Coffin of Hope

Chapter Eight

Mal knocked on Marcy's door. "Hey? Can we talk?"

Marcy opened the door, brushing her hair. "What?"

"Are you going to bed this early?"

"No. Why?"

"You're brushing your hair. You only do that in the morning, at night or when you're upset. Are you upset?"

"No."

"Then I'm confused."

"You'll be fine. What do you want? I'm busy."

"I wanted to talk about us going home-"

"Mal,-"

"You promised."

"I don't remember that."

"You said-"

"Nothing. You asked and I said nothing."

He frowned. "But when I told Mom, you didn't say anything. In fact; you said that if you were stuck with us, Mike had to be, too."

"I didn't want to step foot back in Ohio."

"Me either. I left the day of graduation and haven't been back since."

"How is what you did different than what Mikey and I did?"

"Because I told them beforehand and everyone knew where I was! I didn't just leave in the middle of the night or during a ceremony for me! I let them know and I kept my phone to answer it when they call!"

Marcy shifted. "Call Papa Mike."

"What? No. What?"

"Yes. Call Papa Mike. If what you did was so much better than what we did, if you're so much better than us, call your father."

His nostrils flared. "I never said I was better than you!"

"I stayed!" She mimicked his deep voice.

He turned around to pace a bit. "I hate when you do that. You only forget what you want to forget."

"That's not true. I wanted to forget you."

He turned to view her. She looked sad. His energy sapped out. "I'm not trying to be a jerk but we're going home. I promised Mom and I don't break my promises."

"To your mother."

"What?"

"You said you don't break promises and I just finished your sentence. To your mother. Because you damn sure broke your promises to me."

"How?!" He leaned forward with a thunderous frown.

The doorbell rang. She looked to the door but he couldn't care less.

"I don't care if it's Cynthia! You're going to tell me what you mean by that!"

"It's not Cynthia. At least if it is, she won't be alone." She walked out.

He followed her. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

She opened the door. "Hi, Bryan."

The taller-than-Marcy-but-shorter-than-Mal Dominican man smiled back at her. "Hello, beautiful."

"Who is he?!" Mal was irate.

"Hi." Bryan held his hand out but Mal just glared at him. "I'm Bryan. Marceline Anne's date."

Mal could have been knocked out with a feather. "What?!"

"Don't wait up." Marcy tried to push Bryan out but Mal pulled on her arm.