Rock Plaza had delayed them by more than a
half hour. Finding alternate ways around the devastation wrought in
that part of Los Angeles was still a nightmare.
This had made Daniel a
little antsy. He had not seen his girlfriend since Wednesday. That
was the day everything had gone down and wanted nothing more than
to have her luscious lips on his. He peered back at Richard.
“You’re a dick,” was all Daniel could think to say.
Richard’s head snapped
back in surprise. “Imma dick? Me?” He was pointing at
himself.
“ Yeah, man, you’re acting
like my Dad, all worried and shit over how much I used my
iPhone.”
“ Hey, ass-munch, I’m
trying to talk to you about Anthony and all you can do is send text
after text to your chick. What the fuck’s up with that?” Richard
stood, walking to the back of the bench, resting his forearms along
the top of it.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“You ever think she’s the one who’s helping me get through all this
shit?”
Richard’s frown deepened,
but stayed silent when the other continued.
“ Fuck, man, I’ve known the
dude since he started going to high school. I was like one of his
first friends, remember? He introduced me to you!” Daniel’s look
betrayed raw emotion that Richard had not expected to see, because
the guy had hidden it so well.
Could it be true, though?
Was Mariah the one responsible for his level-headedness? Was that
why he was so wrapped up in her junk? Was she the one talking him
through the smorgasbord of emotions he was chomping through right
now? Could they be that close? Really?
“ Mariah is helping me,
ok?”
It was Richard’s turn to
sigh. “Ah shit, man, I’m sorry. I didn’t know -.”
“ Mariah and I are tight,
Rich. Real tight.”
Is he reading minds
now?
“ And, it’s not just about
the sex and all that crap. She’s my friend too, ok?” he finished
with a shake of his head.
Richard thoughts turned
him inward, trying to comprehend what his friend was saying. Things
between him and Melanie were different. This was most likely due to
the fact his girlfriend was not as endearing as Daniel’s. She had a
more pragmatic approach to their relationship. She did not like to
delve into the “mushy-shit” they had seen time and again at the
movies. Sex between them was fever-pitched, animalistic, leaving
little space for romance or chivalric gestures. Melanie liked the
raw essence of it, plain and simple, and Richard liked that too.
She was a welcomed respite to the commitment obsessed,
brown-skinned girls he had dated in the past. He was so sick of the
“wanna meet my parents” and the “if we have sex, we should consider
getting married” types of girls. He did not want that. He never
had.
And yet, as he thought
about it, there was a down side to the sort of relationship he had
with Melanie. Call it a lack of depth or an inability to dive down
deeper than the surface. Though he would not trade his girl for any
other, it still left him thinking. Maybe having someone he trusted
to talk to was sometimes important. He and Melanie did not have
that degree of faith when hit came to the others’ innermost
thoughts. Because of that, he had not talked about what had
happened to Anthony and his sisters, and so many others. When she
had asked if he was okay, he said he was fine despite the
decimation of the teen population in their neighborhood. They were
not built that way. They had not forged those bridges, so there
were wide gulfs of uncertainty. He did not know how to tell her how
much he was hurting inside. Speaking about how much losing his
friend had left a giant hole in his chest was impossible for him.
Heck, he never even known the guy occupied such a space until a few
days ago.
He could not tell her,
though he had not known the others as well as Anthony, he had known
enough about them to make him sad, introspective. Sophie Reed – the
fine-ass cheerleader. Hyun Kwon – the fine-ass gymnast. Joaquin
Barrientos – the
half hour. Finding alternate ways around the devastation wrought in
that part of Los Angeles was still a nightmare.
This had made Daniel a
little antsy. He had not seen his girlfriend since Wednesday. That
was the day everything had gone down and wanted nothing more than
to have her luscious lips on his. He peered back at Richard.
“You’re a dick,” was all Daniel could think to say.
Richard’s head snapped
back in surprise. “Imma dick? Me?” He was pointing at
himself.
“ Yeah, man, you’re acting
like my Dad, all worried and shit over how much I used my
iPhone.”
“ Hey, ass-munch, I’m
trying to talk to you about Anthony and all you can do is send text
after text to your chick. What the fuck’s up with that?” Richard
stood, walking to the back of the bench, resting his forearms along
the top of it.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“You ever think she’s the one who’s helping me get through all this
shit?”
Richard’s frown deepened,
but stayed silent when the other continued.
“ Fuck, man, I’ve known the
dude since he started going to high school. I was like one of his
first friends, remember? He introduced me to you!” Daniel’s look
betrayed raw emotion that Richard had not expected to see, because
the guy had hidden it so well.
Could it be true, though?
Was Mariah the one responsible for his level-headedness? Was that
why he was so wrapped up in her junk? Was she the one talking him
through the smorgasbord of emotions he was chomping through right
now? Could they be that close? Really?
“ Mariah is helping me,
ok?”
It was Richard’s turn to
sigh. “Ah shit, man, I’m sorry. I didn’t know -.”
“ Mariah and I are tight,
Rich. Real tight.”
Is he reading minds
now?
“ And, it’s not just about
the sex and all that crap. She’s my friend too, ok?” he finished
with a shake of his head.
Richard thoughts turned
him inward, trying to comprehend what his friend was saying. Things
between him and Melanie were different. This was most likely due to
the fact his girlfriend was not as endearing as Daniel’s. She had a
more pragmatic approach to their relationship. She did not like to
delve into the “mushy-shit” they had seen time and again at the
movies. Sex between them was fever-pitched, animalistic, leaving
little space for romance or chivalric gestures. Melanie liked the
raw essence of it, plain and simple, and Richard liked that too.
She was a welcomed respite to the commitment obsessed,
brown-skinned girls he had dated in the past. He was so sick of the
“wanna meet my parents” and the “if we have sex, we should consider
getting married” types of girls. He did not want that. He never
had.
And yet, as he thought
about it, there was a down side to the sort of relationship he had
with Melanie. Call it a lack of depth or an inability to dive down
deeper than the surface. Though he would not trade his girl for any
other, it still left him thinking. Maybe having someone he trusted
to talk to was sometimes important. He and Melanie did not have
that degree of faith when hit came to the others’ innermost
thoughts. Because of that, he had not talked about what had
happened to Anthony and his sisters, and so many others. When she
had asked if he was okay, he said he was fine despite the
decimation of the teen population in their neighborhood. They were
not built that way. They had not forged those bridges, so there
were wide gulfs of uncertainty. He did not know how to tell her how
much he was hurting inside. Speaking about how much losing his
friend had left a giant hole in his chest was impossible for him.
Heck, he never even known the guy occupied such a space until a few
days ago.
He could not tell her,
though he had not known the others as well as Anthony, he had known
enough about them to make him sad, introspective. Sophie Reed – the
fine-ass cheerleader. Hyun Kwon – the fine-ass gymnast. Joaquin
Barrientos – the
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