Page 58 of Down Beat

TWENTY-TWO

Tabitha

“Rx (Medicate)” – Theory of a Deadman

“You haven’t moved, have you?” I give Kendall the side-eye as I walk through our apartment.

She smiles sheepishly from her position on the sofa. “I got up and went to the bathroom. Twice.”

“Well done,” I sass. “I’ll add a gold star to your sticker chart.”

“Bitch.”

I blow her a kiss. “You love me.” With a heave of my arms, I lift what’s left of the meager groceries I picked up onto the counter.

“Hey, let me help.” Kendall slides off the sofa and crosses to the kitchen. “What do I owe you?”

“Nothing, honestly.”

She pauses, packet of pasta in her hand. “No, really. How much?”

“I mean it. Nothing.” I sag against the counter and break the bad news. “I dropped the milk and it spilled everywhere, all over the sidewalk.”

Kendall cringes. “Shoot. Do we have any?”

“One bag.” I twist my lips in apology. “The damn handle on the shopping bag broke.” I point to the plastic now tied in an assortment of knots that would make a Boy Scout cringe.

“It’s okay.” She returns to putting the dry food away. “I can probably fleece a jug from work if we get desperate.”

“We’re not thieves.”

“Not yet.” She gives me a wink. Her eyes track around the room as she frowns. “Where’s your stuff?”

“At the theater.”

Her frown deepens.

“It was locked.” I put a bag of apples in the fridge. “I got there in time, but nobody was around.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Wait until Monday and hope that my things are there, safe and sound.”

Kendall’s lips purse as she looks me over with worry. “That’s pretty crap, though. If they’d said something last night we could have taken the stuff then and there.”

“They did say something,” I tell her. “They told me to come today between nine and twelve.”

“Do you think they meant tonight?”

I stare at her a fraction too long for it to be normal. “I don’t know.”

She puts the last of the groceries away while I rack my brain for what exactly the guy said to me. Truth be told, I can’t recall if he said morning or night now; I simply assumed morning.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kendall offers as she sets aside the fresh cheese slices and bread. “We can sort it out later. Grilled cheese?”

I nod, pouring us the first of our new bottle of wine. Yeah. We’re classy as all fuck.

“Did you hear from Toby while I was out?” I take a sip from my glass, doing my best to hide any possible telltale signs that I spoke to Rey.

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