Too Far Gone (Urban)

4.5| One Dark Job

That same day...

     Stilwater was experiencing one of the hottest days of summer. It was nearly a hundred degrees, but it felt like a hundred and ten. The sun had no compassion on the citizens of Stilwater, and the clouds were being catty too. And the wind—the wind played around too, sneezing out a couple of short breezes every now and then, providing momentary relief from the muggy weather.

     Pierce let out a groan, tugging on the collar of his shirt to release the bodily vapors that made his T-shirt cling to his hot skin. He glanced over at his girlfriend Trinity, who was texting and tapping away at her fancy touch screen phone. He admired the way her yellow floral sundress hugged her small curves, flattering her tiny pear-like figure. She wore a big straw sun hat, which he envied, that protected her from the harsh stinging rays of sunlight.

     "Are you ready?" Pierce asked, growing tired of sitting outside Freckle Bitches. It was his day off. He didn't want to sit outside of his job, getting his butt stuck to the cheap plastic benches. Trinity tapped a couple more things on her phone before sliding it in her purse.

     "Yeah, yeah I'm ready," she looked up at him. "Sorry."

Pierce slowly lifted himself off, feeling his basketball shorts and skin peeling off the plastic bench. He looked behind himself to see a sweaty butt impression and smiled. Nice, he thought to himself.

     It's been a week since Trinity's car was stolen, and it's also been a week since she talked to her friend—that female dog—Chenelle. Pierce didn't honestly care about the friendship between the two, but he did find it childish that they were holding grudges towards each other. They've been friends longer than he and Trinity dated, and they suddenly stop speaking to each other over a ride? It was him, Pierce, who didn't want the ride. It was him who argued with Chenelle. It was him who called her a foul name and disrespected her, yet Trinity turned the situation into hers as well.

     "When you gonna talk to ya' girl?" Pierce heard himself ask, surprising himself.

     "When she apologizes." Trinity shrugged. Pierce glanced at her sideways.

     "Apologize?"

She nodded. "She nearly ran you over."

     "But she said sorry." Pierce sucked his teeth and shook his head. "I cursed her out, called her a bitch; she has a reason not to talk to me and I have my reason not to talk to her, but you," Pierce stopped. "You don't. I know it's not my place to scold you but, you need to talk to her."

     Pierce picked up his pace, walking a few steps ahead of Trinity. She didn't say a word the rest of the walk to her house. Pierce was happy to be home. At her home at least. All he had at his place was a two-way window fan. As he walked further into the house, he felt as if something was out of place. His nostrils flared as he inhaled a strong scent that made his head throb a beat.

     "Trini, you spray something in ya' house?" Pierce asked sniffing himself to make sure he wasn't smelling his sweat or something.

     "Um," she paused. "No, that might be the uh, carpet freshener I threw down this morning."

     Pierce thought on this for a moment as he sat down on her cool, faux leather couch. He examined her carpet but didn't see the white powder of the carpet freshener trapped in the fibers of the carpet.

     Is she lying? Pierce thought. No, maybe she vacuumed it off.

     He agreed on that thought, relaxing on the couch. He let his body cool down from the A/C before slipping out his little Safelink phone. He had one missed call from Rascal, his homie since last spring, two years ago, and a text message. Rascal never left a voicemail, so there was no need to check that. '0.50 minutes deducted' popped up in a message box once he clicked to read his unread message.