CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR- Breaking and Entering (technically)
Grant and I didn't realize we didn't have the key until we were outside the apartment door. We were stuck outside, with our bags uselessly piled at the door, hoping Xavion didn't get arrested so he could return with the key.
My mind kept drifting to Chris's final moments, seeing it in my mind's eye on repeat, brutally detailed. It was comforting to at least have Grant here with me. I felt nervous still, that God was going to find out about the dead angel and come after me.
Though, He probably already knew. And there was a chance that they would be coming after me soon. I needed a rest, or something to take my mind off of all this stress.
Grant probably needed the same, because he looked close to throwing something--or himself--out of a window.
He turned to me. "Wanna play a game?"
"Like what?"
He shrugged. "Rock, paper, scissors?"
"We don't have any of those on hand, though." I pointed out.
"N--" he sighed. "They're imaginary. Anyway, you pick one and I pick one."
"Pick what?"
"Rock, paper, or scissors."
"Oh." I nodded. "I pick scissors."
Grant rolled his eyes. "No, Ishmael. You don't tell me which one you picked."
"Oh, I'll change my answer then." I lied, allowing 'scissors' to engrave in my brain as my choice.
"Great." He nodded. "Now," he formed his hand into a fist, "this means rock." Next, he held his hand flat. "Paper." He closed all of his fingers, except for the pointer and middle. "Scissors."
I held out my hand, showing off my supposed 'scissors.'
Grant groaned. "Don't show me yet! And you told me you were changing your answer."
"I lied. And this game doesn't make any sense."
"It's usually used to determine who gets to go first, or get the front seat, or who gets the last slice of pizza. It's like drawing straws but you don't need straws."
I frowned. "Drawing straws?"
"The hell did you do in heaven?"
"Not much, obviously." I shrugged.
Grant tried to explain the rules to me, explaining that we reveal our answers at the same time. And, of course, how the winner was chosen.
By the time Xavion finally joined us again, Grant was winning 10-0.
I barely took notice of Xavion, too focused on scowling at Grant. "How do you keep winning? You're cheating."
"No." He rolled his eyes, his hand forming 'rock' again. "You just won't stop selecting scissors."
"Fine. I'll change it to paper and murder your dumb rock." I smirked. "One, two, three--" I put my hand in the 'paper' position, hoping to get his rock. But, alas, Grant had scissors.
"How?!"
"You literally announced what you were gonna do." Grant deadpanned.
Xavion looked between us. "Why are you both standing out here playing rock, paper, scissors?"
Grant shrugged. "I don't have a key. I was hoping you did."
Xavion blinked before letting go a tired sigh. "Fuck. I forgot we'd need our key."
"Do you at least remember where we can find it?" I scowled, 'cause Grant and I sure don't.
"I do." He confirmed before turning around and heading back to the stairs. I followed quickly, with Grant just behind me.
I caught up and looked over Xavion's side profile. "How'd the whole get-rid-of-the-body thing go?"
"Probably not the best thing to ask in public." Xavion snorted.
"We're basically alone in this hallway." I rolled my eyes. "Right, Grant?"
"Right." Grant agreed. "Plus, I also wanna know how it went."
Xavion shrugged. "It wasn't bad. I went with the "burn in to ash in a field" route. Nice campfire heat, wish I had s'mores."
"What are s'mores?"
"You'd love them." Grant laughed. "Sweet, chocolate-y."
My eyes widened. "I want one."
"I can make you one." Xavion grinned. "I'm great at them. It's, like, a food-group in Hell."
"How come?" Grant asked. "Are they evil in any way?"
"Nah. There's just fire everywhere. How are you not going to make s'mores when you're surrounded by fire?"
Grant began to nod in understanding. "That's fair."
"First, though," Xavion grinned, "we've gotta get back in the apartment."
"Where do you think a key is?" I asked, following Xavion as we finally stepped outside of the apartment complex.
"The last place I remember having it."
...............................
Granny Gert and Jessica's house was charred black. It looked ghostly next to the other houses in the neighborhood, with it's collapsed roof and exposed frames.
The fire seemed to have done a substantial amount of damage. It certainly didn't look like a livable environment. Xavion reminded us that we left most of our stuff here during the fire, but that there was a chance that the keys survived.
Grant thought it was a lost cause, but I figured it was worth checking. At this point, trespassing seemed like a minor offense, so we just walked through the place where the front door used to be. Now it was just an eerie opening. We made our way into the house, careful not to touch anything that would bring the building's remains down on us.
We made it to the guest bedroom quickly, not wanting to linger here too long. We started looking around at the ashy, charred ground. I made out my blanket that I had brought with me here, but it was mostly burned up and blackened. I squatted there, where I had put all my belongings. I found my phone, which had a melted back and smudged-up screen.
I frowned, turning it over to observe it.
"Who the fuck is that?" A raspy voice called.
We all jumped, turning towards the door.
"Granny Gert!" My eyes widened in surprise. "What are you doing here?" I asked, feeling my heart slowly calm as I realized there wasn't any danger.
"Ah, shit." Grant frowned. "Did we make you homeless on accident?"
Granny scoffed. "Homeless? Psh. This is just where I go to get away from Jessica's annoying nag-fest." She narrowed her eyes on us. "What are you lot doin' here?"
Xavion shrugged, going back to search through the rubble. "Looking for the key to our apartment."
"We promise not to be in your hair too long." I assured.
"Eh." She shrugged, puffing a breathful of smoke into the air. "I don't give a fuck. I forgive ya. You burned down my house, but hey. I burned down John O'lay's in the 8th grade, so I guess it's just my karma catching up to me."
We kept digging around as Granny Gert watched us with mild interest.
"By key," Granny Gert spoke, sucking in the smoke of her cigarette, "you wouldn't happen to mean, like, the one that has your apartment number on it? The one y'all left here?"
"Yeah." Xavion raised an eyebrow at her.
"It's in the kitchen area." She shrugged. "I've been using it to open my beers."
"Couldn't have told us that a few seconds ago?" Xavion grumbled, standing to dust off his pants.
Granny Gert rolled her eyes. "I had to figure out if I wanted to keep it or not.." She walked away for a moment, before returning with the key. "Here ya go, now get the hell outta my house before you manage to burn it down again."
"Technically," Xavion corrected, more joking than serious, "we didn't burn it down."
"Technically, I'm gonna beat your asses."
We waved our goodbyes to Granny as we left, back on our way to the apartment. To our luck, our stuff was still all there by the door when we arrived. Grant had been worried that someone would steal it, but Xavion insisted we didn't have anything worth stealing.
Grant jammed the key into the lock. I held my breath, worried that it wouldn't work for a moment. After a turn, the apartment door popped open. I walked into the space, finding a broken chair and the kitchen still a mess. My couch still sat in the living room, the pillows, sheets, and blankets were draped over it. No weird, unknown stains or drug-addicted grandmothers. Just Grant, Xavion, me, and home.
It was the most relief I've felt in my life.
Being inside these walls felt like the ultimate shield, even if it wasn't necessarily the safest place. The pieces of chair scattering the entrance were a testament to that. Even so, I felt a weight slip off my shoulders.
I went to plop back down on my couch, but Xavion winded his arm around my waist. "Just stay in my room. There's no need to go back to the couch."
Part of me wanted to return to the comfort of the couch, but the other part of me felt my chest squeeze at the thought of staying with Xavion. In his bed. Alone.
It didn't take much convincing from me. I nodded my head and let him lead me down the right hallway, down to where his room was located.
Grant made a noise of disgust behind us. "I better not hear anything weird."
I rolled my eyes and snorted. I hadn't even thought of doing anything like that. But... now that Grant mentioned it... I looked up and down Xavion, remembering the acceleration of each kiss he pressed against my mouth. I found myself suddenly yearning for that kind of distraction.
"I promise not to make sounds... too weird." I said, not very convincingly.
Xavion smirked. "I make no promises."
"I'm going to take a nap that will hopefully erase this entire day from my existence. If I see you later and remember anything, you'll know that I've failed." Grant pivoted away, down the hallway to his room.
Xavion led us into the other room and threw his arms out. "Ah, home sweet home!"
His room was cleaner than I was expecting. His bed had black sheets and simple furniture set up around the room. I wasn't quite tired yet, so I just set my things down and lightly sat on the bed, feeling slightly awkward.
I looked over at him as he took his shirt off, throwing it across the room before settling in bed. I slowly laid down next to him and bit my lip. I leaned forward and pecked him on the lips. "I was really scared you were gonna die."
He smiled softly. "Not as scared as I was."
I rolled my eyes.
"I was so scared." He repeated, more earnestly, "that you were going to die. Or be taken away. Or something else after I was gone and unable to protect you."
I felt a flutter in my chest and leaned forward for another kiss. This one was more deep and insistent. He tasted minty, making me wonder when he last brushed his teeth. Was his mouth always just minty?
He leaned over me as the kiss grew more intense. I felt a growingly-familiar heat down in my stomach. I pulled away quickly while I had the courage, holding his face in my hands. "Uh-- Xavion. We really didn't go every-which-way the last time we-- I was wondering if-- how?"
"What Ishmael?" Xavion asked, snorting in amusement.
"Wanna bang?" I asked, trying not to wince at the wording. "I don't think my soul can get any darker at this point. And I kinda just want to be... with you completely right now."