Mr. Tan

Chapter 24: The Aftermath (Ice In His Veins)

Since Earl and I stayed up real late making love, I over slept and missed school. When I awoke it was 1:45 in the afternoon and I was still naked and half tangled in the rumpled sheets of the sofa bed. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and stretched my arms expecting Earl to still be laying beside me, only to realize that he was gone. His clothing was no longer on the floor beside the bed so I assumed he must have gotten up and went to work while I was still sleeping. I got up from the sofa bed, wrapped myself in the sheet, let Duke outside to do his business, fed him and took a long and cold shower. I wasn't too hungry, so I lit a lose cigarette that I found on the coffee table and made a pot of strong coffee. I watched TV, and drank coffee till 3:00. At 3:00 , it was time for Duke's walk. I put on my blue denim jacket and white sneakers, and took his red leash out of my room.

"Come on, Duke, baby. Time for your walk", I called out.

Duke was always excited about taking his walks. He came bouncing around a corner with his tail wagging and jumping around. I hooked him up to his leash and grabbed a box of beef flavored treats from under the sink and off we went, taking our usual route down the shady and paved main road that led through the trailer park. I shaded my eyes with my hand from the blinding afternoon sunlight as I spotted Adrian walking down the path in my direction. Since it was pretty warm outside, she wore a pair of blue denim capri pants and a green graphic tee. She had her backpack and a white hoodie tied around her slender waist. Her sleek and shiny hair was pulled back in it's usual ponytail. We both waved as we saw each other.

"Hey, girl", she called. I didn't see you in school today, so I was headed to your place to see how you were doing.

"Yeah, I kinda overslept, big time", I replied.

"Over slept?!", she exclaimed. That doesn't sound like you, up all night doing homework?

"Not quite", I replied, scratching the back of my neck.

"You look tired", she replied. What were you up all night for?

I didn't really feel like telling her. I lead Duke on his leash beside me, as we walked and talked further down the road.

"Come on, what's wrong?", she asked, elbowing me in the side.

"Nothing, okay! Let's just drop it! How was school?!", I snapped.

Adrian stopped for a second and held her hands up.

"Girl, chill out", she replied. I was just curious about why you missed school today. You missed a huge fight that took place in the cafeteria, other than that, nothing interesting happened. Something's wrong, out with it.