Close Friends

TWO: RUSSIAN ROULETTE

Egypt began driving to her hotel in downtown St. Louis. She had decided to book a room at the Lumiere Hotel and Casino. She said she would stay here for a few nights and then go to a
cheaper hotel afterward. She knew that she needed some time to herself to relax and this would be the best way to do it. She can relax in the room or go to the pool, casino, or Wet Willies to let
off some steam then she'll worry about where she'd go in the next few days. Egypt knew she probably could've kicked Jalen out of the house and stayed there herself instead of struggling to find a new place. She could have probably even stayed there longer until she found a small two
bedroom apartment for herself. Egypt just didn't feel right kicking Jalen out of his own shit and she was never good at hiding how she truly felt so to stay and pretend like she still wanted to be
with and around him was out of the question. She knew Jalen would've let her stay until she found somewhere else to go but she knew he would just try to change her mind and she couldn't stand to see him drinking and getting high anymore. Some days she would ask him why he couldn't just stick to weed and he'll tell her the same thing every time. "It just doesn't get me as high as it used to anymore."

Egypt checked into her room and put her things in the open closet they gave her. She sat on the king-sized bed and turned the TV on. As always it was nothing to watch on TV. She just wanted to have some type of background noise to drown out the sound of her own thoughts. She sat on the bed and pulled her cross-body purse from over her head. She opened the purse and pulled out her bag of weed and a pack of Diamond Swisher Sweet Cigarillos. "They say diamonds are a girl's best friend." Egypt said to herself. She never really had friends growing up and especially now
even in her twenties. Growing up as a pretty girl with a good head on her shoulders, none of the other girls really liked her. They either hated on her or used her to their own advantage. The few females she did know that she actually liked to be around was her employees at her boutique but
she tried to keep things professional with them. She never kept male friends because eventually they all wanted to either fuck her or be her man while she was in school and she needed to focus
on her studies. After she graduated she still didn't see the need for them because she was in a committed relationship with Jalen. Jalen was more than her boyfriend, he was her best friend. Now that she broke things off with him, she had nobody. No friends, no family, nothing. Just
Mary Jane and herself. She broke down the 'rillo and the bud and began to twist it up. She laid the blunt on her night stand and grabbed some of the towels out of the restroom. Even though Egypt had a smoking room she still didn't want the room to have a strong marijuana smell since she was gonna’ be here for some nights. She needed all that money back from her deposit on the room. Egypt turned on the shower to help with the smoke and to help her relax as well. Taking showers always helped her get her mind off of things and right now she needed to get Jalen and their break up off of her mind.

She stripped out of her clothes and showered for what seemed like forever. If she could she would've stayed in the shower all day but she knew she would have to get out eventually. She wrapped a towel around her body and her head since she wet her hair. She sat on her bed and grabbed a lighter out of her purse. Egypt grabbed the blunt and lit It up before grabbing the remote. She flipped through the channels before landing on a movie channel that was showing “Iron Man.” She grabbed her blunt off the nightstand along with her phone. She placed the blunt to her lips and lit the blunt as she inhaled the marijuana filled cigar. She let out a puff of smoke and said to herself: “Inhale the good shit and exhale the bull shit.” She then unlocked her phone and went to her Snapchat app. She took a picture of the television and her blunt. She then posted the picture with the caption, “Mood.” Just as she was about to lock her phone and put it back down, she had an incoming text from Jalen. He had sent her a picture of the first time he took her to Six Flags. They had just got off a few roller coasters and were sharing a funnel cake. Egypt had powdered sugar all over her lips and was trying her hardest to hold back her smile and her laughter. Jalen had said something funny as he was taking the picture of her. Egypt laughed looking at the memory of them when Jalen had sent another text message.