And Then Death Greeted Me

MENDICANT

'Hey! Hey, Vernice!'

I blink, surprised, my mouth agape as Chris walks up to me. Walks, not bounds, the way she used to. I'm taken aback for so many different reasons, not least of all shocked that she still deigns to talk to me after I stabbed her in the back so many times.

Her lips twist in distaste – or in regret, I can't tell. My name in her mouth must taste disgusting, some bitter poison. That girl was lost so long ago, lost to us all.

'Hello,' I say.

She stands a few feet away from me. Too close, yet not close enough. I miss my best friend.

She's biting the inside of her cheek. If Chris is having trouble speaking up there truly may be something wrong.

'You didn't answer my calls the other night.' She states it matter-of-factly. There is no love in her voice.

I yearn for it.

I say nothing.

'How are you?' she says a moment later.

I shrug half-heartedly.

'Kat wanted me to apologize to you. For her behaviour recently.' The rising anger in her voice is unbridled and threatening, and the hair on the back of my neck rise.

My lips curl in a sneer. 'Is her apology genuine?'

'Are Kat's apologies ever genuine?'

'What do you want, Chris?'

She purses her lips. 'A couple of girls messaged me. About Farley.'

I jolt, all thought of Kat swept from my mind. My fingers twitch.

'I didn't believe them at first, but...' She shifts her weight from one foot to the other.

I have to clear my throat to get my voice to work. I try to discern as much as I can from her face. 'What – what happened?'

'She's a drug dealer,' Chris says finally.

All the air in my lungs release in a single breath. My shoulders drop in a very obvious sign of relief. 'Oh, that. I knew that.'

'Well, she also does drugs. Herself. Like...' She mimes sniffing powder from a cupped hand. 'Like, herself.'

I try not to sigh at her display. 'Yeah, I know.'

She throws her hands up in anger. 'Well, she overdosed, Vernice. She's been in a coma for days. Did you know that?'

I blame my general disorientation for my reaction.

I laugh. Right in her face.

'You think this is funny?'

I grin broadly now. 'Farley, overdosing? Please. She didn't want me to start, and she barely even knows me. She doesn't care about me. I'm sure she cares enough about herself to stop if worst came to the worst.'

Chris tilts her head to the side. 'You don't believe me?'

I shake my head.

'I'm your best friend,' she says. I feel a deep stab in the bottom of my stomach. 'And you don't believe me.'

'That's not what I –'

'Since when has my worth been so little?'

I shake my head again.

'I mean,' she rails on, stepping closer to me, 'I always knew I didn't matter all that much to you. As in, you said I did, but when push came to shove you'd tell me where to get off.'