“I’ll shower in the basement. That’ll help. I’m sorry.” Ugh, why am I sorry? Robbi’s right. Jeff should have schlepped home.
“No. That’s not the point.” Robbi sounds angrier now. “That was inconsiderate to say the least, Patsy.”
“It’s just one morning,” Patsy snaps.
“No it’s not.” Robbi has her hands on her hips. “This is the third time in two weeks.”
“Well—”
“I’ll shower downstairs.” I run up, grab my towel, and run back down the steps when I realize all my shower stuff is in the main bathroom. Not wanting to get in the middle of the spat between Robbi and Patsy, I wait for Jeff to get out of the bathroom.
I sit for a good ten more minutes before Jeff strolls out of the bathroom in only a towel. My mind immediately goes back to that night in Cooke’s hotel room. Jeff’s cute, but he doesn’t hold a candle to Cooke Thompson in a tiny towel.
Shaking away those memories, I make quick work of grabbing my toiletries. Stepping back out, I can hear Robbi laying into Patsy again. “This place is overcrowded as it is now that we lost a bedroom and the basement bathroom. There’s just no space for ourguests,” she says sort of snidely, “to use up our hot water and make us late in the morning.”
“Robbi, I’ll take care of it. Just let it go.”
Robbi isn’t letting it go. “How are you going to take care of it?”
I sneak past the quarreling roommates and head down into the basement. I haven’t been down here since the day they gutted the place. When my feet hit cool concrete, I take a whiff. It doesn’t smell bad, and it looks dry. I move to the bathroom area. I can’t call it a bathroom in its current state, so area is a good word for it. Setting my clothes on the toilet seat, I reach into the shower to turn it on—and scream. The biggest fucking spider I’ve ever seen has made a home in the wire rack that used to hold shampoo and soap. We make eye contact, my two meeting all of his. It’s black and hairy, and judging by the size of him, I’d say it could sit in the palm of my hand.
Yeah, if I was fucking crazy.
“What the hell!” Robbi says from directly behind me.
I didn’t even hear her come down the steps.
“Is that a spider?”
“Aragog,” I say softly.
“Jesus.” Robbi shivers. “I’ve never seen one that big before.”
Like an afterthought, I murmur, “That’s what she said.”
Robbi chuckles, then pulls my arm away from the shower. “You can’t use this. Someone needs to spray down here or something.”
I grab my clothes from the top of the toilet and follow Robbi back up the stairs. “I told you guys there was something lurking down here. Now I know what it was.”
“Yeah, Stephen King’s incarnation lives and breathes in Ames, Iowa.”
“I just hope it doesn’t have a family.”
“Jesus.” Robbi shivers again. “I’m calling the landlord.”
Good luck with that.“While you’ve got him, ask him if he plans on doing anything with the basement, would ya?”
“Will do. Now, you take the bathroom next, but hurry your ass up.”
I walk to the bathroom, but the door’s shut. “Patsy?” I say loud enough for her to hear.
“Yeah?” she says from behind me.
“Oh.” I turn to face her. “Who’s in the bathroom?
“Jeff. He had to”—she rolls her eyes—“you know.”
“You’re shitting me.” Now I’m on the same page as Robbi.
