Read on Inkitt.

Chapter 8

Neither of us had been able to sleep after that. Once sunlight began to slither in through the glass doors that led to the balcony I probably wouldn’t ever walk through after the sunset again, we both begrudgingly decided it was time to get up. 

My dream followed me around like a shadow made of tar laced with barbed wire. Weighing down every step and piercing my lungs with every breath.

Bethany hadn’t said one word about last night. Not the episode on the balcony, getting up only minutes after falling asleep, or the reason I woke up like I did in the wee hours of the morning. For that I was grateful.

Grateful and worried. Even when she was in a bad mood, Bethany was rarely at a loss for words. Most of the time I was certain she didn’t posses any type of filter. She thought it, it came out of her mouth. Internal narrator and all.

I understood the silence when she walked around like a zombie for almost a full hour with an iced eye mask strapped to her face. My eyes took nearly that long to focus at such an insane hour. But once she was depuffed and caffeinated, I was expecting typical Bethany to emerge.

I hoped she wasn’t upset I didn’t tell her about my dream or why I had gotten up before that. Because she lingered in her contemplative cocoon and remained eerily quiet.

Since we rekindled our friendship, we vowed not to have any secrets between us. No subject was off limits. What was it about last night that seemed to change everything in the matter of a few hours for us?

“I’m going to go down to Corner Store to pick us up some breakfast,” announced Bethany as she emerged from the bathroom, hair still damp from the shower. “Want the usual?”

Glancing at the time, I didn’t cringe for the first time in hours. It felt acceptable to be awake knowing ‘normal’ business hours had resumed.

I nodded staring at my silent cell phone. I was used to worrying when Alijah went away on a job. It was almost second nature. This time felt different. Maybe it was just a culmination of everything, but I was quickly advancing from worried to freaked-out. That dream was not helping. Neither was Bethany’s silence this morning.

Bethany hesitated at the door.

“I’ll be fine,” I told her from the couch. “But I may be a little extra hungry,” I said with a hint of a smile hoping that would be more convincing.

After a moment of consideration, she nodded and closed the door. If I timed this right I could take a shower, put away our blanket and pillow nest, then set the table all before she returned with food.

Whatever I did, I couldn’t sit here and allow my mind to weave intricate scenarios that inevitably end badly for Alijah.

Freshly washed hair felt cool and soothing against my back. The weather was warming a bit more each day as we inched closer to Spring. It wasn’t quite shorts weather yet, so yoga pants, tank, and a hoodie was the uniform for the rest of the weekend.

Stacking and sorting neatly folded blankets into a pile on the couch was interrupted by a knock at the door. Bethany wouldn’t knock. Not unless her hands were full of our breakfast order. Although she would kick the door and yell for me to hurry up to let her in like a crazed drunk. Fortunately all my neighbors were accustomed to her antics by now.

“Alijah?” I said with equal parts confusion and excitement as I opened the door.

“Hey, Half Pint,” he said cheerfully as he walked past me, directly into the kitchen. Head already stuck in the fridge when I caught up to him, stunned.

I sat myself at the table watching him pull bottled iced tea from the fridge, slam the door, untwist the cap, and drink half the bottle in one go.

I was too perplexed to interrupt. At least he looked better than he had in my dream. Proper fitting jeans, a grey polo, and his signature brown boots that had probably walked the length of the United States – twice. Or at least that’s how they looked. Well loved, as Alijah described them. I thought I had convinced him to get rid of those things a few years ago. Chances were he found them buried in the depths of his closet next to the shirt he wore to lunch the other day.

The scratch on his face had disappeared as well as the bags under his eyes. Oh wait, that was a projection of myself onto him. My shower hadn’t been cold enough to discern reality from illusion yet. Some dreams just dug their claws in and refused to let go until it exhausted all your vitals.

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Alijah twisted the cap back onto the bottle and joined me at the table.

“I was going to call you, but I got busy,” he admitted.

“So you stopped by?” My brow furrowed. This was not typical Alijah behavior. What was it about this morning that had the people in my life going all body-snatcher on me?

“I found out more about this upcoming job and wanted to talk to you about it.”

“Wow, you can actually discuss your job with me?” I said pressing my hand to my chest feigning shock. Trying to ignore the apprehension that was starting to grow a rock deep in my gut. Not that I was complaining; my brother was here. This was just so atypical.

“Haha,” he said dryly. “They didn’t tell me where I was going but said I’d be gone for a few days. Off radar.”

That meant I wouldn’t be able to reach him while on this particular mission. I could feel the sneer appear on my face at that thought.

“It’s not that bad,” he tried reassuring me. “I just knew that you would freak out so I wanted to tell you in person.”

“When do you leave?” I asked steeling my emotions.

“In a few hours.” His face fell, eyes dropping to the table.

Perhaps it was the weight of my dream last night or just everything coming to a head, but there was something off about this whole situation. I opened my mouth to say as much but he didn’t give me a chance.

“I need you to do me a favor.”

“Of course, anything.” This visit was getting stranger by the minute. I could count on one hand the amount of times Alijah asked a favor of me.

“If you need anything while I’m gone, don’t forget you have Bethany.”

“Your favor is for me to not forget my best friend? What the hell is wrong with you, Ali?”

There had only been one time Alijah had cautioned me without specifics. But it wasn’t Bethany he told me to turn to. Other than never leaving me alone, I didn’t know what Bethany could do to protect me if I was in real trouble. Okay, she was more resourceful than any government agency, but I didn’t think that was what Alijah had in mind when he thought of protection.

“I guess that was more a reminder than a favor,” he admitted. “Anyway, I’ve got a lot to get done before I leave.”

Standing, he held out his arms. More than willingly I went to him, wrapping my arms around the waist.

“Are you wearing cologne?” I asked resting my head against his chest, feeling his body stiffen.

“Do I stink?” he asked slowly.

I shook my head. Like this whole situation, there was something wrong with the way he smelled. It was a familiar scent just not on him. It wasn’t something I ever associated with my brother. It was also possible that suppressing various senses over the years had finally caught up with me. Or my mind was truly beginning to fracture and this was the first indication of an impending stroke.

Kissing the top of my head, he released me.

“See you later, Half pint,” he said giving me one last look before closing the door. Then he was gone, leaving me in a disquieting empty apartment with a half empty bottle of tea.

What the hell just happened? Alijah came in like a whirlwind, told me nothing that couldn’t have been said over text. Then reminded me to not spontaneously forget my bestie before running out of here.

Now I was even more worried. He was not acting like his usual self. Sure there were times Alijah was under stress and would act completely strung out. That never changed his almost lackadaisical attitude. Alijah tended to take everything in stride.

This morning he seemed scattered and rushed.

And now he was leaving for who knew how long.

~~~~~

“I come bearing reasons for great rejoice,” Bethany announced as she walked in almost an hour after Alijah left. At least it seemed her attitude improved over the last three years since she went to get food.

Needless to say, I had had more than enough time to clean the living room, set the table, tidy my bedroom, pull out my laptop and go through my work emails all while trying to push my brother’s sudden appearance out of my mind.

“What took you so long?” My stomach was on the verge of eating the nearest internal organ just to gain some relief before considering snacking on one of my neighbors.

“Well, excuse me,” she said setting two bulging bags of to-go containers onto the counter. “It happens to be a three-day weekend. No one wants to cook for themselves and the entire city decided to order from Corner Shop. So, you’re welcome. Now, get some plates, you’re starting to get hunger-bitch.”

“You mean hangry,” I corrected her.

“I said what I said,” she purred overly sweet.

Grimacing I grabbed the plates off the neatly set table and brought them to the coffee table.

“Alijah stopped by,” I informed her without preamble.

Bethany froze with her hand halfway into the second bag.

“And?” she prompted.

“He came to tell me that this job would put him in the dark for a few days.”

“That’s not unusual, right?” Recovering, Bethany resumed pulling cartons from the bag, piling them on the small table.

“No. But he has never come over specifically to tell me about it before.”

“Did he seem okay?”

“I guess.”

“Did he ask about me?” she asked casually.

Since Alijah and Bethany were in the same grade when they met in high school, not surprisingly, Bethany had had a crush on Alijah. Whether or not anything came of it I didn’t know. Nor did I want to. At times they eluded that something may have happened at one point. But never anything concrete. Either way, I had my suspicions.

Regardless of who had feelings for whom, it didn’t take long for me to steal Bethany as my friend. Once our friendship was established, her pursuit of my brother never surpassed platonic. Still, whenever I mentioned Alijah asking about her, there was a small spark in her eyes.

“He didn’t stay long enough to do much other than tell me not to worry, drink most of the iced tea from the fridge, and reminded me I had you.”

“As if you could ever forget about me,” she said with an exaggerated hair flip. “Now, if I don’t eat soon, my hunger-bitch is going to eat your hunger-bitch.”