If You Ain't Got No Money, Take Yo' Broke Ass Home

I followed that lyric partially and now I'm at Mace's house for the night. Sitting in the deli, she curled her finger at Ari and he followed her into the bathroom. I wore my lowriders today, the ones that are so low I have to go commando, and only sit down with my back against a wall. Something is wrong with my lungs and chest again. I dug through Mace's bag to see if she had an inhaler I could use. Found a lip pencil and tried it out. When I looked in the mirror it didn't look right. I rubbed at my lips with the side of my index finger really hard, smearing the color all around.

They came back from the bathroom smiling like they'd shared an inside joke. "Your lips look good Sammers," Mace told me. I drew on the table with the lip pencil. Mace is the type who believes in three-second rules, being free by telling the truth, and always making yourself happy.

Isaiah kicked me gently. "Want to go fool around?" Mace pushed me out of the booth answering for me. "Yes she does." I yanked up my jeans and walked around the two old ladies holding hands as they made their way to the cashier. Wonder what she gets paid. Wonder if it's more than me. I felt Isaiah hook his finger into my belt loop, and we leaned against the wall in the back, near all the posters and ads.

"So is this payback?
"No."
"Because I'm happy to screw your brains out if you want to get back at Josh."
"Thanks Isaiah, you're always so sweet."

We made out for a while. I kept my back against the wall. A mother walked past us to the bathrooms and turned her kid's head away from us, glaring the whole time. "Don't look Jakey," I heard her tell him. Isaiah slide his hand into the waistband of my jeans and I flinched at his cold hands. He pulled back to look at Mace, then looked back at me. "Are you going to blow me or what? Because I think our fries are ready."

Poor Jakey. He could have learned so much tonight if only the fryer had been on a different schedule and I'd eaten breakfast and lunch.

Ari was already eating by the time we got back to the table. He always smells like cat piss and toast. I leaned towards Mace and inhaled a tiny bit. Could have sworn I smelled toast on her.

Later, when I was ready to go but nobody else was, Isaiah pounded his fist on the table, making other people look over at us. "Somebody better blow me tonight!"

Ari and I waited while Mace blew Isaiah behind a parked car. He told me everyone was talking about it. I shrugged.

"It came out of nowhere. I mean like, nobody saw it coming."
"I know."
"Sam, everyone wants to know why. Does Josh even know why? Do you?"

Mace ran up to us laughing. "He got it in my HAIR!" We shared a joint on the way to her house. Her stepfather was there when we walked in, unpacking groceries.

There was raw cookie dough and Mace grabbed it. I followed her into her bedroom, hungry again. When I looked back at the kitchen, her stepdad was looking at me, and I waved before closing the door.