Page 87 of Three for a Girl

Romeo studied him with intrigue. “I’m not gonna leave.”

“I’m fine here.”

“It’s funny how the wordfinemeans the opposite.”

“I want to stay here.”

“Okay.” Romeo said, turning his back on Chad. He unpacked the shopping bags and laid out the ingredients he needed.

“Pray for Marcy.”

Chad listened to the news bulletin.

The community were planning on releasing balloons that Friday with messages of hope. Purple balloons, Marcy’s favorite color. Ally had commented on every news bulletin about Marcy ‘poor girl’ or ‘what a little fighter’, but Romeo said nothing.

Everyone should have an equal chance at life, and an equal chance at death. That was his philosophy, his reasoning behind picking his victims at random. Chad didn’t agree with him. Some people were more deserving of life than others, and some were more deserving of death.

Chad rested his forearms on the table, and his head was drawn towards them. Not the most comfortable cushion, but the tug of sleep was too much.

“Sleep, Chad.” Romeo mumbled.

Chad linked eyes with him, and gave in, drifting into darkness, knowing Romeo was watching over him and not the monster.

****

He woke to a squeeze of his shoulders, and looked up at Romeo. Chad’s nostrils pulsed at the smell of tomatoes, of herbs, and garlic. His stomach somersaulted, and saliva drowned his tongue.

“Dinner’s ready.” Romeo said, sliding a plate in front of Chad. He could’ve wept from the sight and smell alone, but the taste ignited his taste buds. Other than Ally’s meal, Chad had been living off bland cereal, cookies, crackers, all tasteless in comparison to Romeo’s cooking.

Romeo sat the opposite side to Chad, digging into to his own bowl of pasta. Chad eyed him, waiting for the moment darkness descended on Romeo’s features and he pulled away, retreating to the outhouse, but he didn’t. He stayed, and they ate together in comfortable silence, even when Romeo had finished, he didn’t send Chad away or disappear himself. He reached for Chad’s hand across the table, and he eagerly gave it to him.

He stared at their joined hands, and watched as Romeo rubbed circles into the back of his hand with his thumb. They hadn’t sat like that for what felt like forever. Chad pinched himself under the table to be certain he wasn’t dreaming.

“What’s changed?” he whispered.

“I missed you. Missed taking care of you.”

Chad narrowed his eyes. That wasn’t it, something was different.

Romeo snorted, squeezing his hand. “Always so suspicious.”

“When I think there’s reason to be.”

Romeo bit his lip then nodded. “I found it hard when you went back to work.”

“Because I wasn’t here to distract you?”

“Not just that.” Romeo sighed. “Resentment started to build. You can quiet that need in your head—you can get out there, satisfy it—but I can’t. It gnaws away at me, only getting harsher, louder, stronger. It’s hard to ignore, hard to distract from, and you almost paid the price.”

“You encouraged me to go back to work.”

“I know. But only becauseyouthought it’d make you happier, make you feel normal, atone for turning your back on your moral compass with me. You needed to go back to work, to move forward, but maybe not in the direction you imagined.”

“I don’t understand.”

Romeo ran his thumb over Chad’s knuckles. “All those years ago, I killed that magpie by accident when it didn’t leave my side, when it refused to go back to living in the trees, hunting worms, thriving with its own kind. But what if it had have gone back, tried to live a normal life, maybe even have been accepted by its own kind? Would it have thought of me? Would it have come back if given the chance? Preferred my company and the new, alien life I showed it.”

Chad pulled his hand from Romeo’s grip. “You encouraged me to go back to work in the hope I’d fail? It was yet another game.”

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