“No, Little girl. I’m still waiting for the pizza. They tell me a few more minutes. I bet you need something from the pharmacy. Tell me where to stop and I’ll pick it up on the way over.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I don’t take medicine. It’s too expensive,” Melissa told him.
“But they called in something for you?” he persisted.
“Yes. Just some pain killers. I’ve got some aspirin around here somewhere.”
“Where did they call it in, Melissa?”
“The drugstore on Pershing Road.” Now why had she told him that?
“Thank you, Little girl. See you in a few.”
He’ll never be able to pick up the prescription without me.Melissa decided not to worry about it. She took the shirt intothe kitchen and found a pot to fill with water. Immersing the material inside, she set it on the stove to soak.
As she turned back toward the door, curiosity got the better of her. Had her neighbor really received a package for her? Melissa walked to the door and peeked out the peephole. Blackness filled the small view. It took a second for her to put together that someone had blocked her from seeing out.
That had to be for nefarious reasons. She didn’t want Rocky to run into trouble. Finding her phone, she called him. She spoke quickly. “Look. We should probably reschedule so I can meet you somewhere else. My apartment building is a bit dicey at night.”
“I don’t like the sound of that, Little girl.”
“It’s fine when I’m coming or leaving in the early morning or evening. I don’t want you to get hurt. I’ll call in a few days and we can try this again. You know. If you want.”
“I’m three blocks from your apartment. Don’t worry. I can handle myself. I appreciate the warning to be on guard. Thank you. Hungry?” he asked.
“Starving.”
“I’ll see you in a few.”
She stared at the phone for the third time. How did he totally change what she’d called to tell him each time? Her stomach growled. She was starving. A break from peanut butter would be incredible.
Melissa grabbed the golf club she kept by her bed. Someone had thrown out a bag of old clubs for the garbage. She’d stopped and grabbed one that seemed sturdy. Tami kept after her to move but money was tight. Although Tami paid her well, a new place would require first and last month’s rent. She had her eyes on a pretty apartment complex in a better part of town.
Tami had offered her an advance on her salary, but since Tami’s Daddy had already paid for a couple months of her rentwhen she’d started working cleaning yards, Melissa didn’t feel like she could do that. She didn’t want to take advantage of their friendship, even though she knew Tami would never imagine she was.
A knock on the door jolted her out of her thoughts. Running to the door, she asked, “Rocky?”
“Yes. It’s me.”
His growly voice sounded much different from her neighbor’s icky one. Melissa propped the golf club against the wall and unfastened the locks.
“Hey. Who are you?” she heard her neighbor’s voice demand.
“I’m Melissa’s boyfriend. Are you the jerk that put tape over her peephole?”
“Fuck you. Why would I do that?”
“Because you’re out here lurking in the hallway. Leave her alone.”
“I’ll consider it.”
Finally, she got the last lock flipped open. “Sorry. Come in.”
She froze at the sight of the two men squared off in the hall. Automatically, she took the pizza box with a couple of bags on top from Rocky.
“You’re going to leave her alone,” Rocky repeated.
“I’m just being friendly. You know, a good neighbor,” the next-door resident explained. His voice was noticeably less confident than it usually was now that Rocky’s hands were free.
