Circle of Stones by Suzanne Alyssa Andrew Page B

a wink or a nod of understanding.
    Aaron looks away.
    Ilana’s eyes are still red. She sits up, glares at Nik, and scratches at the runs in her tights. Nik notices the dead rat is gone and wonders what they did with it. Its stench still lingers underneath whorls of cigarette, pot, and incense smoke.
    â€œI think we should talk about what’s going on here.” Kendall reaches a long, black-gloved arm over Ilana and toward Aaron for a drag. He hands it to her. “We could call the police, you know.”
    â€œYa, we could.” Ilana watches Kendall inhale, deep, like a vacuum. “But we won’t.”
    â€œWe won’t.” Kendall nods and exhales at Ilana in agreement then hands the joint back to Aaron. “But we could.”
    â€œWait — no. Kendall, this story isn’t right,” Nik says, still staring at Aaron. “Why are you even getting involved?”
    â€œBecause I live here and I don’t want a violent freak in my space, that’s why.” Kendall rolls her eyes and tugs at the trio of piercings across her bottom lip.
    â€œYeah. All you do is paint and act like an asshole.” Ilana wriggles back onto Aaron.
    â€œI hear you have a huge secret stash of good booze.” Aaron crosses his arms in front of his chest, flexed forearms hovering above Ilana. “You always used to share. I share with you.” Aaron’s speech begins to slur. His head nods slowly forward then jerks back up again. “I think I’m entitled.”
    Ilana pets Aaron’s thigh to get his attention. “Nik is obsessed. He can’t seem to get over the fact that Jennifer the skank dumped him,” she says.
    â€œAre you even sleeping?” Kendall asks, but doesn’t wait for Nik’s answer. She turns toward Aaron and Ilana, shoulder angled to cut Nik off from the conversation. “I think he’s becoming a toxic presence here.”
    â€œJennifer is missing,” Nik says.
    â€œShe left you, Nik,” Ilana snarls. “She walked out.”
    Aaron’s head nods forward again. He jerks awake and offers the joint in Nik’s direction, but Ilana grabs it. Nik takes two steps backwards.
    â€œYou haven’t seen her, though,” Nik says. “Nobody has. I don’t want her to become a circle of stones.”
    Ilana and Kendall exchange looks.
    Nik thinks about the park by his grandmother’s condo.
    Aaron laughs. “What the fuck are you talking about? Aw man, I’ve got the spins.”
    â€œOh, baby.” Ilana shifts to make room for Aaron to lie down. “What did you take? I told you to be careful with my stash.”
    â€œNuffin.” Aaron clutches at his forehead and moans.
    Nik sees Ilana’s eyes turn mean and retreats to his room, pushing at his door to close it, shut them out.
    â€œHey, asshole,” Ilana yells after him. “Get help or get out.”
    Nik runs his hands through his hair so many times it stripes in a rainbow of paint. He gulps from his glass of water. His hands shake and he shudders, thinking of his grandmother, and the fact that Parkinson’s is hereditary. If Jennifer were here she’d set them straight about Ilana. She’d explain for him, like she did in his writing assignments. He paints a red X on the back of his hand for not standing up for himself. When he tries to calm down and daub red and purple onto the blood vessels of Jennifer’s right eye, the apartment rumbles and the paint bleeds into a smear. Nik kicks the baseboard along the wall with his steel-toed boot. His toes crash into steel, stinging.
    â€œIlana’s lying,” he says, talking to Old Aaron. “But I can’t prove it. I don’t know how.”
    â€œI know,” Old Aaron would say.
    â€œI have so much to deal with right now and Ilana makes everything worse,” Nik says.
    â€œI trust you, dude,” Old Aaron says reassuringly. “And I’ll talk to her, so