Page 97 - TheBridge_Vol16

“Esssstheeeeeeerrr!” cried Carlota from across
the way. “Come back here, bitch.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Esther said, rising, a
mischievous smile adorning her face. She
and Lily walked back over to the church. “I
was just trying to be Alice in Wonderland
and lay in the flowers.”
“Did they talk to you?” asked Carlota.
“I wish.”
“Yo, dude, you wanna play any more tonight?”
Roman asked Ray.
Ray paused a second. “Nah. My fingers are
thoroughly blistered.”
“Too blistered for Mortal Kombat?”
“Hell no.”
“Can we go to the beach?” Esther protested.
“Can we please go to the beach? Can we lay
on the sand and look at the stars? There’s less
light there. Don’t play fucking video games,
let’s hang out.”
The boys were at first hesitant, but the
eventual unanimous response bore them all,
one foot in front of the other, a mile down
the road. Esther ran ahead of the rest and
plopped onto her back in the sand. “Oh my
god, you guys it’s so beautiful. Get the fuck
over here! I want to share this with you.”
Esther wiggled sand between her toes and
stared up into oblivion. She could feel her
pupils dilate as far as they could go. She
swore she could see Sagittarius A and the
cluster of matter at the center of the Milky
Way.
―
Translucent brownish water damage marks
fanned out across parts of the ceiling above
her dealer’s bed. They looked like exploding
clouds of cosmic dust. She focused on them
while she was thrust repeatedly into the
creaky mattress. All this for a dime bag.
Just to get her through the dinner rush at
work on the other side of town. She’d be
back after her shift—with cash—to stock
up for the next few days. Friday nights
were usually good for tips. It’d been seven
years since that first time on the island. Her
dealer had agreed to “pussy” to trade for a
fix. Good thing he was quick.
It was nine at night when the off-duty cop
saw the baggie slip out of her shoe as she
scurried between tables. He picked it up with
his napkin and used the payphones by the
bathrooms to summon his colleagues. Even
she was perplexed by the flashing lights that
parked right out front of the restaurant, even
more when they came inside and reached for
her wrists.
The diner patrons hushed and stared as
she was cuffed and escorted outside. But
before they got her through the door, her
manager placed a light hand on her arm.
The expression on her face screamed
disappointment; Esther had trouble looking
her in the eyes. It’d only been three years ago
Esther called her from County, crying.
“You knew this was your last chance, Esther.
You’re fucked. And fired.”
―
She’d drawn with graphite on notebook
paper, something she hadn’t done since
Vol. XVI | 85