Keeping Up With the Wind: A 'Burban Tale by Suleyma Moon

15.

            I was caught off guard and stumbled back, almost tripping down the stairs, when Whisper's front door flew open. Her frazzled expression turned to surprise when she saw me.

            "Is this you using the front door? What's really going on? Why were you trying to beat it down?"

            "What? I just rang the bell a few times. You didn't answer."

            "Like hell you did! I thought you were the police." She stepped aside. "Come in."

            Whisper had gotten a lot done since the last time I was there. Everything was off of the shelves and scattered around on the floor, half wrapped in newspaper.

            "I just rang the doorbell," I repeated, still in a daze, and scanned the room.

            " 'Fraid not, honey. I really did think the cops were tryna bust in. You know, because of Shadow and all." She stepped back and gave me a once over. "Hey, what's your problem, anyway?" 

            I glanced at her absentmindedly and walked into the kitchen. She followed. This room was much neater, since we had finished packing it up the night before. I sat down at the table and played with its only candle, wondering how we had forgotten to pack it.

            "I just saw Shadow," I said slowly and looked at Whisper. She had her back to me, but I saw her stiffen.

            "Do you want any...anything to drink?" She tossed me a Sundance before I could even answer. Then she took out a half empty bottle of Peppermint Schnapps and smiled guiltily over at me. "Well, I tried." She shrugged.

            Just the other day Whisper had been so proud of herself, bragging about how she hadn't had a drink in almost two weeks. I hated to be the one to bring her another reason to start again.

            Not being able to find a glass, "...doesn't taste the same out of plastic cups, anyway," she took a long swig from the bottle and sat across from me.

            I looked at the unlit candle. She tossed me a lighter, reading my mind. Even when I was little, I had always loved to light fires. Not big fires, but small controlled ones. You know, candles, incense, hairspray, joints...

            "Just don't burn my house down," she said as I lit the candle, blew it out and then lit it again. Whisper took another swig. "Well?"

            I looked up to find her staring at me intently. "Oh yeah." I had forgotten that I was in the middle of a story. "Shadow was down at the spot."

            "Uh-huh."

            "And Ace, Blaze and Spider were there."

            "Yeah," she was getting impatient.

            "Last night Ace and Blaze got in a fight with some of Johnny's friends and his brother. That's the story they never told us when they came over here." I played with the candle for a minute. "Shadow's in serious trouble now."

            "I know."

            "You do? How?"

            "Word travels fast." She took another drink, then put the bottle down and looked me in the eye. "Johnny's cousin came by looking for him."

            "For Johnny?" That didn't sound likely.

            "I know! What the hell? Like I'm gonna know where that son of a...no wait." She giggled, finally getting a little tipsy three-quarters of a bottle later. "He was looking for my friend Johnny." I knew that she meant he was looking for Shadow, so I let her go on with the story before she forgot it. "I told the idiot I hadn't seen him. He told me to tell Shadow to watch his back because everyone was looking for him. By everyone, I assumed he meant the cops, too. Of course they would only go after Shadow, being a menace and all, and with Johnny's parents being peanuts of the community."