The Dealer

Andi had awoken to her phone light burning through her closed lids. Volume was typically off due to the high volume of messages she received on her blog, but fortunately she fell asleep with her face practically glued to the device. An unfamiliar number flashed on the screen, and for a brief moment she hesitated on answering it, wondering if some asshole had obtained her number and was out to destroy her sleep schedule (not that she really had one). 

But to her dismay, she quickly learned it was Fox, and he was calling for some assistance down at the goddamn jail. She had ridden her bike all the way downtown to get there, still in sweat pants and a tank top seeing as how she hurried out of her home as fast as she could. 

It took a while at the front desk to go through the proper paperwork and maxing out three credit cards to bail his ass out, but she barely blinked at the cost. That didn’t really matter, as long as he was out. Waiting as the officer at the desk went to retrieve her delinquent friend, Andi paced the hallway worriedly. What the hell did he do? 

Andi jerked when the gun went off, the sound making her go deaf for a brief moment. She watched in horror as the events quickly unfolded, worried for Fox more than herself. As the man he’d stabbed fell to the ground, a queasiness came about her. She was obsessed with the dead, with murder, gore, all the mysteries —- but she’d never seen someone die before firsthand. Blood pooled on the concrete below, and she’d completely forgotten about her own pain.

Moving the knife away from Andi’s neck and shoving her in Fox’s direction as a distraction, both of the remaining men began backing up further down the ally. “We know where she lives, you better get us what you owe us!” The other man shouted, just as they turned the corner and booked it. Andi chose to ignore those words. Weakly letting herself practically fall against Fox, she buried her face into his chest and let the tears roll, a hard sob following.

When Fox pulled out a knife, one of the two other thugs that were standing by casually made it clear that he was packing heat, the dark metal of the firearm catching Andi’s eye the instant he flashed it. She looked defeated and frightened all at once, eyes now glued to Fox as she began putting together the situation. With the knife still pressed up against her cheek, the man behind her got just a little closer, his lips practically pressed against her ear. “Looks like you’re about to realize you fucked with the wrong guys, Foxy.” He smirked, playing with the both of them.

“Fox, don’t—-” Andi began, though was once again quickly cut off when the man slid the blade down to her neck, pressing just a little too hard. Tiny red droplets began forming across her skin, leaving a stinging sensation. “Talk one more time, and I’ll shove this through your throat.” He whispered just loud enough for the others to hear.

Fox looked at the man who had the gun, his grip on his blade only tightening. He was starting to get impatient now; he just wanted to get Andi out of there, and fast. He was just about to say something when he saw the man press his knife against Andi’s throat, hard enough to draw blood. “You motherfucker.” 

For Fox, that was the last straw.

Andi took in a quick and quivering breath as her nervous eyes looked to Fox, a million questions racing through her mind. She stiffened as the man behind her leaned into her, his blade raising to her cheek. “Yeah? Well, what if we want her?” He laughed darkly, his free hand gripping onto Andi’s wrists tightly. In an awkward attempt to move her body as far away from the man as possible, without making it seem like she was trying to escape, the girl’s eyes darted to the concrete below. “Instead of adding on interest to what you owe us, I think giving us a round at her will be payment plenty.” It was then that Andi couldn’t help but let out a horrified whimper, tears spilling over and down her cheeks, especially when he pulled her back against him again.

A few scattered laughs from the thugs around them and Andi found herself tensing up over the fact that Fox was actually there now. She didn’t know what kind of trouble she’d gotten him into, or both of them rather. She didn’t know if he owed them money, or if they’d broken into the wrong place together, or if they were just a couple of off their rocks followers to her blog and personal life. “I’m—-” she began, but before she could get out another word the man behind her jabbed her just a tad harder with the knife, which made her shut her eyes tight for a moment. Bracing herself for the worst.

“Shut your bitch mouth,” he spat, then brought the knife up to point to Fox. “You know why we’re in this situation, how are we gonna fix this?” 

Hearing the faint sound of Fox’s voice through her closed bedroom door, Andi ran her fingers through her long, tangled hair as she shouted back, “Yeah, totally,” standing up, she grabbed a pair of black yoga pants and fumbled to get them on, and finally opened her door. Stepping down the hall, she quickly glanced into the bathroom to make sure she looked alright. Covering a yawn, she made her way into the living room to see Fox sitting on the couch. “What, uh… what’s up?”

“What can I say, I’m a fantastic Valentine,” Bo said, giggling at the pun one of her own last name. Fingers tapped on the wheel as Fox turned on the rock station, her head bobbing to the beat. “Nice choice,” she added, turning left towards the restaurant. “So, how has your day been, Fox?”

“Let’s take my car,” Bo answered, trailing behind Fox a few steps ahead. “That way you can admire the chocolate cross right now,” she added with a laugh, hopping down the steps of the porch once they were out front. The girl made the way to her car, grabbing her keys from her purse and unlocking it. “But, you can pick the music today.” Opening the door, she placed her tank in the car and slid inside the driver’s seat.

“Hm…” Bo trailed off in thought, glancing up to the ceiling before looking back to Fox. “Let’s do LA Sushi, I haven’t been there in forever,” she decided, standing up from her spot. She quickly dusted off her dress of sugar cookie crumbs before tugging on the hemline. “Ready to go soon?”

Bo laughed, scrunching up her nose lightly. “It’s just weird, but you just seem like a chocolate cross kind of man,” she teased, letting out a soft chuckle. “Ooh… Japanese sounds really good,” she agreed with him, nodding her head. “Yeah, I could totally go for some sushi. You wanna go to the Sushi Boat or the one place that just reads, Japanese in big, red letters?”

“Wait, you didn’t get the life-size cutout of me I sent you?” She asked, teasingly as she took another bite. “I have chocolate for you in my car. It’s a chocolate cross I found in the Easter section, because I thought that was more you than a heart-shaped box of chocolates.” Finished with the cookie, she crumbled up her napkin, thought kept it balled up in her fist. “Ah, a good Valentine’s tradition. You know, we could go out to eat. It’ll be better than Ramen noodles and Cheetos.”

Bo smiled widely as she spotted Fox, swallowing down her bit of cookie. “Hey, Fox,” she replied, dusting her hands off on her pink dress. “I’m just trying to live up to my last name,” she answered, gesturing to the flowers and cookies. “Since I didn’t have any plans today, I figured if I could do something nice here. I also gave flowers to that old lady, Ms. Herrera, who lives across from me….” she trailed off, smiling to her friend. “What’re you doing here?”

The distant sound of a horn honking had woke the girl from her mid-day slumber. A groggy Andi squinted her eyes open as they adjusted to a room that let little light in through the sun-blocking drapes she’d invested in, and then to the sudden brightness of her phone lighting up. A low hum came from the back of her throat as she unlocked the screen to see a few texts from Fox, and a crooked smile took hold of her features. Lazily the girl sent a quick text back, ‘come in, door’s open’, as she shifted to sit up on her bed and let the reality of being awake set in.

Fox was home alone, and bored out of his mind. He had the day off from work, and so far, none of his clients had contacted him. He needed to get out of the house before he went crazy. After a short while of thinking about what he could do, Fox grabbed his phone and quickly sent Andi a text message, telling her that he was going to pick her up. More often than not, some sort of adventure awaited him when he was with her, so he figured she was a safe bet to cure his boredom.