Little Surprises
Goddamn. My fucking head is hurting like crazy. I look over to my side to see if Elicia’s still sleeping. There’s no one there. I guess she got up to eat or something. I should meet her downstairs. I take a quick glance in the mirror to see how I look. My eyes have cleared up and my color is back. Nothing a good night’s sleep couldn’t fix. Once I’m downstairs I try to listen for any signs of Fireheart. So far, nothing. Weird. I wonder what she’s up to. I move over to the fridge to get some Arizona. Why? Because I said so, that’s why. When I closed the door Elicia appeared out of nowhere with a big-ass smile on her face. Her sudden presence nearly made me jump back in surprise. Why is she staring at me like that? “Um... hello?”
“Do you know what day it is?”
“February second?”
“No. Today’s my birthday. I thought I told you.”
“Well, you didn’t. You’ve only known me a couple days. Nothing even related to that topic has come up yet. Oh, and happy birthday by the way.”
I honestly had no idea today was her birthday. I wonder what her age is. “So,” I said, “how old are you?”
“Fifteen. I was kinda wondering if we could just hang out here today. You know, since it’s my birthday and all.”
“That’s alright with me. Wanna get cake first?”
Right after I said that I hear someone knocking on the door. I wonder who could that be. As if anyone else would enjoy my company, although I didn’t expect her to be here so early. Or uninvited. I opened the door to see Tess with an eager look on her face. “Did someone say cake?” she asked with a smile. For some reason she’s always had a fixation on cake. Every time someone mentions the word she slips into some child-like mentality. I have no idea why. Maybe her parents don’t let her eat sweets or something. As usual she walks in without waiting for me to welcome her in. She looks around the kitchen like a hungry dog searching for scraps and looks at me with a nasty scowl. “I thought you said you had cake.”
“No I didn’t you stupid prick. I was asking Elicia if she wanted cake because it’s her birthday. Maybe if you eavesdropped a lil’ better you would’ve caught that.”
“As if I’d listen in to you. You’re boring as shit, you slag.”
“Yet you still hang out with me.”
After we finish making snappy remarks towards each other we settled down to discuss Elicia’s birthday plans. Apparently all she wants is cake and a new knife, since her old one is pretty worn down. I’m sure I can find that. The cake is gonna be harder. All I do in the city is kill people and take occasional strolls. I don’t exactly browse in a lot of stores, let alone bakeries. Tess goes to my laptop to look up a good bakery on the great and powerful Internet while I continue talking to Elicia. When we get back home all she wants to do is listen to music and relax in the backyard with us. That sounds... nice actually. A good time for me to just unwind and think. After Tess notifies us of a bakery relatively close by we head off to Winchester. The sky is bright and sunny, the kind of day that would seem cheerful if you were a morally sound person. Too bad I’m not like that. After an hour we reach a little army surplus store I visit often. The shop’s called Ammu-Nation. How clever. Good thing this place sells quality stuff or I wouldn’t even bother coming here. When we get inside I’m greeted with the familiar smell of old plastic and metal. It’s pretty pleasant once you get used to it. At the counter is my buddy Briggs, the shop-owner’s stocky son, a terribly tall African-American kid with short curly hair and rather light brown skin. The guy’s built like a lean football player and always has a kind look in his dark brown eyes. He’s really mellow, a stark contrast to my hot temper. There are times when I feel he’s a bit too good-natured, but he’s still a good kid. “Hey Danny,” he greets me.
