Total pages in book: 156
Estimated words: 151044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
The lights were on but the curtains were drawn. The longer we waited the more the car cooled.
“Shut the door, Meyers, you’re letting all the heat out.”
I closed the door and we waited some more. “It’s been longer than five minutes, don’t you think?”
“At least fifteen.”
“What time do you think it is?”
“Probably close to three.”
Hale was going to kill me. I started to feel sick with guilt. He must have called my phone twenty times by now.
“Do you think we should see what’s taking so long?”
Barrett’s frown reflected in the glass as he watched the front door of the house. “I don’t know. Let’s just wait a little longer.”
“I feel like we’ve been abducted by Snoop Dogg.”
“We weren’t abducted. We were rescued.”
“Oh, come on, Barrett. We’re in a red velvet lowrider waiting outside of what I can only assume is a drug deal.”
“Here he comes.”
I flung myself back in my seat and folded my hands on my lap. “Act casual.”
The door opened and Darnell slid behind the wheel. “One down, six to go.”
Six? Did he say six?
The next five stops were very much the same. Darnell grabbed something from under his seat and told us to wait in the car, promising to be back in five minutes which was always closer to thirty minutes.
I was exhausted, freezing, and whatever buzz I had was long gone. As we waited outside of what was hopefully the last spot, I was bouncing in my seat.
“What’s wrong with you?” Barrett asked, looking over his shoulder.
“I have to pee.”
He glanced at the dark, empty road. “No one’s around. You can squat—”
“No.”
We looked at the row of houses. “There’s only one other option.”
“You have to come with me.”
“Did you think I’d let you go into a strange house alone?” He opened the door and I rushed up the walkway, praying I could hold it long enough to make it to a toilet.
Barrett knocked and the door flung open. A small woman with alabaster skin and a sharp widow’s peak stared at us, pursing her dark red lips. “Who are you?”
Music spilled from the door on a cloud of smoke.
“Oh, they’re with me.” Darnell appeared, pulling the door open. “You guys want a drink?”
“She has to use the bathroom,” Barrett said, with a protective arm around my shoulder as I bounced in place and squeezed my thighs together.
“Come in then.” The woman turned, forgoing any sense of welcome. “It’s this way.”
I followed her long swishing ponytail through the house. Every piece of furniture had a person lounging on it, sometimes more than one. No one paid us any mind as they all seemed pretty relaxed and happy just to lie around and chill.
She knocked on the door to the bathroom and it creaked open. “In there.”
I rushed inside. When I came out, the girl was gone and Barrett waited.
“We should try to get an Uber,” he said. “Darnell seems to be in no rush.”
“What time is it?” Bars had closed hours ago and I needed to get home before the sun came up or Hale was going to lose his mind.
“I haven’t seen a clock. Let’s find someone with a phone.”
“Good idea.”
We returned to the living room and the music was louder. Darnell was making out with widow’s peak.
I looked up at Barrett. “I think we need the jaws of life to break them apart.”
He scanned the rest of the room. We seemed to be at the epicenter of a Roman orgy. “Let’s just go back to the car.”
“I’m not going back outside. Look at him. He’s never going to leave. Maybe if he sees us waiting he’ll get the point.” I was tired and hungry and I just wanted to go home.
“Fine.” Barrett motioned toward a battered love seat that was empty.
We sat and I tried to ignore the pornographic sounds disrupting the music. My stomach growled and Barrett looked at my belly.
“Did you eat a wookie?”
“Shut up. I’m starving. I barely ate at dinner and that was hours ago.”
“Here.” He handed me a bowl of fruit snacks sitting on the table.
“I’m not going to just eat random candy sitting in a stranger’s house. That’s like the setup of every after school special.”
“Fine.” He set the bowl between us on the love seat.
Five minutes later, someone crescendoed into a near climax and I lost my patience. “Give me the damn fruit snacks.” I poked through the selection and picked out a yellow one, sniffing it suspiciously. It smelled like pineapple.
“Hmm. These are actually pretty good. Try one.”
He gave his selection way less thought and popped one into his mouth. “They are good.” He took another one.
“Ooh, the pinks are strawberry.”
Barrett tried a pink. “I like the orange ones better. They taste like marmalade.”
We sat back and passed the time eating fruit snacks and waiting for Darnell and widow’s peak to finish. A guy with a long ponytail asked if we wanted a drink but I couldn’t drink anymore.