She Talks To Angels

She sat next to him up front. Not the Hummer, another car, a less expensive car. Novak figured Bam was less likely to get upset if this one got crashed. Mercy had her purse on her lap, her legs crossed at the ankle.

“Novak?”

“Yes, baby?”

“I had a really good time.” Her face was dark, except when they passed up a streetlight. She seemed to glow under the brilliant lights for as long as it took to blink. Novak smirked.

“You already said that.”

“Oh, I know. I just wanted to say it again.” They passed under another light, and he could see the delicate pink blush spreading across her face.

Novak didn’t say anything; he only listened to and obeyed her instructions on how to get to her apartment.

She lived in the shittiest part of town. Her apartment was huge, rambling old house that had been cut up into flats. For some reason, he didn’t want to let her out. He didn’t want to think of her staying in this place.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” he asked as she slid out of the car, pulling down her shirt and patting her hair once she had exited the vehicle.

“Of course!” she gave him a sunny grin. “I’ve lived here for almost a year. Nothing bad is going to happen to me.”

There was a silence, broken only by the humming of the motor.

“So--,” they both started. Mercy giggled.

“You first,” she prompted.

“Would it be okay if I called you?”

“Yes! I was just about to ask you to do that.” She seemed so happy he had brought it up. She seemed so beautifully childlike. Novak waited for her to skip up the steps of the house and disappear inside before he drove away.

**

“So you took her home to her own house, right? You didn’t take her to someone else’s home, like their basement or garage and leave here there tied up until she starts to see things your way, did you?” Bam pounced on him as soon as he walked in. Novak sighed and handed over the keys.

“I took her to that shitty apartment, yeah.”

“She didn’t let you feel her up in the car, did she? I told you, Novak, some times girls actually do have something called ‘morals’. I know it’s hard to understand, but I promise they do exist.”

“She’s amazing,” the drug addict looked Bam in the eye. Bam stopped, his mouth open as though to speak.
“I’ve never met anyone like her.”

“Do you like her?” Bam asked cautiously. Novak nodded solemnly. “Even though she wouldn’t sleep with you?”

“Yes! God, Bam, not everything is about sex!”

Bam was nonplussed. This was an all new man. He reached out and touched his friend on the forehead. No fever, and he clearly hadn’t taken any drugs lately. After all, Bam had been there watching him.

“Okay then,” Bam slowly walked away, watching as Novak slipped off to his own room.