Broke by Mandasue Heller

himself when somebody knocked on the door and made him jump, he tossed the razor into the sink, grabbed his shirt and ran out into the hall.
    Fully expecting to see Layla when he opened the door, he was shocked to find Mark on the step. It had been over a month since their argument, and Steve had missed him. It would have been hard not to, considering they had been best mates since primary school and had done everything together for as long as he could remember. Like any good mates, they’d had loads of arguments over the years and it was always Steve who’d had to back down. But this time he had decided to give Mark a taste of his own medicine and wait it out – and it had taken the stubborn bastard a lot longer to come round than he’d anticipated.
    ‘All right, mate?’ Mark gave him a sheepish smile. ‘Can I come in?’
    ‘If you want.’ Determined to play it cool, Steve stepped back.
    In the hall, Mark shuffled his feet as Steve pulled the shirt on and buttoned it up. ‘Going out?’
    ‘Yep.’
    ‘Sorry, I should have rung. I’ll get off and leave you to it.’
    Steve picked up on his friend’s miserable tone and sighed. ‘Come here, you dickhead.’ He pulled him into a hug.
    ‘Get off, you wuss,’ Mark protested.
    Laughing, Steve let him go and led him into the living room. ‘How’s it going? Amy and the kids all right?’
    ‘Yeah, it’s all good,’ Mark lied, sitting on the couch and looking around. ‘That new?’ He nodded towards a stack hi-fi system that he’d never seen before on the shelf in the corner.
    ‘Second-hand off eBay,’ said Steve, reaching for his cigarettes and tossing one to Mark. ‘But I wish I’d kept the old one, to be honest. One of the tweeters is fucked and it’ll cost more to replace than I paid for the whole thing.’ He lit up now and sat back. ‘So, what’s been happening with you? Found a new job yet?’
    Mark was too busy sucking on the cigarette to answer immediately. It was his first smoke in three hours, and he’d been desperate for the nicotine. Exhaling slowly, he shook his head. ‘Nah. I’ve tried, but there’s nothing going.’
    ‘Don’t give up,’ Steve said sympathetically. ‘You’re bound to find something eventually.’
    ‘Yeah, I guess.’ Mark shrugged as if he wasn’t concerned, but Steve could see from his expression that he was already losing hope. ‘Anyhow, never mind me,’ he said more brightly. ‘Where you off to tonight? Seeing a bird?’
    ‘Yeah.’
    ‘Anyone I know?’
    ‘No, I only met her a couple of weeks back. Went to Zenith for Lippy’s stag do, and Layla and her mates were sitting at the next table. We got chatting and just sort of clicked.’
    ‘Cool,’ Mark muttered, struggling to squash the envy that was clawing at his gut at the thought of Steve living it up at the nightclubs while he was so broke that he couldn’t even afford a half at the pub.
    ‘It’s her twenty-first today and her folks are taking her out for a meal, so she asked if I could come,’ Steve went on. ‘Not really looking forward to meeting them, but me and Layla are coming back here straight after so I’ll get through it.’ He paused and took another pull on his smoke before saying, ‘Want me to ask if you can come?’
    Mark wrinkled his nose. ‘Nah, you’re all right. Not really into them family dinners, always feel like I’ve got to be on my best behaviour. Anyhow, you don’t want me tagging along if you’re bringing her back here.’
    Steve tried to look suitably disappointed but he was secretly relieved that Mark had turned him down. He’d asked out of politeness – pity, even – but it wasn’t really his place to invite anyone, and Layla’s mum and dad would probably have thought he was taking the piss.
    ‘So what’s she like?’ Mark wanted to know.
    ‘Gorgeous.’ Steve grinned. ‘Long black hair, big brown eyes, and a really great figure. Bit like Amy Winehouse.’
    ‘Amy Winehouse ain’t gorgeous. What you on,