Person of Interest

Chapter 13: Friends

Your POV:

I didn't end up having time to go back home before my shift, but luckily I always kept a spare change of clothes in my locker at the bar. It was too late to go home and too early to work, so I just kind of meandered aimlessly around the area for a few minutes, loosing myself in my thoughts.

"'Ey! 'Ey Birdie, over 'ere!"

I was pulled out of my musings when a familiar voice hailed me from the nearest alleyway, an immediate smile pulling at my lips when I looked up to see the source.

"Ramona! Blue!" I greeted warmly as I approached the two elderly ladies nestled comfortably in the crevasse between buildings. A makeshift hearth crackled passively in a punctured oil drum in front of them, illuminating their bundled forms. "What are you two scoundrels up to this afternoon?"

"Don'tcha know dis song 'n' dance by now, birdie?" Ramona asked in response, smiling slyly up at me as I came to a stop in front of them. "Gotta pay da toll fer info 'round 'ere."

I rolled my eyes, but smiled as she opened her arms and tapped her cheek. I acquiesced, bending to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek and doing the same for Blue before settling down cross legged on their mat. "Well hello to you too, ladies," I quipped lightly.

Blue and Ramona had been my very first friends when I arrived in New York three months prior with nothing but my clothes and my name. At my lowest possible point, they'd given me what little they could, providing me with shelter, food, and friends; the fact that I was still breathing was ultimately thanks to them. No matter how many times the old girls brushed off my gratitude, I still felt indebted to them for that.

"Dat's bettah," Ramona chuckled in her brooklyn drawl. Blue didn't say anything in greeting, but that was okay; her smile always said enough. 

"Now." Ramona crossed her arms and settled back against the wall with a carefree air. "Ya gonna spill r'what?"

I knew exactly what she meant, but I masked my discomfort with a dismissive smile. "Oh, just the usual-"

"Now Don'tcha give us any a' dat nonsense," Ramona cut me off with a spark in her suddenly serious eyes. Blue nodded in agreement as she continued. "Jus' cut da shit 'n' tell us wha's gotcha in such a tizzy, shugah."

Welp. No getting out of this, I suppose. "...Alright. But I'll warn you, it's a lot," I relented. Blue silently reached forward and patted my knee.

"Ain't got nothin' but time, birdie," Said Ramona.

Over the next thirty minutes, the ladies listened intently as I relayed my ordeal. Despite her loquacious personality, Ramona was uncharacteristically somber while I spoke, only interrupting once or twice to clarify things. Blue, on the other hand, never showed the slightest hint of distress or concern. In fact, she hardly stirred at all, staying as still and static as any work of chiseled marble. It had taken me an entire week of knowing her to see that she wasn't actually as withdrawn as she seemed, and now I didn't even have to look at her to know that the discerning light in her wizened eyes was trained keenly on me. I wouldn't have looked anyway of course; Blue always had odd reservations when it came to eye contact.

Eventually I finished my story, not really looking at either of them by the end.

"...And that's it. Here we are," I said with a tired sigh. As loathe as I was to relive those memories, I was relieved to have gotten it all off my chest.

Ramona sat back and whistled lowly. "Tha'sa helluva yarn, birdie. What're ya gonna do?"

"I have no idea," I admitted sadly, still looking at the ground as tears began to sting at the corners of my eyes. "If I fight, he'll win. If I hide, he'll find me." My breathing began picking up as I spoke more rapidly. "I don't want to run away again, Ramona, I-I just can't. I c-can't do it again, It's too- ow!"

My eyes shot to Blue's serene expression as she calmly laid her cane back at her side. I rubbed my now throbbing forehead with a scowl. "What was that for?!" I demanded indignantly.

"Now you jus' listen 'ere, lil' lady,"  Ramona barked sternly, bringing my attention back to her. "This ain't da same ting. Yer in a tight place, butcha ain't da same whippet of a gal as ya were back den."

"B-But Ramona-"

"No buts about it!" She snapped. "Yer not runnin' this time, yer fightin'!"

I resisted the urge to argue and nodded my head tiredly. Both lady's eyes softened significantly as I continued to struggle quietly with myself.

"Y'know what? Here."

At Ramona's prompt, I looked to see that she was holding out what looked like some sort of cigarette, crudely rolled in a pinch of brown paper. It took me a couple moments of staring to identify dusty blue substance encased in the wrapping. 

"Ramona! Is that what I think it is?!" I gasped, recoiling a bit from the echo flower joint in her weathered hand. "Y-You know those are illegal for humans!"

"Ey now, dis is strictly fer healin'!" Ramona protested as Blue tried to hide her chuckles behind an admonishing glare at her friend. "Helps wit da arthritis! N' besides..." her eyes turned sly, "I betcha could do wit a lil' stress relief, ey?"

I shook my head, unsure. "I don't know..."

"Aw c'mon honey, live a little! I bet ya never smoked a thing in your life." She paused to bat Blue's hands away as the silent woman irrately batted at her shoulder. "Loosen up!"

I hesitated, but eventually relented, delicately plucking the proffered joint from Ramona's palm and zipping it into an empty pocket in my purse.

"Bwa-heh! Dere ya go! welcome t'da dark side, birdie!" Ramona hooted, leaning over onto an irritated Blue as she cackled with mirth. I shook my head with a huff of laughter and pushed off the ground.

"I never said I would use it... but thank you anyway," I said with a grateful smile as I dusted off my jeans, "for, um... that... and for caring. It really means a lot."

Ramona waved her weathered hand in dismissal. "An'time, birdie. Now git gone, ya got that fancy job ta get ta, don'tcha?"

"That I do," I agreed in a mutter before giving them another smile and wave. "See you tomorrow, ladies!"

Before I could turn to go, I was stopped by a frail hand clamping down on my wrist. I looked back to see not Ramona's, but Blue's wrinkled fingers encircling my wrist tight enough to make me grimace. Knowing how unusual this was for her- from what I knew, Blue never touched anyone- I held my tongue and waited patiently as the silent woman leaned over to whisper to her friend.

"Uh-huh... hmm... Yup. Okay girlie," Ramona finally said when Blue pulled away after several long seconds. "Blue bird over 'ere wants me ta warn ya not ta ferget dat dis stuff's magic. Keep a clear head, y'hear?"

I blinked down at them as Blue released my wrist and sat back, satisfied that her message had been relayed. "Oh. Well, um... alright then, I'll see you later," I said, chuckling awkwardly as I turned to go.

As always, I felt their stares on my back until I was out of sight.

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