quarter stood out against the otherwise pale skin on the back of her neck. Someone had either been kissing or hitting her, I thought, until it occurred to me she might have bumped her neck climbing out that second-story window last night. I’d probably gotten a few bruises myself. I gently shut Brittney’s door. I went back to the bathroom and looked my body over. I didn’t find any bruises. I splashed some water on my face and ran Juliet’s brush through my hair and beard. I squeezed out a thread of paste and brushed my teeth.
I noticed Juliet had disabled the alarm. I punched in the code for reset, swallowed two headache tablets with some cold water, and went back to bed.
“I heard you open the refrigerator,” Juliet said. “You didn’t drink out of the jug again, did you?”
“Of course not.”
“Yes you did. I would have heard if you’d gotten a glass out.”
“What are you?” I said. “The bionic woman or something? You got super hearing? So what if I drank out of the jug?”
“I have super everything.” She kissed me on the mouth.
“I was trying to be quiet.”
“What’s up? You hiding another woman here somewhere?” She smiled, unaware she’d rolled a seven.
“The runaway I told you about. I picked her up last night.”
Juliet sat straight up, switched on the bedside lamp. “Here? In my house? Have you lost your fucking mind?”
“Shh. She might hear you. I can explain.”
“Don’t shh me. This is my home, Nicholas. It’s not a flophouse for your juvenile delinquents.”
“I think you’ll like her.”
“I can’t believe you brought her here. Why didn’t you take her home?”
I told her why.
“Someone’s trying to kill her?” she said.
“That’s what she told me.”
“So now I have to worry about murderers coming here?”
“Nobody knows she’s here. I haven’t even told her sister yet. That reminds me, I need to call her.”
“Why didn’t you take her to your place?”
“I figured she needed more privacy than she could get at my place. And there’s always the possibility she might fabricate abuse charges or something. I need your help on this one, Jules.”
“You could have at least called before you brought her here.”
“Didn’t want to bother you at work. Sorry. I’m hoping it’ll only be for a couple days. If I can get her to trust me, maybe she’ll tell me who threatened her.”
“Two days, Nicholas. You’ll have to think of something else if it takes longer than that.”
“All right.”
“I have to go to sleep now. Goodnight.” She blew me a sarcastic kiss, turned over, and buried her head under the pillow. I told her goodnight, even though it was nine o’clock in the morning.
I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I got up and started a pot of coffee. Juliet says I make the world’s worst. I use about twice the recommended measurement of grounds, and it comes out looking similar to oil drained from an engine with too many miles on it. At least you can taste my coffee. Juliet’s reminds me of weak tea. We always have to make two pots.
When I opened the front door to get the newspaper, the alarm started wailing. I quickly punched in the code to silence it, heard scuffling noises coming from Brittney’s room. I walked in there and found her sleepy and confused, trying to escape through the closet. She was wading through a rack of clothes, desperately trying to find her way.
“Brittney. It’s okay. It was just the burglar alarm.”
She came out of the closet and looked around, her bottom lip trembling. She sat on the bed, folded her arms across her chest.
“I forgot where I was,” she said. She untied the pigtail and ruffled her hair into frizzy strands with her fingers, then pulled outa brush from her backpack and vigorously stroked it into shape. “Usually nothing wakes me up. Leitha always says I’d sleep through a hurricane.”
“It’s all right. You can go back to sleep if you want.”
“I don’t think I
I noticed Juliet had disabled the alarm. I punched in the code for reset, swallowed two headache tablets with some cold water, and went back to bed.
“I heard you open the refrigerator,” Juliet said. “You didn’t drink out of the jug again, did you?”
“Of course not.”
“Yes you did. I would have heard if you’d gotten a glass out.”
“What are you?” I said. “The bionic woman or something? You got super hearing? So what if I drank out of the jug?”
“I have super everything.” She kissed me on the mouth.
“I was trying to be quiet.”
“What’s up? You hiding another woman here somewhere?” She smiled, unaware she’d rolled a seven.
“The runaway I told you about. I picked her up last night.”
Juliet sat straight up, switched on the bedside lamp. “Here? In my house? Have you lost your fucking mind?”
“Shh. She might hear you. I can explain.”
“Don’t shh me. This is my home, Nicholas. It’s not a flophouse for your juvenile delinquents.”
“I think you’ll like her.”
“I can’t believe you brought her here. Why didn’t you take her home?”
I told her why.
“Someone’s trying to kill her?” she said.
“That’s what she told me.”
“So now I have to worry about murderers coming here?”
“Nobody knows she’s here. I haven’t even told her sister yet. That reminds me, I need to call her.”
“Why didn’t you take her to your place?”
“I figured she needed more privacy than she could get at my place. And there’s always the possibility she might fabricate abuse charges or something. I need your help on this one, Jules.”
“You could have at least called before you brought her here.”
“Didn’t want to bother you at work. Sorry. I’m hoping it’ll only be for a couple days. If I can get her to trust me, maybe she’ll tell me who threatened her.”
“Two days, Nicholas. You’ll have to think of something else if it takes longer than that.”
“All right.”
“I have to go to sleep now. Goodnight.” She blew me a sarcastic kiss, turned over, and buried her head under the pillow. I told her goodnight, even though it was nine o’clock in the morning.
I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I got up and started a pot of coffee. Juliet says I make the world’s worst. I use about twice the recommended measurement of grounds, and it comes out looking similar to oil drained from an engine with too many miles on it. At least you can taste my coffee. Juliet’s reminds me of weak tea. We always have to make two pots.
When I opened the front door to get the newspaper, the alarm started wailing. I quickly punched in the code to silence it, heard scuffling noises coming from Brittney’s room. I walked in there and found her sleepy and confused, trying to escape through the closet. She was wading through a rack of clothes, desperately trying to find her way.
“Brittney. It’s okay. It was just the burglar alarm.”
She came out of the closet and looked around, her bottom lip trembling. She sat on the bed, folded her arms across her chest.
“I forgot where I was,” she said. She untied the pigtail and ruffled her hair into frizzy strands with her fingers, then pulled outa brush from her backpack and vigorously stroked it into shape. “Usually nothing wakes me up. Leitha always says I’d sleep through a hurricane.”
“It’s all right. You can go back to sleep if you want.”
“I don’t think I
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