Enemy Mine

Chapter 12

The blood in my panties didn't surprise me. Sex always encouraged my period when I was close, and I'd been having me some sex. Fortunately, I had an emergency stash in my duffel and took care of business without forcing Vincent to make a special stop. He wanted to get on the road at first light, and just as the buzz from my first cup of coffee wore off, we were on the road heading east. Vincent had taken refuge behind a pair of mirrored sunglasses, keeping his thoughts to himself, so I did the same, using the drive time to catch up with the world via my phone.

Back in town, we stopped at Jin's market first thing, picking up items for chili as well as coffee for Mr. Pearlman. A moving van stood at the curb of my apartment building when we arrived, so we hoofed it around the block with our arms full of groceries. My nosy neighbor, Lilly, from 1A stalled us at the door. Apparently, the wife of the dentist Lilly slept with got her black-listed from every hygienist job in town, so she was moving back home to Nebraska. The news didn't surprise or disappoint me.

Once Vincent and I had the groceries unpacked, I ventured next door to see Mr. Pearlman. The last time we saw each other, a couple of guys with horns and wings escorted me out, and the memory of that fateful night had my chest tightening as I knocked.

"Mr. Pearlman. It's Reese," I said, knocking again when he didn't respond right away. "I know you're in there, you old fart. I can smell your cigarette from here."

"Give a guy a chance to put on his robe," came his grumpy reply, followed by a rattling cough. At least he was alive and breathing.

The door clicked open and Mr. Pearlman stuck his bald head out the door, along with a puff of smoke. "You look well," he croaked.

"What did you expect me to look like? Night of the living dead?"

He gawked at me curiously, probably because he didn't know what I was talking about. "Well, those boys you left with may have appreciated a good story from an old timer, but that didn't make them proper company for a young lady. It was damn hard watching you leave with them. I sure hope they didn't hurt you."

I swallowed the lump threatening to choke me as I stared at my cranky neighbor. Apart from his war stories, I'd never heard him string that many words together in one breath. Granted, he had to take about ten breaths to get through it all.

"They didn't hurt me, Mr. Pearlman, and I know you were worried about me. I'm sorry. I hear Colin came by to check on you."

"Yes. He brought me a cup of coffee that tasted like a milkshake."

"Oh, that reminds me. Here's your coffee," I handed him his cheap stuff and he took it with a trembling hand.

"Are you keeping up with your meds?" I pushed the door open and walked inside. The smell of stale tobacco and old man had gotten out of hand, hitting me right in the nasal passages. I picked up his pill counter and opened it to find all his meds still there. "It's almost ten. You should take your meds now."

"I need to take them with food, and I haven't gotten around to eating yet."

"I'll make you cinnamon sugar toast." I handed him his pills and got started on breakfast without waiting for his reply. "Your apartment needs a deep cleaning. You've left enough breadcrumbs here to keep the Borrowers fed until next year."

"The Borrowers? Is that some new cult?"

I laughed as I filled his sink with soapy water to tackle the mound of dishes he'd amassed. "No, it's a story my parents read to me when I was a kid. It's about a family of tiny people..."

Mr. Pearlman waved my explanation away. "I don't want to hear any more make believe nonsense. I've had enough of that for one lifetime. Oh, hello Vincent," Mr. Pearlman said as Vincent stepped into the open doorway.