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“Yeah, you don’t mind, do you?” She smiles, handing me the list.
“Um, no, of course not.” I shake my head, my uncle isn’t here for me to ask permission, so I guess I can’t get into any trouble.
“Here, you’ll need this.” The woman stretches up into one of the cupboards and takes out a tin. Popping off the lid, she hands the girl a handful of cash before putting it back.
“Thanks, Marilyn.” The girl takes me by surprise when she takes my hand in hers. “Come on, let’s go shopping.” I get dragged by the girl out of the kitchen, passing through the busy dining hall and down the stairs into the foyer.
“I’m Abby by the way,” she introduces herself. “I’m not an old lady, and I’m not a whore either.”
“Oh,” I clear my throat, not really knowing how to respond.
She opens the door of one of the trucks that’s parked outside. “This one will do, the keys are in the ignition. Hop in,” she tells me.
“My name is Shaniya.” I race around the hood of the truck to the passenger side.
“Pleased to meet you.” She jumps in the driver's seat and I pull myself up to sit in the passenger side.
“So, who are you?” I ask, wondering how she fits in around here. Maybe her father is one of the outlaws.
“I’m the ex-junkie.” She looks at me and rolls her eyes. And I nod, pretending I understand what she means.
“Been clean for over six months now,” she adds with a smile.
Abby chats to me for the rest of our journey into town, and I enjoy how the wind breezes through the window and cools my skin, it’s freeing. Then when I think about my village and what people have lost, I feel guilty.
Abby pulls up outside the grocery store, I’ve never been inside one this big before, and it's a little overwhelming to start with. I push the cart while Abby fills it with all the stuff Marilyn has on her list, and I slowly take everything in around me, wondering why people need so many choices of everything.
We get to the checkout, and Abby pays while I pack, then we head out to the truck and put all the supplies in the back of it.
“You wanna grab a coffee?” she asks.
“I’ve never drunk coffee before,” I admit, feeling embarrassed.
“Then we must remedy that immediately, there’s a great coffee shop near the studio. We’ll stop there on the way home.”
A few minutes later Abby pulls up outside the tattoo studio that I know the Souls run, and I can’t help but stare across the street at the dark alley that plagues my nightmares.
I haven’t been back into town since that night. I told myself I never would.
“You coming in?” Abby saves me from my thoughts.
“Yeah, sure.” I shake myself out of it, and get out of the passenger seat to follow her into the coffee shop. Inside is small and cramped, and we wait in line to be served by the man behind the counter.
“I’ll take two lattes, both with a shot of hazelnut, to go please,” Abby tells him, before dragging me over to the stools by the window. We sit there while we wait for our order and I watch the townspeople come and go, fascinated by how they interact with each other. I hear the man call out Abby's name, and when she doesn’t respond I realize she’s staring out the window toward the alley like it haunts her too.
“Abby,” I interrupt her.
“Sorry, what?” She wipes away the tear that’s fallen onto her cheek and pulls on a smile for my benefit.
“I think our order’s ready.” I nod toward the counter.
“Sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment there.” She quickly gets up from her stool and picks up the two cups of coffee from the end of the counter.
“Grab some of those,” she nods at the tiny packets labeled sugar as she heads out the door.
I wonder if she knows what happened that night? Surely the whole town would have talked about it. I may not know much about Manitou Springs but I know it’s a small town and people talk.
We’re on our way back to the truck when Abby suddenly stills in front of me, and I notice the smartly dressed man blocking her path.
