While in Verona

Chapter Nineteen: The End Times

 It was Tabitha's turn to do the grocery shopping. Entering the nearest grocery store, Tabitha looked back out the front window to see Alister standing under one of the eaves to keep away from falling heaves of snow. The bright Christmas lights lit him up as New Year's decoration littered the ground under his feet.

Turning away, Tabitha walked through the grocery store carrying a basket. She liked the feeling of being independent, doing things on her own. No assistant doing it for her. By the time she got to the register with a basket full of items, she had to launch her basket onto the counter with swings before. Miranda's clothes stretched, Tabitha was just skinny enough to fit into the small woman's clothes.

Today was a RollingStone t-shirt and a pair of worn-out jeans, an old peacoat, and a purple flannel from Alister. It was large, the sleeves went past her wrists. Soft and thick, to keep away the bite of a January day. The New Year's and Christmas decorations were still up, illuminating the streets and lighting them up with flashes of light from the pine tree a few blocks away.

She checked out of the store and walked outside to see Coen and Davis talking.

Davis shook his head."Nope, you got your girl to fall in love with you. That means you won, fair and square. So keep the cash."

The bags slipped from her hands, making the two boys look over at her. Something clogged up her throat as her eyes stung. She saw Coen look at her with dread in his eyes before she only saw through her tears.

"Sunshine-" she shook her head and walked in the other direction. "Tabitha, wait!" She could hear snow crunching as he got closer to her. He caught up to her and grabbed her shoulders. "Wait, I can explain."

She pushed him off of her and looked up at him, fists clenched at her sides. "You know, I knew it was too good to be true. I mean," she said. "Who would want to be with a high-class snob, right?"

"No, that's not it," he tried to reason.

"They warned me about you, they all did. And I defended you," she said. She felt the sharp tingling of cold spreading through her fingers. She looked away from his eyes and folded her arms over her freezing hands.

"Let's go inside and talk this over," he suggested. "Please."

She shook her head. "No. I'm done. I thought I was taking a leap of faith, but I was just being naive. It was my fault." She walked past him. "We're done."

For a moment, he let her past. She had gotten a few meters away from him when he spoke. "Where will you go? You aren't going to your parents, are you?"

She shouted back, "I have other people besides you." Continuing to walk away, she held back the sobs until she got into the taxi. She told her the address. It was so brief that she didn't notice until later of the heartbreak in Coen's eyes.

The taxi pulled up to the house and Tabitha climbed out. She paid the driver and turned to face the two-story house. Painted slate blue with white trim, along the side of the house was a path to the door.

She knocked on the door, hearing a dog bark from inside. No one was home.

Reaching for her pocket, she remembered she wasn't supposed to start feeding the dog until the weekend. So no key.

Swearing to herself, she brought out her phone and dialed Jeriah's number.

"Bibi? What's up?"

"Do you have a spare key to your house?" She asked, trying to keep the tears from leaking into her voice.

"Yeah, it's under the mailbox. Don't you have yours?"

"No, I-" her voice trembled as she found the key. "I left it at his house."

There was a pregnant pause on the other end of the line. "What did he do?" Jeriah asked with a tense voice.

A sob wrenched its way from her throat. "He made a bet against me."

"He did what?" He yelled through the phone, making her flinch. Unlocking the door and patting the dog's head as she passed her by. Tabitha had never heard him so angry before, and it scared her. She wasn't sure what her reaction would have been

"That's it, I'm on my way- where are you?"

"I'm at your house. Can I say here?" She asked uncertainly.

She heard a sigh on the other end of the line. "Of course you can, Bibi. Come and go as you please. Use my room, even. Everything there is at your disposal."

Feeling a small smile tug at the corners of her mouth, she clutched the phone harder in her grasp. "Thanks, I owe you."

"Anytime girlie, you know that. Mom's coming, I'll let you go, okay? Sleep tight, Bibi."

"You too, say hi to your mom for me," she added.

"Will do. Bye." And with a click, the phone went dead.