Youth Unsupervised

Chapter 4-Numb

As soon as I answered, she marched over to me and thrust the unidentified bottle against my chest.

"Drink," she commanded.

"What is it?" I asked, holding the bottle up, as if that would give me any indication.

She smiled and shrugged. "Who knows?"

That was reassuring. 

I put the bottle to my lips. It tasted terrible and burned as it went down, which sent me into an immediate coughing fit. I held the bottle out for Saki, still coughing. She took it, laughing.

"I think I might've been wrong. You will be fun, after all. Come on." She jerked her head in the direction of the apartment.

I followed her around the back of the building.

"Where are we going?" I croaked.

She smirked over her shoulder. "You'll see."

The place could use a power wash, not to mention the state of the busted and boarded windows and doors. It'd probably been abandoned for a while. Saki led me up some stairs to a broken window on the second floor. She straddled the windowsill, then pulled her other leg in, disappearing inside.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked from the darkness.

My life choices could definitely use some work. My heartbeat had quickened again. It was a warning this time. I was nervous. That didn't happen to me a lot. More. I needed more.

I placed my hands on the windowsill and entered the same way Saki did. She stood in the center of the room waiting for me. We were probably standing in a bedroom, but it didn't have any furniture. There wasn't a lot of light to pick out fine details, but I did notice a collection of empty bottles and cans in the corner. A closet door hung off its hinges. It had certainly seen better days.

Without saying anything, Saki started moving again. Dry leaves, from who knows how many autumns ago, crunched under our feet as we walked down the hall. Outside was well lit from the clear sky and street lamps, but this building was so dark I could barely see Saki in front of me. Fortunately, she seemed to know exactly where we were going. We entered another bedroom. This one had the window intact, which brought in a little light. There was a rolled up futon and several partially burned candles sitting on a crate in the corner--dry, bubbled strings of wax stuck to its side.

"Do you sleep here?" I asked.

"Sometimes," she answered, trading her bottle for a baseball bat that was leaning against the wall.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because there are nights I don't feel like going home."

"Are your parents that bad?"

She let out an exaggerated sigh and rolled her head around to look at me. "Don't get all sentimental on me, idiot. Sometimes it's just easier this way."

Dodging my questions again? That was fine. I wouldn't press it, not just yet. I couldn't have her running off on me again.

"What's the bat for?" I asked.

"You're in for a treat." She flipped the bat over her shoulder. "I had a special activity planned for today."

"Guess I'm in luck then," I said a little hesitantly.

"Although..." She wrapped her free hand around the other side of the bat and pulled it into her neck, leaning her head back. "I should have asked you this before, but is your girlfriend alright with you being out here? I wouldn't want to be the cause of a breakup."