“Can’t believe this is comin’ from you,” I replied.
“Honestly,” she grumbled, “I can’t either. I love her like she’s my sister, but she’s being a jackass and I haven’t seen any sign that’s going to end. Have you?”
I’d been thinking the same thing all night, but I wasn’t ready to tell Charlie that. When it came right down to it, I was starting to wonder if I was in love with Kara because of the past or because of the present. Was I just holding onto something with her because it made things feel normal again and I was desperate for things to go back to how they’d been before?
“Just think about it,” Charlie said, bumping my arm with her shoulder. “It’s not like I’m some relationship expert. My longest relationship was in high school.”
“Two months with what’s her name—”
“Aurora McCann,” Charlie said with a shit eating grin. “And oh, what a glorious two months those were.”
“Why’d you break up?” I asked with a laugh.
“Some boy asked her to a dance and she said yes,” Charlie said with a snort. “And it wasn’t an invitation for a three-way. I could’ve been into that.”
I coughed, choking on my coffee and my eyes burned as it nearly came out my nose. Charlie chuckled.
“You’re such a prude,” she said, watching me struggle. She reached for her phone. “Looks like the parents are calling. I don’t care how shitty Farrah feels, I’m not bringing her coffee in bed. Hello?”
I finally turned and spit the coffee into the sink, reaching for a paper towel to mop up my face.
“Yeah, Draco’s here. Want us to pick up Curtis?” She paused. “Alright. See you there.”
She stuffed her phone back in her pocket and looked at me. “I guess the fire marshal said we can go back to the house and see what’s left.”
“Little late for that,” I replied.
Charlie shrugged. “But they don’t know that. The ’rents want to see if there’s anything left to salvage. You wanna come help?”
“Sure,” I said, rinsing out my mug.
“I doubt we’ll find anything,” Charlie replied glumly. “It was pretty much just ash and stank coming from the pile. Who knew burned down houses smelled so bad?”
I raised my hand and laughed when she punched me. “What?” I asked, laughing. “Don’t you remember our place after it burned?”
“Vaguely,” she said, walking away. “Text Curtis and tell him to get his ass up. He’s coming with us.”
I texted my brother, checked the fire map for the thousandth time in the last week, and cleaned up Charlie’s coffee cup while I waited for the two of them to get ready to go. Where the hell was Kara? No matter how mad she was, it was pretty shitty of her to be gone when her best friend was going to see what was left of her house. Frankly, it was out of character. The two of them had been there for each other during every big event in their lives.
I got my phone back out and texted Kara.
Where are you? Headed over to my grandparents place with C and C to see if there’s anything left. Meet us there?
I watched to see if she’d reply, but got nothing.
“I texted her, too,” Charlie said, coming back into the room in jeans and a flannel. “I figured long pants and sleeves were the way to go.”
“Good call,” I agreed.
“You have any work gloves?” she asked as she piled her keys, a mask, and her wallet on the table. “I don’t really want to ruin my riding gloves.”
“I’ve got plenty in the truck somewhere,” I replied as Curtis came through the front door without knocking. “They’ll probably be way too big, but they’ll work.”
“Everything always hurts worse on the second day,” he groaned, stretching his arms gingerly above his head. “How you feelin’, brother?”
“I feel fine,” I lied.
“Right,” Charlie scoffed. “Let’s go, Tyson and Holyfield.”
“Which one is which?” Curtis asked as we followed her out of the apartment. “Am I the biter?”
“You’re definitely Tyson,” I confirmed.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Charlie replied, glancing at me. “You definitely looked like you’d resort to biting if you needed to.”
“I wouldn’t need to,” I said easily. “We takin’ my truck?”
“I’ll follow you in my car,” Charlie replied. “Just in case you want to leave before I do.”
“I’ll ride with you,” Curt told Charlie, following her as we went separate ways.
“Chicken,” she said, squawking like one.
I didn’t hear what Curtis said back to her because I’d reached my truck and was too busy pulling the seat forward to look for the gloves I knew were there somewhere. It took a few minutes to find them because behind the seat was the one place I left completely trashed. I was always stuffing shit back there that I knew I’d need later. I sorted through jumper cables, a folded up tarp, an extra jacket, a small toolbox, a beanie, two baseball caps, a pair of socks, a stack of mail, and a couple of water bottles until I found the grocery bag that held five or six pairs of work gloves. By the time I’d thrown them on the passengers seat and climbed into the truck, Charlie and Curtis were already gone. I guessed I was following them.