VEINS

CHAPTER 2: LOST AND FOUND

CHAPTER 2: LOST AND FOUND

Laguna Beach had it's perks and downsides just like any other town. I know TV and books glamorize parts of California, but the sun went down there was also no denying that a lot of sketchy things go down if you mess with the wrong person or go down the wrong street on any particular night.

Sunset Cove Villas was a small inn and had a diner on the walkway close to within walking radius of where we lived. Lucky for me, mom was such a private person she had dad build us a small condo right off the side of the business, closest to the shoreline and boardwalks where a few small bars and shoppes lined the walkways where a lot of tourists would come to visit.

Funny that the place had such a cheery name when you think about drug activity and semi gang life surrounding bad parts along with my brother who was clearly no stranger to the drug scene. Sometimes, when you looked at the situation from a birds eye view and more compassion, it wasn't hard to see why my brother ran away from reality instead of running towards it. When my father left, that had been one of the darkest periods in our lives and there was no denying that.

Fishing around in my pocket for my house keys was a task all on it's own, but to my dismay, digging further I realized my iPhone wasn't in my grasp like it usually was by now. "Have you seen my phone?" I demanded, my time a bit harsher than intended.

Evan's blue eyes searched mine with wonder. "Yeah, I stole it." He spewed his usual sarcasm. Realizing when I asked him that it sounded accusation filled, guilt washed over me. When you were an addict, if something came up missing you were the first one blamed for it.

"You know I didn't mean it like that." I reassured him, putting one hand on his shoulder.

I mentally tried to retrace my steps from this morning while we entered the door, receiving mental images of where I last remember me holding my phone in my hand.

"Damn it," I hissed under my breath.

"What?" Evan wondered, around a mouth full of Frosted Flakes he had scooped out of the box with his hands.

Rolling my eyes, to his surprise, I didn't yell at my brother to get a bowl, but spun around and marched back to my car. "Don't get in any trouble!" Old habits die hard. Even though he was my older brother, I swear in a past life I had been the older sibling barking orders at him.

Making a mental note to treat him less harshly, I pulled out of the driveway hell bent on getting my phone back. Hell bent on finding the handsome stranger who probably saw it last.

When I reached my previous location, I turned off my ignition and sighed in aggravation. The heat still hadn't died down, but luckily I could afford to keep my air conditioning running a bit longer.

His car was gone.

Inside the AA meeting building, things immediately felt sterile and somber. Then again, these types of places weren't exactly full of sunshine and rainbows. If you didn't have a problem going in, you might have one after a visit with the depressing tones and hues of this place.

My body shuttered in response. The front desk woman looked about as enthusiastic as a pile of rocks. "Excuse me." I mustered my most pleasing tone of voice. You had to kill these types of people with kindness, although judging from her expression maybe the word kind wasn't in her DNA.

She was a well rounded black woman with no sign of cheering up any time soon, who barely glanced up from her computer to be of service to me. "Do you have a lost and found box? I lost my phone." I explained, trying to keep the nice demeanor going.

See what I mean? I had noticed places like this made you dull and sucked the soul out of you. "Yeah, but I wouldn't hold your breath, girl. If it was there, someone probably pawned it for drug money by now." The tone and skepticism dripping in her voice was only proving my theory to be true.