Alice & Dorothy (17 page)

“Great place,” Dorothy said. “Why are we here again?”

“I’m going to see my boy Rabbit,” Alice said.

“You
do
have a boyfriend?” Dorothy said, exasperated.

Alice laughed, and then put a hand to her mouth when she realized Dorothy was being serious. “No, he’s not a boyfriend,” she said. “He’s just a friend.”

“Yeah right,” Dorothy muttered.

“He’s my
dealer
, actually,” Alice said. “And he ditched me off when he knew there would be cops lookin’ for me. So now he’s going to make it better.”

“How?”

“He’s going to give us enough cash to grab a bus ticket or something. Hell I dunno, we can grab a motel and figure out where we’re headed next.”

“But you were overdosing, right?” Dorothy said. “I mean, that’s what the nurse said…”

“Bullshit,” Alice said. “I would have been fine. Rabbit did what Rabbit always does when shit gets real: He bolted. And anyway, he owes me. He owes me
bigtime
.” That wasn’t entirely true, and Alice knew it. In reality, Rabbit didn’t put up with a lot of shit from anyone. She’d seen him beat the living hell out of junkies who brought drama and bullshit to his grandmother’s house; she was going to have to be very careful how she handled him. Thankfully, she had an idea about how she could level the playing field in a hurry. She just hoped it was still there when she got into the house.

Dorothy smiled. She took Alice’s hand and laced their fingers together. “Okay,” she said sweetly, smiling up at her. Alice couldn’t help but smile back. Dorothy was too cute to do anything else.

They walked along cracked sidewalks and past garbage strewn allies, and kids playing basketball and hockey in the streets. They would pass three houses of unkempt lawn for every one that was groomed and trimmed; most of these yards had whirly-gigs and garden gnomes. Alice noted that almost every one of them had some sort of announcement on the lawn claiming to be protected by various home security companies; the elderly were besieged in their homes in the last days of their lives. Too afraid to leave their yards, and yet afraid to stay in their houses as well. Alice hoped that she never reached the point in her life where fear overtook every aspect of it.

Eventually the manicured lawns became less frequent, and the dirty, rotting duplexes and cheap community living townhouses took over. The streets became more cracked and weed strewn. There were broken bottles in the gutter. Kids on bikes rode past, giving the girls a wary eye and a wide birth.

And then there was Rabbit’s house, a little bungalow on its own property. The house was run down and ratty looking. It was badly in need of a paint job. The lawn was uneven and hadn’t been cut in months, and there was garbage strewn from the front step all the way out to the street. It was a pile of shit, but it was paid for; Rabbit had inherited the property from his parents when they died. It had never been a prized mansion, but at least it had been clean at one point. It might have once been one of those manicured lawns they’d been passing on the way here. Maybe this was the true end result of life; destined to end up a run down old pile of garbage. An eyesore and a burden. A forgotten object of desire.

Rabbit’s car was parked on the street. He didn’t have a driveway. The girls walked up to the front door. It was hanging open. They could hear Rabbit talking on the phone somewhere inside. The television was on
The Price is Right
.

The room was dark. The shades were pulled all the way down. Rabbit was paranoid about junkies and cops looking into his house from the street; he’d nailed the blinds in place so they couldn’t be opened for any reason. The place was as much a mess inside as it was outside. There was a large flat panel television in one corner where Drew Carey was about to grant a wish. The furniture was old, dirty, and unmatched. Rabbit was sitting on the couch in a pair of shorts and a
Hardship Post
concert shirt. It was blue and said
my only aim is to please you
in swirly yellow letters. He was wearing a John Deere hat off to the side. Gold rings. He was smoking a cigarette and talking into a black cell phone. He rubbed his face absently while he talked. His voice was slurred and he looked sleepy. Or high.

“Rabbit,” Alice said. “
HEY!
” She snapped her fingers.

Rabbit looked up, had a moment of confusion and then shook his head. “Alice.” He stuck one finger up to plead for another second. “
Uh, let me hitchoo back in a bit...alright. Alright
.” He hung up the phone.

“You don’t
need
them,” Rabbit smiled. The look on her face made him think twice though, and he stood up quickly. He chewed his thumb. “It’s just
ummuh
, you know I don’t like people showin’ up unannounced.”

“Clothes,” Alice said again. “And none of that hootchie bullshit you’re always trying to get me into.”

“Alright, alright,” Rabbit said. “Calm down, I’ll hook you up.” He walked into the bedroom.

Alice and Dorothy looked at each other, and Dorothy mouthed the words
we should go
. Alice squeezed her hand. Then she walked over to fridge and popped open the freezer.

“
You want a hoodie or a shirt?
” Rabbit called from the bedroom.

“Shirt,” Alice replied. She lost her grip on a frozen steak, which bounced off her arm and hit the floor loudly. Her breath hissed in her teeth. “
Shit!
”

“
Oh my God.
” Dorothy put both her hands over her mouth and shook her head. “
What are you doing?
”

“What was that?” Rabbit said. Alice didn’t know if he meant the noise or her clothing choice.

“
Uhh, hoodie!
” she called back. “It’s cold out.”

“
Alice!
” Dorothy hissed.

Alice looked at her and smiled. “Got it.” She pulled her hand out of the freezer. She had a sandwich bag in her hand. She reached into the bag and pulled out a snub nosed revolver with a taped handle.

He stopped in the middle of the living room when he noticed Alice pointing a gun at him. She pushed the frozen barrel of the weapon against the side of his head, and the contact with his warm flesh caused a flash of white mist to form around the lip of the weapon.

“What the
fuck?
”

“Put the clothes down,” Alice said. The smile was gone from her face. It was replaced by a look that said
don’t fuck with me, I’m all business right now
.

“Alice, put the gun down.” He dropped the clothes at his feet and put up his hands. “This is some
bullshit
.”

“I need cash, Rabbit. And you owe me.”

“What? You’re out of your fuckin’ mind, aren’t you? I
knew
you were.” He was talking tough but his face was red and he was huffing like he’d just run up a flight of stairs.

“Shut the fuck up,” Alice said. “And stop talking. All you have to worry about are the words coming out of
my
mouth.
Do what I say or I’ll kill you.
”

Rabbit squinted at Alice. She responded by pulling the hammer back on the gun.

“Don’t even think about it!” Alice growled.

“Take it easy!
I saved your fuckin life!
You were so far down the hole you prolly would have died. I had to take you to the hospital.” Sweat danced on his brow.

“You shot me up in the first place!” Her voice had gone from inside to outside. She was on the verge of shouting. “You fuckin’ left me in the parking lot like a bag of garbage.”

“
I got my ass kicked by security guards!
” Alice yelled.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Rabbit asked.

“What?” The gun wavered for a moment.

“Uhh...
nothing
,” Rabbit said. He looked like he’d just been hit in the balls with a brick. “Look, let’s just stay calm, alright? I’ll give you whatever you want. You say you’re in shit, I believe you. I want to help.”

“Money.
Now.
”

“
I told you it’s all I got!
” Rabbit’s voice squeaked.

“Maybe we should take that and leave,” Dorothy said weakly.

“Hey, I’m not the bad guy, doll. You came to me, remember? You were talkin’ all crazy shit ‘cuz you said some guy raped you—”

Alice grabbed the gun with both hands and squeezed the trigger. It roared fire and bucked in her hand, and Rabbit ducked instinctively. Dorothy crumpled and screamed. A hole opened up in the wall behind where Rabbit was standing.

“
SHUT THE FUCK UP!
” Alice screamed. “And stand up, I missed on purpose. Next time maybe I’ll shoot your balls off.”

“
FUCK!
” Rabbit put his hands over his head and laced his fingers together. His head was on a swivel, rolling between Alice’s gun and the whole in the wall. “
Alright!
Alright. Just...don’t shoot that thing again. This is my grandmother’s house.”

“
You’re kidding
,” Alice said, and laughed. “That’s the first place the cops would look, you idiot.”

“Don’t call me that,” Rabbit said. “I’m not an idiot.”

Alice waved the gun toward the back of the house. “Let’s go,
idiot
,” she said.

Rabbit shook his head. “I’m not gonna forget this Alice. I hope you realize, they call me Rabbit but I got a memory like an elephant.”

“Spare me the one-liners.” She motioned toward the hallway leading to the bathroom again. Come on,
do
it.”

Rabbit stepped into the hall and made his way toward the bathroom.

“I take care of you,” Rabbit said. “
Bitch
, I shoot you up all the time for nothing.”

“You got paid for it,” Alice growled. “
Every fucking time.
”

Alice looked back at Dorothy and smiled. Dorothy looked like she was going to throw up, or pass out. Or both.

“Why don’t you put the gun down?” Rabbit said. “We can still be friends, right?”

“Why don’t you shut up and give me what I want?” Alice said. She poked Rabbit in the back with the barrel of the pistol for effect.

“You won’t shoot me.” He reached the bathroom. He flicked on the light and looked at her over his shoulder. “You know you won’t shoot me.”

“You know that for a fact right?” Alice said.

I know you will
, the Hater whispered. Alice tensed. Rabbit felt the change in how she was holding the gun where it contacted his skin.

“Whoa,” he said. “Easy. Easy, girl. Don’t be stupid.”

Just do it
, the Hater said.
Pull the trigger and we’ll play in his blood. It’ll be like when you were little and played in the garden sprinkler.