Fiona and Jane(24)

“Who’s asking?” said Koala. This made Viet and Johnny roar.

“Hey,” I said to Fiona in a low voice. “Slow down with that.” I nodded toward her cup, which was half-empty.

She smiled but shot me a look that meant I was being a buzzkill.

“Remember our sign?” I held up two fingers and wiggled them in the air, down by my lap.

She turned away from me and took another sip from her cup. “So where do you guys go to school?”

“School?” said Koala. “We don’t do that.”

“We got bigger dreams,” Johnny added. Then he repeated himself, fading out like an echo: “Bigger dreams . . . dreams . . . dreams . . .”

“Says the genius who failed his GED,” Viet said, shaking his head again.

“But see, I only failed it twice,” Johnny explained. “Third time’s the charm, though.”

“I’m taking a couple business classes at LBCC,” Viet said. “What you ladies study?”

“I’m undeclared,” Fiona said. “But I’ll probably do political science, pre-law.”

How did she know those words?

Viet looked at me expectantly.

“Um—writing?” It was the first thing that popped into my head.

“That’s a major?” he said. “I hate writing.”

“Me and Koala are starting a business. You’ll be seeing us up in Forbes in a few years.” Johnny began shadowboxing, bouncing on his toes, throwing hooks and jabs in the air. “Right, Koala Bear? Tell ’em about it.”

“It’s a secret,” Koala said. He held up a finger to his lips. “If I tell you I’ll have to kill you.”

“And don’t worry, we’ll do it nice and slow,” Johnny said. His face broke into a maniacal grin. “First I’ll tie you up with rope. Then I’ll use the pliers.” He fixed his gaze on me. “You got nice teeth—you had braces, huh?”

“Shut up, asshole,” Koala said. “He’s just messing around.”

“You still wear retainers at night?” Johnny said.

“We’re not scared.” Fiona nudged me with her elbow. “Right, Jane?”

I glanced over and saw that her cup was empty.

“I’ve never had braces before,” I said evenly. “These are just my teeth.”

Someone pounded hard on the door. “Open up! It’s the cops! We got you surrounded!”

I froze, but the guys started laughing. “Always the same corny BS,” said Koala. He walked to the door and opened it. “Get you some new jokes, homie,” he said.

Sung strode in grinning. “The party’s here,” he said. He sat down next to Fiona at the foot of the bed. “My friends treat you okay?” She nodded, smiling. “Yo, we got the other room, right?”

“Yeah, 201. Down that way.” Koala threw him a set of keys.

“Let’s go for a walk,” Sung said to Fiona. He plucked at her elbow. “Come with me for a sec, will you?”

“Where?” Fiona said.

“I want to talk to you,” Sung said softly. He stood and held out a hand.

Fiona stood from the bed. She was wobbly on her feet and reached toward Sung to steady herself. He threw an arm around her waist. “There we go,” he said. “Nice and easy, gorgeous.”

“This mother . . .” Koala muttered. “Mr. Smooth Operator.”

Viet and Johnny were sitting up on the other bed. Someone had turned the TV on. Koala stood by, waiting for Sung and Fiona to make it to the door so he could open it for them, like some sort of butler.

“Hang on.” I stood up and grabbed Fiona’s arm. “She’s— You can’t just take her—”

“Chill,” Sung said. He lowered his mouth to Fiona’s ear and whispered something. “See?” he said with a triumphant smirk. “She wants to come with me.”

“Come on, Jane. You don’t want to hang with us?” Koala said. “I thought we were getting to know each other here.”

“Janie,” Fiona mumbled. “It’s okay. I’m okay.” She shook me off. “I’ll be right back. We’re just going to talk.”

“You heard her,” Sung said.

I pressed two fingers into my chin. “Fiona. You see this?”

“What’s all the commotion?” Johnny called out. His voice was a song. “We’re trying to watch porn over here.”

Now Koala was pulling on my arm—I stumbled a few steps. Fiona turned back to glance at me over her shoulder. I tried the signal again. She smiled and shook her head, then looked away. Her hair was a cascade down her back. I watched them walk through the door. Koala shut it softly behind them, and then my best friend was gone.



* * *



? ? ?

“Another drink?” Koala said brightly. He parted his lips in a grin. His teeth were stained dark yellow along the gums.

I glanced over at Viet and Johnny on the far bed. A synthetic melody played from the TV speakers. Viet rubbed an open hand across his crotch, roving in slow circles. His athletic pants gave off a crackling silky sound, as if static electricity sparked when he touched himself.

Johnny’s face was nestled in the space between Viet’s neck and shoulder. He raised a loosened fist softly toward Viet’s moving hand, but it was batted away. Johnny sighed: a mournful sound. He buried his head deeper inside the crook of Viet’s neck, then started to kiss his collarbones, his chest. He licked at the two dark coins through Viet’s white tank.