luckie street

chapter 8 »

Harley called in worry, considering Riley had spending the past three consecutive days with Vincenzo. Riley noticed the buzzing of her phone miraculously over the loud television displaying some extreme monster fishing show. 

"I'll be right back," She tapped Vincenzo, who was busy putting small amounts of cocaine into each of the tiny plastic bags and organizing them by the gram.

He looked up, almost as if forgetting she was even there. Vincenzo nodded and gave Riley a toothless smile. He looked distracted and above all, not present. 

Riley made her way to the front door and stepped out into the hallway. Her voice echoed.

"Hello?" 

"Riley, what the fuck? I called you, like, a million times yesterday." Her friend boomed.

"I'm fine. I've been with a few friends. What's wrong?" Riley paced.

Harley sighed. "That's no excuse for you to not pick up the phone, or text, at least. Nothing's wrong, I just like knowing my friends haven't gone AWOL due to kidnapping."

Riley froze. How long had it been since she went to class? Three days? Four? She began to panic. "How much have I missed?"

"We sacrificed three pigs in math, skinned two aboriginals from Australia, and wrote a seventeen page-long paper, you know, the usual." 

"Seventeen!" 

"Seventeen. The average was twenty-two."

Riley felt sick. She leaned over the rail and looked about the colorless apartment complex in distress. She bundled into herself as the cold air hugged her.

"Anyway, besides being sightly paranoid you died, I called to invite you to lunch with Sydney, her boyfriend, and I. " Harley sounded preoccupied. 

"Sure, yeah, sure."

Harley smiled through the phone. "Good. Twenty minutes at The Patio." 

A door slammed shut from behind and Riley ended her call. It was Randy. He was pulling on a jacket and walking towards the stairs when he changed his route to stop and talk.

"You didn't seem too calm in there." He smiled and zipped up his overcoat.

"Very perceptive of you to notice." She answered with sarcasm.

Randy chuckled. "You should get inside anyway, though."

"Why?"

Randy rolled his eyes and motioned to the air. "It's cold outside and you're standing out here idle with no jacket. I'm headed to the bar to take care of some financial stuff, so I can't lend you mine. But, I'm going to be honest with you, I'm not one to do some sissy shit like that anyhow. Nice to meet you, though." 

He began to disappear down the stairs before he stopped and pivoted on his heels. "Vin's high, by the way. I'd refrain from doing anything that'd make him angry. He probably won't remember even having you over. Don't take it personally, just take care." 

As he finished, he jogged down the stairs and ducked into a car. She watched him pull off. The windows were tinted , but she could feel him staring after her, too. Riley reentered 27C and saw Vincenzo laid out on the couch flipping channels, uninterested. He looked up at her, elated. 

"Come," He made room for her and she sat down.

"I have to see my professor about make-up work." She lied. 

Vincenzo grew somber, but he wasn't angry. Riley internally sighed, remembering Randy's cautious statement.

"It is ok," he played with the ends of her hair, "I will miss you."

Riley brushed the side of his angular, bearded jaw and smiled. No matter what state of consciousness he was in, he was so goddamned cute. 

Vincenzo smiled wide at her admiration and sat up on his elbows. One arm propped him up and the other cupped the side of Riley's face. Once more, they were inches apart. And for once, he looked tuned into what was happening around him. He looked normal.

Vincenzo made a point to focus solely on her lips after he was done with her eyes. Minimal movement occurred after that, as they were now embracing in a gentle kiss. Their lips glided across each other's rythmically. It was just long enough to leave Riley wanting more. 

As she left the apartment, she thought of Randy.