“I’ll call a taxi,” please, raptor Jesus, be a different driver this time… Before I knew it, we were on the outskirts of skin row, getting in the beaten-up taxi. Just my luck, it’s the same slimy yellow taxi driver. “...Rude, so what’re you kids doing out and about this time anyway. Shouldn’t you two be in school?” Before I can speak, Fang interjects, “I wasn’t feeling well.” “So where are you two love birds headed?” Honestly, I have no clue what the local grocery stores are called. I forgot the name of the one I went to last time. Fang speaks again, “Dilo-Mart” “Good choice, gots the best meats. Ya know, we’ve seen each other a lot, might as well tell you my name, seeing as you two will probably see me more,” I hope not…I look over and see Fang cringing a little bit. “Name’s Monarch.” …guess I’ll introduce myself as well “Well, I’m Anon, and this is Fang…” Fang looks over at me with a scowl. Monarch and I make awkward small talk as he speeds to the Dilo-Mart. It’s like he hasn’t talked to another person in his whole life…either that or he’s too focused on trying not to get us killed. We pull up to the front of the Dilo-Mart. “End of the line kids, if you need me just call me, I’ll be around.” Fang leaves a tip, and slams the door on the way out. I glance at Monarch and give him an apologetic shrug. “...I don’t like that guy. He has such a weird…aura? I don’t know.” “You mean you can see the stink lines too?” Fang giggles as we walk into the Dilo-Mart. I’m immediately hit with the aroma of roasted meats and iron from the fresh cuts. It’s enough to make me gag a little, but I get used to it fairly quickly. Fang seems to be leading me somewhere. She’s speed walking. We’re suddenly in the frozen meats section, and she plants her face against the door to get a better look through the frosted glass. I do the same and see…dino nuggets? “Is that what you want?” She nods without looking away from the door. When I open the door and reach in, she stops me. “No, the other bag!” I follow her finger to where she’s pointing to see a ten-pound bag of dino nuggets. When I look back at her, she’s giving me the biggest puppy eyes imaginable, I hesitantly grab it, and she takes it the instant I turn around. It’s nice to see her happy for once. Glad she’s starting to feel better. Fang’s already walking somewhere else, and I have to jog to catch up to her. She stops on a dime in front of a massive shelf of condiment sauces and grabs a bottle of sweet baby rays. She’s looking at it like she’s just struck gold…what is happening right now. I guess I should grab something for myself; I look at the prices of the meats. It makes my head spin. Wait…how much were those dino nuggets anyways? “Fifteen bucks.” I jumped a little. “Fang, don’t sneak up on me like that.” I guess I should get some, cheaper than the steaks and ribs that take up 90% of the store. I walk back and grab a couple ten-pound bags. I turn around and Fang’s staring at me with the biggest grin on her face and another bottle of ‘Sweet Baby Ray’s’ in her hands. Her smile is contagious as I feel one start creeping on my face. We check out and call Monarch. He’s there within a couple minutes and screeches to a stop in front of the Dilo-Mart. He glances at the 30 pounds of dino nuggets with a nervous look before looking at me with that same slimy grin. “Feeding the less fortunate, Anon?” Fang kicks the back of his seat. I speak up, “These are for us, actually. How’d you get here so fast?” “I was in town.” Me and Fang glance at each other “...how many other calls do you get besides us?” “Barely any, you two kids are practically keeping me afloat!” Monarch and I continue the small talk from before as he breaks 23 more road laws. Once he drops us off on the outskirts of Skin Row, I thank him and he smiles at me differently than before. More friendly this time? Before speeding away. I realize as I step onto the curb we forgot to pay him…but he doesn't come back. He did mention something in the car about us being the most company he’s got in a while, I’ll take that as him thanking me for the talk. The second we get inside the apartment, Fang scavenges for a Sharpy, marks her name on a bag, mine on another, and leaves the last blank. “We’ll fight for that one when we run out of the first bags.” I chuckle but her not following suit tells me she’s serious…oh boy. She opens my bag and puts them on one side of the baking sheet and hers on the other. She’s 100% serious about fighting over the last bag thing…. As the oven timer rings I check my phone to see it’s 2 PM on the dot. Fang walks back into the living room with a baking sheet and sits it on my desk. “What else do we do the rest of the day?” I questioned. “We could go get some clothes for the both of us, Anon! I know a place near here. There’s a place here in skin row, right?” “Yeah, but I think it’s just a bunch of cheap edgy stuff…and I don’t want to spend more of your money, Fang.” I need to get a job…maybe Moe could hook me up. “It’s fine. Naser gives me plenty for just existing,” She rolls her eyes as she says that. “But let’s just eat, and we can head there afterward.” Fang’s half of the baking sheet is stacked at least a couple inches high with dino nuggets…I count 12 on my side. She carefully piles the nuggets on her plate and pours the baby ray’s, flowing over the nuggets. Fang’s watching it like it’s the most beautiful thing she’s ever witnessed. I didn’t even notice she gave me my own bottle of baby ray’s, I poured mine on the side of my plate, and she gave me a weird look “...what?” “Why would you put it on the side….” “So I can dip it…?” “Why would you do that when you could get the same thing pouring it on?” “So I don’t get my fingers messy.” “You don’t drench the whole thing, you retard, just enough that every one tastes like a barbeque nugget.” “You seem very passionate about this, Fang.” After another minute or so she looks at me with a smug look on her face “Watch this,” she throws a nugget in the air and bounces it off her crest and catches it midair with a snap of her jaws, kinda badass in a weird way. I look at her plate, and it’s already halfway gone... I haven’t even gotten through my fourth nugget. She finishes ten minutes before I do, and not a single crumb or drop of sweet baby ray’s is left on her plate. “See, my way is superior because you don’t leave a mess.”… she’s got a point; there’s still a smudge of sweet baby rays on my plate. I rinse off the sheet and both plates and sit on the bed next to Fang, I check my phone and see a couple of missed texts from Naser, and I hear Fang sigh. “What’d he say?” Well, let’s see. “He’s just asking how you are.” I suddenly feel a sense of dread wash over me. Fang speaks up again after a few seconds of silence. “Tell him I’m fine,” she thinks for a second as I walk back into the living room and she smiles a little at me “Also that I got some dino nuggets.” Oh, thank God she didn’t ask how he knew she was with me. I text back and forth with Naser. I eventually tell him that I got her dino nuggets and he seems relieved before asking me tons of questions about it, “you got the ten-pound bag, right? Did you eat any of hers? DO NOT EAT ANY OF HERS-” As he assaults my phone with questions I look up at Fang who’s holding back a giggle as my phone audibly vibrates from notifications. After he calms down a bit I ask him about Naomi and see the text bubble appear and disappear a few times before it disappears entirely. I think that might be a touchy subject right now; oh well. Before I turn off my phone the time in the top right tells me it’s 2:20. “Ready to head out again, Fang?” She nods contently, and we both head out the door. As we walk out of the door of the complex, I speak up, “What’s this place called again?” “Spencer’s, it’s where I got my collar.” she pointed to her crest, always wondering what store would sell Fang attire. “So, how far away is this place?” “Lemme check,” she pulls out her phone and pulls up the GPS app. She glances up and starts walking forward. I follow behind her, weary of my surroundings, making sure no one is about to jump us. A few minutes later, she stops. “Should be around here somewhere…” Her and I scan for a few seconds before I point it out. It blends in way too well with the ghetto that is Skin Row. After walking into the makeshift garage doorway, I hear a familiar voice. Not one I’d like to hear right now, or ever. “Welcome to Spencer’s. Let me know if I can help you or whatever.” Trish…of course, she works here; I glance over at Fang, who is flashing through a myriad of emotions. She’s happy one moment to see Trish, then a look of unbridled rage suddenly comes over her face. She takes a moment to calm herself and grabs my hand. Before Trish can look up from her phone, Fang takes me out of sight. “Did you know she worked here, Fang?” “No, I didn’t. I’m sorry, Anon…this was my fault. We should go somewhere else.” “No, no, it’s okay. I’ll be fine. Are you gonna be okay talking to her?” She looks away, frowning slightly. “I think I’ll be fine.” “Listen, if she tries anything, we dip, okay? No matter what she says.” “Okay....” As we browse through clothes, Fang audibly gasps. Some crop top pj’s and some sweatpants to match in a few colors. To my surprise, Fang goes for the salmon-colored ones instead of the black or gray ones. She also grabs a few of her usual crop tops and a couple more ripped jeans. I look over the generic mono-colored t-shirts until I find a pale green undershirt. As I reach out to grab it, Fang stops me. “I think you’d look good in this,” she’s holding up a black t-shirt with “FUCK YOU” imprinted on the front, followed by half a paragraph of words in an almost unintelligible font. Almost looks like sharp spaghetti. I look at it confused before Fang speaks again, “It’s my favorite band….” “That’s a band name?” “Uh yeah, you can’t read it?” “Fang, it looks like someone vomited white ink onto a black tee and called it a day.” She giggles before throwing a random pin at my forehead she picked up a bit ago. The pin lands in my hand, “I STOMP ORPHANS”…what the fuck is this place. Fang laughs from seeing my facial expression and takes my hand, leading me somewhere else in the store towards the back…THIS PLACE SELLS SEX TOYS? “Oh yeah, they do. Nothing is normal here. I come in here sometimes to make myself feel better, just looking at this shit makes me laugh.” I look two feet to my left and see a three-foot-tall dildo, and I can’t help but giggle a little. The giggles evolve into laughter and eventually Fang and I start laughing hysterically at all the weird toys that line the shelves to the point of crying. As we walk out a couple minutes later, still laughing, I come to a stop in front of Trish, who glances at me and then around me at Fang, who’s still losing it over the weird toys. Trish and Fang make eye contact, and the laughter stops. Trish speaks with annoyance in her tone, “Where have you been?” “... I’ve been taking a break for a bit.” “You haven’t answered any of my texts. I got scared; I didn’t know what happened to you, Fang.” “I’m sorry, Trish…I just-” “You just what? Ignore your best friend for two days, leaving her to worry? And what about Reed? He’s been worried sick about you! “…I can tell what’s going on here, and I step in. “Trish, could you just do your job and-” “Shut up, skinnie, let me talk to my friend. Why are you even with this ape? You should be back at school with us….” My fists ball up out of rage. I try to tune Trish out and hold back but can’t catch my mouth. “Listen here, you fucking trigger,” she snaps to me, that caught her attention. “Just do your fucking job and leave us alone. You make Fang’s life miserable, my life miserable, and your whole bitch-assery has caused everything to spiral into disarray. Why do you always try to get between Fang and me anyway? I do nothing to you, and you just-” She cuts me off, bitch. She slowly raises her voice as she speaks until she’s practically screaming. “You wanna know why, Anon? Fine, I’ll tell you why. You’re always trying to steal Fang away! All you are is a fucking bigot that’s trying to get into Fang’s pants! All you are is a bad influence!” I interrupt immediately after hearing that, matching her volume. “I have done nothing but love Fang unconditionally! I love her with every fiber of my being, and I wouldn’t ever try to rip her away from her friends, hell, anything from her, on purpose…you know what, Trish? I’m done; I’m done fucking with you. I’m sorry if I’ve been a bad friend or, in your eyes, a bad person, but DO. NOT. PUT. THIS. ON. FANG.” Trish is silent, considering my words. She opens her mouth, about to say something, but nothing comes out. She looks like she’s on the verge of tears. I spoke up one last time, “I’ve looked into a mirror and saw my errors, and I’m trying my damn best to right my wrongs; maybe you should do the same.” I look over at Fang, and she’s zoned us out. She looks distraught. Trish mumbles, “...Follow me to the register.” I follow her silently with some pale green tees in my hands. Fang follows behind me with her clothes, and Trish checks us out. As Fang and I walk away, I say one more thing “...I’m sorry for calling you a…you know what I mean.” Trish scowls at me as Fang and I walk out. “Are you okay, Fang?” Fang looks at me with a slight frown on her face. “I’m…alright.” I can't help but feel that pit opening in my stomach again after all that. “Can we talk about stuff when we get back to the apartment, Fang?” “What do you mean?” “I don’t know…everything, it feels like we’re just pretending nothing happened. I mean eventually we need to address…however you were feeling.” She looks anxious, “...yeah, we can talk about it when we get back.”