The Seven Day Gangster

Chapter 8

I swallowed deeply, trying to regain my breath.

“I-I couldn’t sleep,” I said truthfully, looking down at my feet.

“You couldn’t sleep?” Nathan’s voice sounded a little incredulous. “Even after all the shit that happened today?”

I shrugged. “I just have a hard time sleeping in general. I’m kind of an insomniac. I just stay up doing whatever until I get tired, which is usually really late.”

Nathan mulled this over in the dark. He stared at me for a moment then looked down, finally deciding that I wasn’t trying to make a run for it.

We stood there quietly for a second, both of us looking cautiously at the other through the darkness.

He cleared his throat finally. “Yeah, I don’t sleep either.”

I was surprised that he was even talking to me. After the conversation, no, after the argument we had earlier, I wouldn’t be surprised if he started ignoring me.

I looked up and thought about what he had just said. “Oh. So what do you do here?”

Nathan shrugged, a nightlight nearby glinting in his eyes. “Whatever the hell I can that won’t make me bored. Read, watch TV, listen to music, eat fajitas. I don’t know, whatever comes to mind.”

I nodded. Then I realized what he had said. “Fajitas? You make fajitas?” I never pegged him as the cooking type at all.

Nathan smirked and shook his head. “No, I eat them, not cook them. There’s this small café down the street that makes the fucking greatest fajitas. I go there a lot.”

I had never actually gone out at night; it was far too dangerous, even for me. But honestly, Nathan’s way of spending time was actually a lot more fun; it would cool going through Downtown at night.

Much to my embarrassment, my stomach growled loudly at the mention of fajitas. I guess the Mongolian Beef I had earlier hadn’t cut it.

I shoved my stomach in with my hand, feeling my face burn. I mentally cursed my never-ending appetite.

Nathan smirked then glanced briefly at his phone.

“It’s 1 am,” he informed me. “What time do you crash usually?”

“I guess at like 3 or 4. But since I don’t have school, I can probably keep going until like 5 or so. I don’t know, it all depends, really.”

Nathan nodded then shoved his hands into his pockets. “Well alright then, you can come with me I guess.” He checked his watch then turned away towards the foyer, gesturing briefly with his finger for me to follow.

I was shocked into silence. Go where? I stared after his retreating figure for a second, and then jogged up until I was walking a little behind him.

“Uh, so where are we going?” I asked, a little nervously. I had to walk two steps for his every one, so I was pretty out of breath when we reached the front door.

“Fajitas,” he said shortly, unlocking the door’s handles then pulling them open. A gust of cold air flew in and I shivered in my inadequate clothes.

Nathan looked over at me, finally noticing what I was wearing. He sighed then reached over and grabbed a sweatshirt out of a nearby closet. He tossed it over and I reflexively extended my hands to grab it.

“Fajitas? Uh, why?” I asked, pulling on the oversized hoodie. I slid into my dark converse then quickly followed Nathan out into the night.

He stopped abruptly and turned around, raising his eyebrows. “You don’t want fajitas?”