Chapter 10
Kevin:
"It's about damn time," I muttered as Durbbie and Melissa arrived.
"The least they could do is be punctual."
"Give her a break. She's been through a lot," AJ tried. I scoffed.
"She wouldn't know what a lot was if it bit her ass."
"Durbbie's lover killed himself last night," he added quietly.
"But AJ," I said snidely, "how can that be? You're still alive."
Brian:
"Son
of a bitch," AJ growled as Kevin stood there with a mocking look on his
face.
"What's going on?" I asked Nick.
"Something about Durbbie and AJ being together or something," he said
casually. "Nothing new."
"Yeah, well. What else is new?"
Durbbie:
My face was still
swollen and fairly numb because they had to stitch me up. I felt like Frankenstein.
One eye was patched because of all the stitches.
Brian came over to me almost out of nowhere.
"Hey. How are you feeling?" he questioned. I looked up and found sincere
eyes.
I tried to smile, but it didn't work. I couldn't talk because of all the stuff
they shot in me. I gave him a thumbs up instead.
"Listen, um, I've been thinking about what I said before," Brian started
nervously. Was this an actual apology? "And I wanted to tell you how rude
it was," he said looking me in the eye. He fidgeted for a little while
and Nick had started to come over at this point. I saw him out of the corner
of my good eye. "I'm sorry for not giving you another option. Nick wanted
to get in on things too, so if you change your mind and want to have a 3 plus
one, you only have to say the word, or in this case, hand gesture."
My jaw, or what was left of it, was on the floor. "How dare you,"
I tried to say through clenched teeth. It came out in a blob. Attempt unsuccessful.
"What was that?" Nick asked, his eyes dancing. "I don't think
I understood you."
"Just give us the signal."
I gave them a signal all right: the finger. No hesitation, no thinking, no nothing
except for raw emotion. These assholes were trying to take advantage of the
situation.
"What's going on?" Melissa asked looking more than tired.
I took her, rougher than I should have, to the other side of the room. She had
no need to be around scum like them.
Kevin:
"Why
aren't we doing a photo shoot?" I asked aloud.
"What do you think?" Howie asked. "When do those two ever get
it together?"
"I don't think I'll live long enough to see it."
"Yeah. It looks like that Scott dude didn't either."
Durbbie:
After an extremely
tumultuous last day of snapping pictures of people I truly hope I never see
or hear about again, it was time to go… I didn't have a home to go back
to. I had no family I could possibly turn to besides Melissa.
We hit the cold New York streets at 6:30 with no money, no place to call home,
and no food. Melissa and I found shelter from the bitter wind in a local restaurant,
but as soon as the owners found out we weren't going to order anything, we went
back out into a cold gust of wind. You never realize how bitter the world is
until you're actually in this situation.
Half an hour later, we were still wandering in the darkness of the city. The
cold had done wonders for my face, which despite the bandages, had almost returned
to normal shape and size. I was able to talk now, which was a huge step for
us.
"What now?" I asked Melissa as we set out around another corner of
the city.
"How are you feeling?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"Just answer it. How are you feeling?" she tried again.
"Like I got hit by a truck."
"Do you think you can sing?"
"Are you on crack?"
"Stop it Durbs. Give me a direct answer for once. Can you sing?"
I set my cameras down and opened my mouth. Sure enough, my voice came ringing
out.
"Does that answer your question?"
With that, Melissa picked up her art supplies and walked the other way.
"Where are you going?" I asked as I scrambled to catch up.
She turned to me with a gleam in her eye. "Tonight's still your night at
the coffee shop, right?"
I gathered my supplies and followed her all the way to the shop.
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