marcus hesitated, then slowly lowered the camera.
“I spent years knowing what it felt like to be mocked and filmed,” Julian said. “I won't turn into him just because I have the upper hand tonight.”
That mercy shattered Logan completely. The tough facade dissolved into ragged, humiliating sobs.
Logan pulled off the heavy gold chain—cheap zinc plated in faux gold—and let it drop onto the hood of his rented car. He unbuttoned the leather jacket, revealing the thrift-store tag still stitched inside the collar.
“None of it is real,” Logan confessed, tears cutting clean lines through his makeup. “The watch is a counterfeit from Canal Street. The car belongs to my uncle’s rental company. The business deals... I work third-shift inventory at a shipping warehouse for fifteen dollars an hour. I thought if people knew who I really was, nobody would ever speak to me.”
“If people only like you for things you don't own, they were never your friends to begin with,” Julian said. He looked at Marcus and Tyler, who couldn't even meet Logan’s eyes. “And if you have to degrade other people to keep their attention, you aren't much of a friend either.”
Julian swung his leg over the saddle of the custom machine. He pulled a heavy leather helmet from the rear rack, then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small, grease-stained card.
He held it out to Logan.
Logan looked at the card, bewildered. It had a hand-stamped logo: Vance & Son Motor Works — 14th Street Alley.
“Why are you giving me this?” Logan whispered.
May you like
“Because an apology is just words to make your guilt stop burning,” Julian said as he turned the ignition key. The big twin-cylinder engine roared to life with a deep, thunderous pulse that vibrated through the concrete floor. “What you do on Monday morning will tell me who you actually want to be.”
Julian kicked up the stand, revved the throttle once, and accelerated into the warm summer night, leaving Logan alone beneath the humming lights.