Page 18 of Death is My BFF

Unable to sit still, I fished through my car and cleared out any valuable items between the seats and in the glove compartment.

My hands were pretty much empty at the end, besides a few vehicle documents and some spare change. After, I stood in front of my car and inspected the windshield.

There was no blood, which amazed me, considering the extent of the damage. The animal had been hit hard and ran off like a champ.

Inspecting the ground around the car with the flashlight on my phone, I found skid marks and retraced them twenty or thirty feet back, where I pictured hitting the deer.

The flashlight danced over an object on the road, and I froze.

Blood pulsed in my ears as I crouched down to pick up the stub of a hand-rolled cigarette. Cherry.

Cold washed down the back of my neck. I sensed his stare before I saw him. Across the road was the cloaked man, Death. He stood motionless in front of the backdrop of the woods, a mere silhouette outlined by the light of the moon. Time slowed.

I put two and two together. Marcy had claimed there’d been a figure in the road, and she was correct. It was Death. But why?Toprove how fragile your life is, to give you a glimpse of what he’s capable of.

As if agreeing with my thoughts, Death pulled back from the moonlight and faded into the night. At that point, I was too exhausted and confused to be afraid.

A car appeared at the end of the road. I checked my app and saw it was our driver.

“If the driver asks any questions, let me do the talking,” I said to Marcy.

She gave me an unenthusiastic salute.

The car rolled to a stop in front of us. Why wasn’t our car getting towed yet? Where were the police? I began to script my answers for the driver’s possible questions. Fortunately, for once in my life, our Uber driver didn’t care for conversation and focused only on his driving.

He dropped Marcy off first. She turned down my offer to sleep over and wanted to be home in her own bed. I had a feeling she was still hurt about our fight, and so was I, more than I could let on.

Despite her intoxication and heels, Marcy climbed the old tree outside her bedroom window and hoisted herself inside like a pro.

This wasn’t her first prison break.

When the car pulled into my driveway, I wished my parents were home and not in Hawaii. But they deserved the time off and the last thing I wanted was to get in the middle of their “second-honeymoon activities.” Ick.

I bolted toward the house. After a brief struggle with my keys, I threw open my front door and scrambled to lock it. Pressing my back against the cool wood, I sighed in relief.

Flicking on all the lights, I closed all the blinds. I paced the kitchen barefoot and sipped a root beer, reeling over what’d happened at the pool and the car accident. I pinched myself. Stomped my feet dinosaur-style into the cool tile floor, as if it would somehow ground my reality. Okay, I was awake. This was happening.

What was I supposed to do now? At some point, I’d have to tell someone about this Death character. Whocouldhandle this alone?

And did Devin Star actually want me to work for him? Or was it a clever ruse to buy my silence? I needed answers.

Placing Devin’s card on the counter, I considered my options.

His office was closed for the weekend. I needed my car back ASAP to get groceries. If I didn’t call him Monday morning, for all I knew, he’d pull a fast one and junk my car and blow me off. No, I had to see him in person.

I scribbled a Post-it reminder and stuck it to my bedroom door.

It was settled. Monday morning, I would wake up early, head to Devin’s office, and force myself into a meeting.

“So let it be written, so let it be done.”

I peeled off the never-to-be-worn-againblack lace dress, showered, and slipped into a T-shirt with sweatpants. My bed was a cloud of blankets. I hit the mattress with a bounce, clutching my old teddy bear, Mr. Wiggles, to my chest. Only then could I breathe again.

Happy birthday to me.

IV

The weekend crawled by with nonstop schoolwork, which helped to keep my mind occupied. Monday was staff development day, and the students were off, so midmorning I took the train into the city.

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