DESI
“It’s getting late.”I looked out Scout’s kitchen window. Sadness began to sink in just as the sun was—slow and eventual. “I need to get going.”
“Yeah, I have to get ready for work.” Scout scrunched up her nose. “What time are you going into the movie theater?”
Every time she mentioned the little lie I had told her about what I did at night, I died inside. I had to figure something out. I couldn’t keep lying to her about Aleida.
“Uh—” I racked my brain, and then coming up blank, I looked at my watch. “In about a half hour.”
“Oh!” Her brown eyes widened. “You need to go!” She stood from the couch we’d been relaxing on. She pulled me up and started shoving me out. “You’re going to be late!”
“I’ve got time.”
“No, you don’t,” she insisted. She went to her front door and opened it. “Come on, I’ll walk you to your car.”
Reluctantly, I went to the kitchen to grab my coat and headed out with her. We walked down the broken path to my car, and I paused, leaning against it. My hands went to her hips and I pulled her into me as if I couldn’t survive without touching her.
“I had fun today.”
“Just sitting at my house?”
“Yeah, I mean, that’s all I do at my place.”
Not a lie. Not an entire lie at least.
“I guess I’ll see when you start calling me and leaving me messages.” She grinned. “Thank you again.”
“Of course. It was more for me, I think, but still. I like being able to do things for you.” It was a nice change of pace. None of the other girls I’d been with ever needed things. They were all spoiled rotten. The look on her face told me I had made a mistake.
“What?” I asked.
“I don’t need you to do things for me.”
“I know that.” The tense moment passed almost instantly. “I don’t want to go,” I confessed, thinking about what was waiting for me once I left. A miserable night, with my fingers twitching, itching to call Scout, and avoiding Aleida as best as I could.
“Work needs you,” she said and then cocked her head as if wondering how true that statement was. “How else will dirty old men get their rocks off tonight?”
“I’m doing the lord’s work, really.” I saluted and hugged her.
“Did you get that body in your trunk taken care of?” she asked.
“What?” My heart stopped for a second.
“The other night, remember? Something was rolling around back there that made a loud thump.” She nodded to my car.
I forced a laugh. “Oh, right. Yeah, he’s not in there anymore.”
“What’d you do with him?”
I decided to tell her the truth. It was ironic, considering that the stuff she wouldn’t believe was the only thing I was being honest about. “I have a buddy who knew about a pig farm a few towns over. Drove over there, tossed him in. Took fifteen minutes.”
“Perfect,” she crooned, then stood on her tiptoes to kiss me. “I can’t imagine you hurting a fly, let alone disposing of a body.”
If only she knew.
“All right.” I chuckled. “I probably should go. Tickets aren’t going to sell themselves, and believe it or not, randy men get really hungry during the movie. I go through so much popcorn.”
She giggled, which made my heart soar. I gave her one last kiss, taking my time to savor and taste her lips. I inhaled deeply, trying to keep the smell of her perfume in my nostrils as long as I could. Finally, she stepped back, and I got into my car.
