Remnants of Evil

7

The familiar scent of overpriced alcohol and sweaty tourists filled my nose. I could say I was happy to be back at work, but that'd be a lie. I wasn't looking forward to having to deal with gross men, having to deal with their bitchy wives, having to deal with sloppy drunks who didn't know how to keep their alcohol down. The only good thing was that Kevin was scheduled to show up a half hour after me.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up." I turned from the glasses I had been putting away, a smile growing on my face as I saw Kevin standing in the doorway of the kitchen. His facial hair had grown a surprising amount in the week I hadn't seen him, the combo of the beard and his long hair making him the perfect mesiah.

"Since when does Jesus work in a bar?"

He chuckled, grabbing a bottle of Merlot from under the bar. "How could I turn water into wine and not work in a bar?" He filled two glasses, passing one over to me. "Did you and Aristos figure everything out?"

"I guess you could say that." Kevin raised an eyebrow, forming an 'o' with one hand and stuck the pointer finger of his opposite hand through it. He laughed as I slapped his shoulder.

"Really though, you look way better. Healthy and shit."

"Been off the shit for a week now, you made me think through everything."

We finished our glasses of wine, watching the light outside fade as the hours passed by, only a few customers coming in. An hour before closing the bell rung, bringing my attention to an obviously fucked up Scott and the equally fucked blonde attached to his side.

Scott directed her to a booth before heading over to the bar, nodding a greeting to Kevin, then turning his attention to me. "Ya already know what I want, uh, lemme get a dirty martini for the shawty." I poured him his shot of tequila, watching his throw it back as I started on the martini.

"She comin' over tonight?"

"If errything goes right."

"If y'all get loud jus' expect some competition."

"Gross ass," he laughed, setting $10 on the bar before taking the drink back to the table.

He ordered a few more shots for them, shooting me a thumbs up as they walked out. Kevin and I hurried to get finished cleaning up, doing nose goes to see who had to count inventory

"Who was that lil' thottie Scott has with him?" Kevin asked from his spot on the floor, not looking up from the paper he was marking.

"No idea, he's just fuckin n' dumpin," I rolled my eyes, undoing my half apron and tossing it in the laundry bin. "Last bitch was something else."

"Was she the one who called you jealous?"

"He told you 'bout that?"

He nodded. "Also told me that you were bragging about being able to ride his dick whenever you wanted."

"Jesus Christ," I scoffed, "y'know he's joking right? Ari's the only one I've been with and I'm planning on keeping it that way."

He finished up counting, following me out, flicking off the lights and locking the door. We made our way across the poorly lit parking lot to Kevin's beat up silver Oldsmobile. His phone started going off as soon as he turned it on, settling in the grey leather seat before opening it and checking the messages.

The smile on his face dropped as he read through whatever had been sent to him, the phone illuminating the solitary tear trailing down his cheek.

"What's up?" He just shook his head in response, starting up the car and pulling out of the parking lot.

The drive home was silent, only broken once we'd pulled up to the curb in front of my house.

"I love you Kev. Will you text me later?"

He pulled me into a hug, "I love you too, I'll message soon."

Ari was standing in the kitchen, staring at a pan filled with some unidentifiable, blackened substance. His trance was broken as I wrapped my arms around him from behind, a sigh of defeat escaping past his lips.

"I wanted to be thoughtful and shit n' make you "first-day-back-at-work" dinner, but I got caught up smokin' a blunt with Scott and his bitch n' forgot about it until the smoke detectors went off."

"What was it supposed to be?" I pulled away, using a fork to poke at the charred remains.

"I was tryna make lasagna."

"You're so sweet baby," I kissed his cheek, bringing a smile back to his face. "How about we order pizza?"

"Deal."