Page 16 of Dark Room Junkie

“Bye!” I said and closed the car door.

Serkan knew me well, and as soon as I waved at him, he nodded and began preparing a kebab for me. While I ate, I treated myself to a cola and watched the news on a screen in the corner. I never hurried to get home because I didn’t truly consider it my home. It was just the place where I stored my clothes.

“Well, well, well, look who we have here,” a familiar voice spoke up from behind. “My brother! How are you?”

“Juri-Rock! Hi!”

We fist-bumped, and Juri took the seat next to me. He briefly sniffed my empty plate and glanced at the menu over the counter. “Did you have the kebab?”

“Yeah,” I replied and drank the entire bottle.

Juri crossed his hands behind his head, leaned back, and squinted at me from the side. Dressed all in black, he looked even paler than usual in the white light. His black hair made his face appear rather harsh, and with the scar on his neck, he didn’t seem particularly sympathetic to some. He was only nice to those he knew, but once he started smiling, he had them all wrapped around his finger.

“You look beat, Stoney,” he said, putting his arm around me and pulling me to his shoulder.

“Yeah,” I admitted, holding onto him. My lifestyle was exhausting. “I’m actually on my way home.”

“Oh no.”

Juri knew what I meant. He had grown up one floor below with his father, who also had no desire to be nice. If we hadn’t had each other, we wouldn’t have survived in this house years ago.

“And how’s it going with you, Juri-Rock?” Something wasn’t right. I could see it in his dark green eyes and the way he hugged me, pretending to give me one.

“Same old, same old,” he replied monotonously. The right corner of his mouth, with the thin silver ring on the lower lip, twitched. He squeezed me again, then let go. When his gaze fell on my denim jacket, he rolled his eyes. “Are you still wearing summer clothes?”

I shrugged and smiled. “One of the reasons I need to go home.”

“Do you need money?”

“Thanks, Rock, but you don’t have to give me anything.”

“You know, I share everything with you,” he said, retrieving his wallet from the inside pocket of his black coat. From a bundle of bills, he pulled out a fifty. “Here. Take it.”

“Are you crazy? I’m not taking money from you. I know you’ve earned it the hard way.”

“I know you can use it, so take it. For heaven’s sake, buy yourself a sweater, Stoney. Winter’s coming.”

Reluctantly, I pocketed the money. If I hadn’t, he would have somehow slipped it to me anyway. “Have you found a place to stay yet?”

“Yep,” he replied, taking out a pack of cigarettes. “It’s a bit unconventional, but it’s okay.”

“What do you mean by unconventional?” I asked, laughing.

“At Romero’s. You know.”

“Hmm ...” I grunted in agreement. Yeah, I knew. Fortunately, I hadn’t been desperate enough to knock on Romero’s door yet.

“Come on. Let’s smoke.”

He knew I didn’t smoke, but he also saw that I actually wanted to leave. So, I said goodbye to Serkan and followed Juri out onto the street, where he lit a cigarette.

We were the same age and as close as brothers, but we hadn’t seen each other much lately. “How’s work?” I asked. Even the dark eyeshadow couldn’t distract from his dark circles.

“Which one are you talking about?”

“The new one.”

“Hmm ...” he just said, taking a drag of his cigarette.

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