The Temporary Virginity of the American Player

21. I Secretly Hope He Gets Eaten By a Shark.

Three days home since the whole jail situation. Two days until the bet was entirely up. Johnny hadn't come back but had called me a few times to check in and keep me updated. He and Christy were doing OK together, but he was talking about looking at apartments so they could move in together. I didn't want to see my Johnquisha move out of the bachelor house. Then again, I guess he wasn't much of a bachelor; he had Christy's hand in his twenty-four/seven.

Lena hadn't spoken to me since the fight with Travis. I mean, I hadn't exactly tried to make amends. I'd been too ashamed and confused to even go into the café, let alone stop by her apartment and try to confront her. I didn't understand why she'd gotten so angry. Then again, was I supposed to? I was a guy, after all.

The good news was, I was out of jail. It had taken until ten o'clock the following morning for Joe to arrive, dragging himself down the hallway yawning. I'd fallen asleep on the bench, but had received a rude awakening with a big squeak of the cell door sliding open. When I raised my head, I came face-to-face with a sloppy-looking Joe in sweats and a white t-shirt.

"Sorry, bro-bro. Didn't get the message until this morning. Please don't kill me."

"I think this bench killed me," I'd groaned, hauling myself up and shuffling towards the door.

"You got fired?"

"Yeah. And I'm not going to be allowed back into McDonald's any time soon; let's just say that. Where were you last night?"

"I took Annalise out to the movies. We stayed out late. Sorry; I would have come sooner but my phone died."

"Forget it; I just want to get back to the apartment. I smell like soup."

I'd just been happy to get into the Angry Wombat and squeal off to the apartment. I'd felt like crap from arguing with Lena the night before. She had really sounded mad at me. I didn't want her to be mad at me, considering I'd been defending her honor. That guy had some serious mismatched nuts if he continued to come around. It wasn't like I was going to let him, either.

I laid now in bed, staring at the alarm clock as it blinked nine o'clock in red digitized numbers. It wasn't sounding the alarm, but it didn't have to; I wanted to throw it against the wall just for existing.

I dragged myself to my feet and shuffled myself into the kitchen. It's not like I had anything to get up for; my classes weren't until later and I had no plans. I'd stopped having plans after my second arrest. Johnny was busy, Joe was busy, Lane was usually busy, and Lena was usually mad.

"You said in the voicemail Johnny got arrested too," Joe said, crinkling a bag of animal crackers from the dining table. "Who came to pick him up?"

"Christy came and got him," I yawned, and dug in the fridge for a yogurt. "We made our peace; he said he'll be back in a couple days. He was staying with Missy and Christy."

"And Lane got busted too?"

"Yeah."

"Lena came and got him, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Surprised she didn't come and bail you out too."

"She was kind of mad at me. I guess I wasn't supposed to beat on Travis."

"Why not? I thought the guy was a jerk and she hated him anyway."

"He is," I agreed. "I guess beating him up usually encourages him to bother Lena. I don't know; she didn't really explain herself before leaving me alone in a cold jail cell."

"She's a girl; she doesn't have to explain herself. You did it; can't take that back. I think the guy deserved it myself. And you said you and Johnny made up?"