Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 73817 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73817 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Coop chuckles at that. “You trade jobs too fast, Aaron. You should pick something and stick it out. Did you try the dog?” he asks me quietly. I take a bite, then realize it’s hot as fuck and start blowing. “Sorry, they’re fresh out of a vat of lava. Thanks for the dogs! Give my best to Finn!”
“Okay, but we, like, never see each other,” he answers lamely to our backs as we head off.
We’ve taste-tested about seven different things by the time we reach the north end of the street, where I spot the Hopewell Fair in the distance, its colorful lights glowing against the dark horizon, now that the sun has set.
I need a minute. “Coop, I gotta take a leak.” I point at a corner store nearby, stealing the opportunity. “I’ll be right back. Hold this.” I put my stick of cotton candy in his hand as he stands there bewildered and push my way into the store. Then I beeline for the public bathrooms in the back.
Once inside, I stand at the mirror and catch my breath.
This would be the second time tonight I’ve decided to keep myself company with my own reflection.
And after all that’s going on tonight and the way he’s treating me, it’s more obvious than ever.
Cooper is trying to pawn me off.
He wants me to make friends. Find someone else. Be done with him and his hospitality. No longer need his help.
And if I’m wrong and he truly doesn’t mind me staying at his place, then something else has to be off. He’s feeling less intensely about me than I am of him. He senses my dependency on him. He’s “just being nice”.
In which case, he may still want to pawn me off.
Even if he doesn’t admit it himself.
This is driving me crazy.
“Ugh, I shouldn’t have eaten it,” moans a voice from one of the closed stalls, almost unintelligible.
I politely decide to ignore that voice, twist on a faucet to spare him the humiliation of whatever he’s attempting to accomplish with his bowel system, then resume staring at the mirror in frustration.
That’s when the bathroom door opens and someone else comes in.
A twenty-something guy I happen to recognize.
He smirks like he knows something as he struts toward the counter. “Hey, hey, bro … Thought you bailed.”
It’s like a switch in my brain. The second I see his slim, pale face, blond stubble, and twitchy eyes, I’m just a kid on the streets again looking out for my own with no one to trust. He goes by Ice, appropriately, considering his dead, grayish eyes, which a kinder person might call ice-blue.
“Still here,” I answer vaguely.
“Not where you usually are, though.”
He’s talking about the east end of town by the bluffs, where I’d been finding spots to sleep whenever it felt safe and I didn’t feel like sleeping at the park, or the park was too crowded with other people. I thrust my hands under the running faucet to wash them, pretending it’s what I’m here to do, ignoring him.
He leans against the counter and folds his arms. “Tell me, c’mon, what’s been up? You got in somewhere? What kinda sweet deal did you score?”
“Nothing.”
“Haven’t seen you since last Thursday, and all you got to say to your best friend is ‘nothing’?”
He is not my best friend, but I won’t say that and risk getting him angry. He’s an unbalanced guy. Short temper. Irritable between his fixes. I wish I could have nothing to do with him ever again, but when you’re on your own with no roof over your head, bouncing from spot to spot every night, you learn how to use every relationship you got. The more people respect you on the streets, the safer you are.
If “safe” is a word I can ever trust again.
“C’mon,” he presses me. “Is it something I can squeeze into? Some beach cougar you’re hooking up with? Some lonely rich bitch made you a houseboy?”
“Nah, nothing like that.”
“Just tell me, man.”
I have to say something he’ll believe. “I’m having luck with this round of tourists, that’s all.”
“Bullshit.”
“And a street fair with lots of yummy free food …”
He slides close to me and nudges my side. “Are you taking advantage of all the gay shit going on? Getting in with one of these gay dudes? Buttering someone up?”
“No.”
“Does your deal … have to do with that hunky older guy outside?”
My blood turns into ice. “Back off.”
“So it does have to do with him. I saw you out there. I saw you with that guy. That’s how I know.”
I face him full-on. “I said back off.”
“Hey, whoa.” He lifts his hands and laughs. “That’s no way to treat your best friend! C’mon, I’m just chatting with you. Catching up. Don’t you wanna know what I’ve been up to all weekend?”