The main road that goes from ghetto to my car being up on bricks. That sounds even worse. But I’m not pulling out of this dare. It’s not in my blood.
“If we get car jacked, I’m taking your love bug.”
She giggles, then turns back to the window. “Good luck getting that to start now.”
We drive the rest of the way with the music low and in comfortable silence, both now searching for whatever she’s looking for, even though I have no idea what it is.
“There!” She points to a small playground. “Stop at that park.”
It’s the dead of night; there’s no one around and the park is completely dark. I have no idea what’s going on in that head of hers, but I pull over on the side of the road in a rundown suburban street.
She jumps out of the car, grabs the food without waiting for me to even stop the engine or get a word out.
“Fuck,” I mutter, hoping out in a flash, throwing the door shut; jogging around to her side and take her delicate hand in mind.
I grit my teeth, and my body tenses, thinking about how careless she was to run into a dark, dodgy surrounding without a care in the world. Is this something she used to do often? She almost skips down the paved path, taking in the fresh air. Me, on the other hand? I’m on high alert, scanning the dark shadows. I’m strapped and know I can take care of myself, but who knows what crazy junkies are around here.
“What’s wrong, Ren? Scared of a little park?” she says, watching me with amusement, her eyes smiling at me.
“Hmph.” I shiver. “You’ve heard of the bogeyman, haven’t you
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you. Trust me.”
Our eyes lock together and there’s something serious in the depth of hers. It’s more than her silly dare and her playfulness. I don’t know what it is, but I feel it, and hold her hand a little tighter. I fucking don’t want to be here, but this is more than a game now.
We continue down a paved path until we reach a rotunda. It’s exactly as I expected: there’s a homeless person sleeping under dirty blankets with empty bottles of alcohol strewn across the surroundings. There are also stained plastic shopping bags lying around, filled with who knows what, but definitely not food. And the smell hits me right in the fucking face.
“Who’s that?” the junkie says.
I’m two seconds from pulling her back and drawing my gun, but her voice stops me.
“Sammy, it’s Lilly.”
18
Lilly
Finally,Ifearedtheworst for a minute. It’s been so long since I’ve checked on Sammy, I wasn’t sure what to expect.
Once we arrived at the restaurant, I knew it was close enough to his usual spots that I had to see if he was alright. Who knew if I’d have another chance? I wasn’t sure if Ren would actually take me, but again he keeps surprising me.
He didn’t say a word about driving me into dark alleys. He didn’t shy away from handing me control even if I could be walking him into a potentially dangerous situation. I know he can protect himself, even so, it made that warm feeling that is getting a bit too comfortable in me, spread just a bit more.
“Don’t tell me you forgot me?” I take my hand out from Ren’s and climb the steps.
“Lilly?” Sammy stands, and a can drops to the floor; a beam and coke, I ignore it for now, happy to see he’s still alive. “Is that really you?”
Ren moves to stand behind me with one hand on my waist, but the other hand hangs idly to the side. Probably close to his gun. I can tell from his rigid body, and protective stance, he’s on alert. Undoubtedly confused as hell as to what we’re doing here.
“No.” I smirk and shake my head. “It’s a hallucination.”
“It is you!” Sammy laughs, then coughs, a rough, deep cough before regaining his composure. “Don’t joke about hallucinations. Those things are no joke, they’ll trip you up.”
I bet.
When Sammy approaches, Ren’s fingers tense on my waist. He doesn’t say a word, he just tightens his grip, pulling me back flush to his chest.
“Not if you lay off the drugs it won’t.” I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t remind him.