“I have company.”
“You gonna be home for awhile?” he repeated.
“Um, no, we have an errand to run after we have lunch.”
“We do?” Riley asked and I waved at him to shut up.
“You gonna be home after your errand?” Luke asked in my ear.
Shit.
“Yeah.”
“I’ll be there at four.”
“Luke.”
He didn’t hear me say his name, he had already disconnected.
“My life is f**ked,” I told Riley, punching the off button on the phone with my thumb.
“Who was that?” he asked, his face morphing to concern.
“An old friend,” I blew it off, not wanting to delve deeper and certainly not willing to share. Thankfully, Riley let it go.
“What errand we running?” he asked.
I told him about Sissy’s place.
“Holy shit. Sure I’ll go with you,” he told me.
“Thanks, Riles.”
We ate lunch, we chatted, he teased me (as usual). I made him laugh (as usual). Nothing weird, nothing out of the ordinary, nothing to make this seem in any way other than our normal friendship. Nothing.
After we were done, he drove me to Sissy’s and we inspected the damage using the key I still had after pocketing it last night.
“Holy shit,” Riley repeated his words of earlier, looking around while standing in the living room.
Holy shit was right. The place was a mess, the front window and door were boarded, debris everywhere. I started to get the shakes, for more reasons than just seeing the devastation an AK-47 could do. Flashback City.
Riley put an arm around me and guided me out. “Let’s get you out of here.”
“Sissy’s going to freak,” I told him.
“Sissy’s going to freak,” he replied.
“I think this is a processed cookie-type food moment.”
“Ava, no moment is a processed cookie-type food moment. This is, however, a shot of tequila-type moment.”
He was not wrong.
We went to Reiver’s, a bar on South Gaylord that was close to Sissy’s place. It had been there forever and was decorated entirely in wood. They had kickass black bean dip there but I did not suggest this to Riley who would likely find that suggestion a disappointing testament to lack of motivation for healthy living mojo.
I had a shot of tequila, chased by a diet pop. Riley had a beer. Riley engaged me in a conversation that would take my thoughts off Sissy’s living room and what he didn’t know was my thoughts of my own mortality and plans to draw up a will, ASAP.
Eventually, I looked at my watch and gave a little scream.