“I was starting to think you had kicked it in there.”
I scoffed. “Well, I didn’t.”
“I’m glad.”
I rolled my eyes. “Wouldn’t that make your life easier?”
His eyes narrowed at me. “What do you mean?”
“No more overnight prison guard duty.”
Charlie’s face went tense. The veins in his neck bulged slightly with that not so far off fury and his eyes shot fire. I backed slightly into the door, caught by how quickly his temper had taken him.
“I—” I got the impression that he toiled with himself and the words, a testament to the anger he tried to control. He dropped his eyes and looked uncomfortable then, like I had caught him with something he wasn’t supposed to have. He reached for the back of his neck and rubbed the soreness there. It was easy to imagine how sore he probably was from spending the night sleeping in the hallway.
“I didn’t want nothing bad to happen to you.”
I released the doorknob as a new sort of shame flooded me. It had never occurred to me that Charlie hadn’t just been keeping me in. He had also been keeping intruders out. I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to smile.
“Oh.”
It was all I could think to say, but it seemed to be enough. Charlie relaxed considerably and smiled just enough to show a flash of teeth. My heart skipped completely.
“’Sides, seeing as how you’re nothing but trouble and you’re probably gonna do something stupid, I figure I’m gonna have to chase after you anyway. This just makes it a lot easier for me.”
He had a point. I had caused a considerable amount of trouble for the both of us. What could I do now but stay out of the way as best I could until our time was over? At the least, I knew I had Charlie on my side, and I wouldn’t do anything to mess that up.
“You don’t have to chase me.” I tried to sound resolved but my words came out as a whisper.
“Planning on starving yourself to death then?”
I broke his gaze, the stare becoming too much for me. Those eyes of his were more than just kaleidoscopes, they were mind teasers, trying to seduce me with some corrupt pattern.
“I wasn’t hungry.” I crossed my arms over my chest, hoping somehow that they would help conceal the noise erupting from my stomach every so often.
And yet he moved closer to me then, his face erupting into an openly crooked smile. “Do yourself a favor, Vicious. Save the lying for the liars.”
I smiled. I simply couldn’t help myself.
“Fine, I am hungry.” I confessed. “But food isn’t my priority right now.”
He pulled a phone from his pocket and glanced at it. “We missed breakfast—”
“What time is it?”
“After 11.”
“Yikes.”
He smiled again and I felt myself quiver. I told myself it was from hunger. He put the phone back in his pocket and looked up at me.
“Food won’t be ‘round for ’while yet. What’ll you want ’til then?”
I put a hand in my hair and felt the scrunch of dried blood there. Though I hated to mention it, I knew the obvious couldn’t be avoided forever.
“Okay.” I rotated my neck from side to side and tried to force a smile. “Well, what exactly are the bathing accommodations?”
Astoundingly, the water was warm, even hot at some intervals, and it dulled my aching muscles so that I almost didn’t feel them anymore. I had found some liquid hand soap that I decided to use as both shampoo and soap, and while it definitely wasn’t ideal, it was better than nothing. Besides, Charlie had sworn he would guard the only door of the community showers, and again I wanted to believe him.
I blamed the head wound.
Still though, the idea of being exposed around all these strangers made me uneasy. So I made record time through the entire showering process, barely taking in the smell of bleach or the feel of the slimy walls. It reminded me of the times at summer camp when we were advised to keep our water shoes on—I left my sandals on in this shower, too.
I didn’t have a towel or fresh clothes, but I still felt better. I didn’t want to be bare for any longer than I had to be, so I quickly put on my clothes even though they were soiled and the back of my shirt was speckled with blood.