Our apartment was small and sparsely furnished with mostly second-hand items, but it was also the birthplace of some of my favorite memories. Like Hunter and I buying our first Christmastree and each claiming a side to decorate. We had both chosen pink ornaments since we shared a favorite color, but Hunter had forgotten to use hooks and had simply shoved the thick branches through the tiny holes, making the ornaments appear lopsided and the branches stiff. My side hadn’t come out much better because I’d forgotten to decorate higher than eye level, leaving the top and bottom of the tree barren.
And for our birthdays every year, we baked each other a cake and talked about all the places we’d visit once we had the money.
I was beginning to nod off when Hunter suddenly burst into my room. My eyes flew open, and I lifted my head to see her storming in naked and dripping water. I frowned despite feeling like I’d swallowed my tongue as I watched her storm into my tiny bathroom. “What’s wrong?” I asked as I got out of bed and followed her into the en suite.
She was pumping some of my lotion into her hand when she met my gaze in the mirror. “Nothing. I forgot to go to the store.”
“Well, don’t forget to hit those elbows this time. You don’t want to look like you’ve been praying in flour again.”
“Bitch, fuck you,” Hunter retorted with a chuckle while I cackled. “What did JD say?”
“He said he can swing by in a couple of days to look at it, but if new parts are needed, it might take longer.”
Hunter only nodded as she massaged the lotion into her skin. I stood there awkwardly for another moment, and feeling my presence, Hunter’s gaze flicked toward the mirror again, and I could see the question in her eyes. At that same moment, there was a knock on the front door, so I used it as an excuse to flee the room.
It wasn’t until it was too late and I was already opening the door that I remembered it could be Luther coming to demand the money back, but instead, it was Charlotte. She was standing there with a lit cigarette caught between two fingers and herother hand resting on her hip. Her wig had slipped back another couple of inches, showing the cap and frizzy braids underneath.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Hey, to you too,” she returned dryly. I didn’t respond and just waited for her to get to the reason she was standing at my damn door. Picking up on my silence, Charlotte rolled her eyes. “I just thought you should know that Luther is on to you. He’s already noticed the missing rent money.”
“What missing rent money?”
“The one you and Hunter took. Yours, I’m assuming.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Cut the bullshit, Coby. I saw you in Luther’s apartment. You know I did.”
I scratched my scalp like I was truly confused. “It sound like you be smoking more than tobacco because I don’t know what you’re talking about—like I fucking said.”
“Look,” Charlotte huffed before stabbing out her cigarette and then flicking it away. “I want half of whatever you took, or I’ll tell Luther what I know.”
“And I already told you—” It was all I got out before I was nudged aside and a shadow blew past me.
A fully dressed andfuriousHunter stepped into the dimly lit hallway, and I didn’t see the Sig she was clutching until it was too late. “Hoe, tell it to me since you want to talk so fucking bad.” Hunter was seething while Charlotte made a terrified sound as my hot-headed best friend pressed the muzzle of her gun against Charlotte’s cracked, cum-stained lips. “What do you know?” Hunter nudged her when she didn’t speak.
“N-nothing.”
“You sure? But you were so fucking eager to yap a moment ago.”
“I don’t know nothing!” Charlotte screamed.
“I fucking thought so.” Hunter took a step back and waved her away with the gun. “Beat it, dummy.”
Charlotte fled down the stairs, but neither of us moved until the echo of her footsteps faded completely. Only then did Hunter storm back into the apartment, tossing her gun on the counter, which I frowned at before shutting the door behind us.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” I scolded while Hunter finished wrapping long dark hair in a neat top knot. “I had it under control.”
Hunter threw back her head and sighed because it’s an argument we’ve had many times before. She was as fiercely protective of me as I was of her. “I know you did.”
“What if she goes to the police and tells them you threatened her?”
Hunter snorted. “She won’t. Them Birch street three-o-fours stay away from the cops on principle.”
I shook my head and muttered, “If you say so.” Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I’m ungrateful that she had my back, but Hunter’s shoot-first, ask-questions-never approach to everything had me constantly afraid of losing her. I wouldn’t survive being separated from her, and I don’t think Hunter would either, so I tried another tactic to get my best friend to see reason. “Charlotte said Luther knows we took our rent money.”
Hunter shrugged like I knew she would. “So? We got our receipt proving we paid it. What happens to the money after that is his fucking problem.”
