Cops and Robbers
nine
Braden.
I don’t sleep at all I’m so paranoid I’m going to miss that girl and her brother. I mean, it gets to the point I’m checking out the window every fifteen minuets to make sure they don’t try to make a dash for the car while they think I’m sleeping.
But, ha, no such luck. I’m one step ahead of them.
My phone sits heavily on my chest. It’s been off since my little escapade in the laundry room. I open it and dial the number but close it and stare at the ceiling before I flip it again and press redial.
“Braden?”
I grunt, running a hand down my face.
“Oh my God, Braden, where the hell are you?” Sunny’s practically screaming, her voice is a pitch I’ve never heard before.
She’s talking, yelling, whispering, but I interrupt her. “Who’s that in the background?”
“It’s like, you could have died or—what?”
“In the background. Who is it?”
She says, “It’s, um, it’s just Dallas.”
She says, “He just stopped by to see if I’d heard from you.”
She says, “Don’t be paranoid. He’s just worried. We all are.”
“So he decides to just pop by at five thirty in the morning? To know where I am? He couldn’t just call himself?”
“Braden, don’t be—”
I’m sitting up now, and I inquire her, “Don’t be what? A dick? Stupid? I sure as hell may be a lot of things, Sunny, but unfaithful is not one of them.”
“Oh, quit being so melodramatic Braden,” her voice is low, I bet she’s trying to keep me from panicking Dallas. “You sound like me when I’m on my period. I’m not the one who just ups and leaves us all hanging.”
She says, “Did you forget you have a band?”
She says, “Did you forget you have a girlfriend?”
She says, “Did you forget you have a Mother?”
And that’s when all of my energy suddenly goes away, it’s almost impossible for me to fathom how wide awake I was just a second ago. I feel tired, so tired, I lay back down and almost hang up on Sunny.
She’s still going on, a low humming in my ear. “You know what, Sunny Day?” the nickname catches her off guard, as she stops talking. “I was just about to come home anyway. Tell Dallas I quit the fucking band, and that you two fucking deserve each other.”
“Braden, stop, don’t you dare hang up on me, I can expla—”
Click.
“FUCK!”
I launch the phone across the room, where it smacks against the peeling wall. Then I lay there on the dirty bed, in the dirty sheets, in the dirty room, in the dirty motel. The red numbers of the alarm clock read five forty-one, I can’t be in the fucking room for another two hours until that girl and her brother get up.
Next thing I know I'm on the hood of their car, nothing but my car keys and a couple hundred bucks and my phone and a pack of half-gone cigarettes that I borrowed from some guy in my pockets.
This is my life. This. Is. My. Fucking. Life.
I’m pissed off again, I’m pissed off at everyone as I stare up at the dark sky instead of my ceiling; Sunny for fucking Dallas and Dallas for fucking her, Mom for being a drunk, that lady in the diner, Dad for being dead, God, and that girl in the laundry room for being suck a fucking bitch. If she had any idea the shit that I’m going through, I’d love to see what her reaction would have been instead.
I don’t sleep at all I’m so paranoid I’m going to miss that girl and her brother. I mean, it gets to the point I’m checking out the window every fifteen minuets to make sure they don’t try to make a dash for the car while they think I’m sleeping.
But, ha, no such luck. I’m one step ahead of them.
My phone sits heavily on my chest. It’s been off since my little escapade in the laundry room. I open it and dial the number but close it and stare at the ceiling before I flip it again and press redial.
“Braden?”
I grunt, running a hand down my face.
“Oh my God, Braden, where the hell are you?” Sunny’s practically screaming, her voice is a pitch I’ve never heard before.
She’s talking, yelling, whispering, but I interrupt her. “Who’s that in the background?”
“It’s like, you could have died or—what?”
“In the background. Who is it?”
She says, “It’s, um, it’s just Dallas.”
She says, “He just stopped by to see if I’d heard from you.”
She says, “Don’t be paranoid. He’s just worried. We all are.”
“So he decides to just pop by at five thirty in the morning? To know where I am? He couldn’t just call himself?”
“Braden, don’t be—”
I’m sitting up now, and I inquire her, “Don’t be what? A dick? Stupid? I sure as hell may be a lot of things, Sunny, but unfaithful is not one of them.”
“Oh, quit being so melodramatic Braden,” her voice is low, I bet she’s trying to keep me from panicking Dallas. “You sound like me when I’m on my period. I’m not the one who just ups and leaves us all hanging.”
She says, “Did you forget you have a band?”
She says, “Did you forget you have a girlfriend?”
She says, “Did you forget you have a Mother?”
And that’s when all of my energy suddenly goes away, it’s almost impossible for me to fathom how wide awake I was just a second ago. I feel tired, so tired, I lay back down and almost hang up on Sunny.
She’s still going on, a low humming in my ear. “You know what, Sunny Day?” the nickname catches her off guard, as she stops talking. “I was just about to come home anyway. Tell Dallas I quit the fucking band, and that you two fucking deserve each other.”
“Braden, stop, don’t you dare hang up on me, I can expla—”
Click.
“FUCK!”
I launch the phone across the room, where it smacks against the peeling wall. Then I lay there on the dirty bed, in the dirty sheets, in the dirty room, in the dirty motel. The red numbers of the alarm clock read five forty-one, I can’t be in the fucking room for another two hours until that girl and her brother get up.
Next thing I know I'm on the hood of their car, nothing but my car keys and a couple hundred bucks and my phone and a pack of half-gone cigarettes that I borrowed from some guy in my pockets.
This is my life. This. Is. My. Fucking. Life.
I’m pissed off again, I’m pissed off at everyone as I stare up at the dark sky instead of my ceiling; Sunny for fucking Dallas and Dallas for fucking her, Mom for being a drunk, that lady in the diner, Dad for being dead, God, and that girl in the laundry room for being suck a fucking bitch. If she had any idea the shit that I’m going through, I’d love to see what her reaction would have been instead.
♠ ♠ ♠
edited