Big And Bad (Book Two)

Chapter One

 'Paint It Black' by Ciara played on the radio as I drove into Rose's neighborhood. Candy sang along. She glanced at the half moon and then at me. Three minutes later, I parked in front of Rose's light purple house. 

 We got out of my car and walked to the front door. I rang the doorbell. A middle aged dark skinned man in bright green pajamas opened the door. He smiled when he saw Candy.

 "Hey, baby." 

 "Hey, daddy," Candy said, hugging the man.

 "I'm so happy to see you. Come in."

The man stepped aside to let me and Candy walk into the house. I closed the front door behind us. When I turned around, Candy and her father were looking at me. Candy touched my arm and glanced back at her father.

"Daddy, this is my boyfriend."

"How you doin', Candace's boyfriend? I'm Cosmo," Cosmo said, reaching his hand out.

I shook it. "The name's Brandon. And I'm alright."

"Rose is still at Maplé's house. Do you two want to watch a movie?"

"Yeah."

All three of us sat on the dark green couch. Cosmo turned the tv on and played a movie called 'The Break In'. We watched a bedroom window get smashed onscreen. Then, a woman in that bedroom screamed. 

 Wow. How the hell did this robber sneak into the bedroom on the second floor of the house? I expected the woman to get shot, but she fell down the stairs instead. Either way, she was dead.

I was surprised to see her alive in the next scene at the hospital. Damn. She must've been the final girl. Candy gasped.

"How did she survive that?"

"I don't know. It's a miracle," Cosmo said.

As we watched the woman leave the hospital, Cosmo's green frog iPhone rang. He got up and walked out of the room. I scooted closer to Candy. She leaned on me. I wrapped my arm around her.

During the commercial break, the front door opened. A dark skinned woman with pink curly hair came in. She looked at us with her mouth wide open. When she approached us, she looked right into my eyes. I looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.

What the hell was she doing?

"Hi, mama," Candy said smiling.

The woman took her attention off me. "Hey, Candy. Who's this handsome stranger?"

"This is my boyfriend."

The woman smiled at me. A sparkly silver rose pinned to her dark blue bodycon dress caught my attention. Oh my God. I smiled at my realization.

"I'm Brandon. What's your name?"

"It's Rose," she said.

 Rose sat on the couch next to Candy and hugged her. Then, she shook my hand. Thank God, there was no full moon out tonight. I didn't want Rose to be afraid of me. 

 "You and Cosmo remind me of a couple characters from a cartoon."

 "Which one?" Rose asked.

 "I don't remember the title, but it's on Nickelodeon."

 "Okay. Thank you."

 "No problem."

 She laughed. Just then, the movie came back on. Right at the part where the woman was having nightmares about the robber. Cosmo came back, and sat next to Rose. 

 He held her hand as the woman's paranoia continued. Halfway through the movie, the woman got arrested for a murder she didn't commit. I wished I brought popcorn with me. Just as the woman was about to bust out of jail, the lights and tv turned off. 

 Damn it.