Too Far Gone (Urban)

09 | Sober Nights

Chenelle laid on the moderately comfortable couch that acted as a half wall in Pierce's cramped house. The nearby streetlight provided a faint amount of light that illuminated parts of the living room through flimsy blinds. The light was shared by the swarm of bugs that encircled it, scampering and fluttering about the light, basking in its dull yellow glow. She rolled onto her side and slid her cell phone from out her heel, flipping it open in hopes it'll magically reanimate itself.

     Since she had expected to return home tonight, she didn't bother bringing her charger. Pierce, unfortunately, didn't have any USB chargers that fit her phone's model. To make matters worse, Pierce ran out of minutes on his prepaid phone, so neither of them could contact Rascal to notify him of their leaving. There was probably a payphone nearby, but she spent most of her cash at the bar only to receive a few pennies in return.

     As a result of their short-comings, Pierce reluctantly offered her to stay over for the night and was even bearably kind enough to let her borrow one of his T-shirts to sleep in instead of sleeping in her sweaty, malodorous club outfit. She had to admit his shirt was very soft and comfortable to lay around in. It carried a strong masculine musk—cologne—and hung on her frame like a loose-fitting dress.

     She found herself unable to sleep tonight, however. Pierce had confessed to her of his sins, but not in the order she had originally anticipated. Even though he had construed the situation hours ago, she still carried the same jar as if he just told her his story seconds ago. She looped his words over and over again as if she was listening to a tape recorder.

     "I cheated on my ex with Trinity," Pierce admitted, searching the ground with his eyes as if he could see her face. Chenelle held her pose; arms still childishly folded over her chest, eyebrows frowning, eyes squinted angrily.

     "Before I met Trinity, I was with another girl named Clairenette, Claire for short." He turned his head upwards and looked towards the night sky. "She was an average looking girl, y'know? Big boobs, butt, braids all the way down her back and whatever... Kinda odd to look that way at such a young age, but most kids look like that now anyway. Must be the food I guess." He let out a chuckle whilst shaking his head.

     "But anyway, she had the nastiest attitide. Like," he paused, leaning forward a little as he rubbed his chin with a tiny grin on his face. "Like, she was a rude girl. Very mean and ghetto; and I guess that's why I liked her at the time; she was exciting to me. I mean, you and I snap at each other once in a while, but me and her would go all out fighting."

     He stopped again and looked at Chenelle with his hands pressed together as if he was about to pray. "I never hit her though. She told me she had mommy problem's or whatever; her mom was never home, and her dad was a deadbeat. She said she never really felt a lotta love before. I understood how she felt because I kinda have the same problem too but..."

     Pierce paused again, chewing on his bottom lip. Chenelle didn't know whether she should say something or touch him. She was never really that good at comforting people. When he looked up at her, all she could think of doing is smile reassuring. It was weak, most likely not convincing, but in his partially drunken state, it seemed sufficient enough for him to continue.

     "I only liked her... I never really loved her, y'know? I was still hitting up other girls and flirtin' with them a bit. Claire would always get on me about that, but I couldn't help myself; it was the puberty... No excuse, right?"

     The deeper he dug into his past, it seemed his eyes became darker with every word. "And then, I met Trinity. Trinity was also somethin' I never had. We started off as buddies. I always saw her after school, so I'd walk her halfway home, and every once in while, she'd come to the Freckle Bitches I worked at. I always flirted with her for fun, but I guess the jokes are on me 'cause I fell in love with her."