Page 54 of Ethan

I couldn't help but notice his hands were black with grime. Seeing that made me wonder about his access to basic hygiene. Washing his hands and brushing his teeth were probably a luxury.

"Hey, Lucas!" Ethan strolled across the room and pounded the man on the shoulder. "I don't have any cookies today, but I do have some chocolate chip muffins."

It was like what Ethan said didn't register. The man, Lucas, stared into the distance, his eyes glazed over. He stumbled a little and refocused on Ethan's face. "What?"

"I have a muffin you'll like."

Lucas scrubbed his face with his hand as if to force his mind to pay attention.

"Okay." He stumbled again.

"I'm going to have to ask you to take it outside, Lucas," Vincent said. "You know the rules. You can't be in here if you've been using. Turn it around and go back outside."

Lucas' head snapped up and he charged at Vincent. "Fuck you!"

I stepped forward to grab Ethan, my heartbeat in my throat. The man was wrecked—stoned on something. A bit out of his mind. Now, he appeared to be dangerous.

Vincent stopped Lucas' advance by putting his hands on Lucas' shoulders. He gently turned Lucas to face the door. "You swearing at me isn't going to get you anywhere. Out."

Lucas struggled out of his grip and burst back out through the door, bag in tow.

"He forgot his muffin," Ethan said and began to dig through the paper bags. He found what he was looking for and headed for the door. He looked over his shoulder at me. "Coming?"

I rushed to join Ethan. "Are you crazy? You can't go after him."

"He won't have gone far." Ethan tugged on my arm. "Just stay aware of your surroundings. Don't shove your way through groupings of people. Stay with me. You'll be fine."

I followed Ethan outside. There was a group of men milling around halfway down the block. I recognized Lucas' hair hidden under a baseball cap that he must have just put on.

"Please, tell me you don't do this very often," I said. "Come out here on your own."

"I don't tend to."

"Good. This Lucas, though … he's too aggressive to be around."

"I've been with Lucas plenty of times when he's like this. He's just worked up."

"Jeezus, Ethan." I kept up with him. He stopped a few feet back from the men. They took notice of our presence as I stood with Ethan. A few wandered away. Lucas approached us.

Ethan held out the bag. "You forgot your muffin."

Lucas smirked, the most his vacant face could offer. "Thanks, Bakery … Man."

"Mind if we visit with you?" Ethan asked. I looked over my shoulder, assessing where Ethan's car was in relation to where we were. Someone was sitting on the ground near his car, clicking a lighter beneath a glass pipe, smoking who knows what. I turned back to Ethan and Lucas.

"Sure," Lucas said and wandered over to a wall, and slid down to the wet dirty pavement.

Ethan sat beside him, knees bent, hands resting on them.

Fuck.

I sat too.

"How'd you end up down here, Lucas?" Ethan asked.

Lucas grunted. "Fucking … doctors."

"What did they do?"

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