Heaven (new version)

chapter 22: a penny for luck

Purgatory was never a place Sina liked but he knew there was nowhere else to go. Last night's dreams were far from a faded blur. Every time he blinked, he saw Bel and his father. In the whispers behind the wind, he heard them both. Neither of their conversations had put him at ease. He missed Bel and seeing her hurt his heart. When she floated away, he wanted to take off with her whenever she was going. When the Devil appeared, it felt like a stab in the throat. His father was a stain beneath his skin that he could not wash off.

Sina needed alcohol and there was nothing left at Cookie's house. He thought about taking a fistful of Xanax but came to the conclusion that if the pills didn't kill him, Aunt May would when she found her bottle empty.

Leaning against the DJ booth, he looked through the throng of people and saw Joni sitting on the far side of the bar talking to her husband. Making a face, Sina pondered who he hated more. Her, daddy dearest, or Ariel.

Cody looked up from his wife and caught Sina shaking his head before sticking his tongue out.

Joni followed her husband's gaze. She arched her head over the other patrons and as she did, her blonde ponytail swayed. When she saw who it was, she rolled her eyes and looked back at Cody.

Sina eyed the California-blonde hair. He remembered when it used to be blue with neon pink tips. Joni – though he never liked her – was actually fun back then when Sina and her were both too drunk or too high to recall that they weren't friends.

Vanilla, he mouthed just before Cody's gaze returned to his wife. "She's become vanilla. No. Worse than vanilla," he grumbled to himself. "She's toast. Burnt dry toast with nothing on top. No butter. No honey. Simply dried toast." With a mocking roll of his own eyes, he pushed himself off the booth and decided he was going to walk up to Joni and tell her just how vanilla and toast-like she was. Yet three footsteps in, Sina saw her plant a kiss on Cody's cheek and then get up to leave. "Oh, you just wait until next time." Crossing his arms he watched her and her Cali girl hair exit Purgatory.

A flicker of the bright lights outside entered as Joni left. The rogue light sparkled momentarily on a dropped penny that Sina was able to see even at that distance. Ain't good luck to anyone who picks it up here, he thought. So he turned his back on the penny and headed to the bar to drown himself away.

Saturday night brought in quite a crowd yet Sina couldn't remember the last time he danced on a Saturday. Not since that mer-freak with his sexy bod and his sexy hair had come to poison the place.

Sina needed enough drinks to forget his dreams, the thoughts of the preacher, and the whole world. But no amount would change the fact that as of tomorrow he'd be homeless once again.

Aunt May's bus would arrive in Heaven at six AM. Cookie would be driving to the station to pick her up. It would take half an hour there and back. Sina had already packed up his stuff and was ready to leave at stupid o'clock. He wanted to be gone way before May came waltzing back home in a huff about all the money she'd lost. If she were to see him there, he'd be the one she would blame for her bad luck. I'm like the penny on the floor of Purgatory. Sina frowned and stopped a few feet away from the bar to watch Cody filling beer from the tap.

Everyone sitting at the bar had their back to Cody and were watching the stage, so Sina's gaze followed theirs.

Ariel (or Damon as he had once mentioned with a casual toss of his perfect hair and an arrogant lift of his brow) had clambered up the stripper's pole. Once at the top, he clasped his legs around it and arched so far back it looked unnatural. All that long mermaid hair sparkled with glitter. Under the lights, he was awe-inspiring to everyone looking – everyone but one dark-haired, non-glittery, unhappy Sina.