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Ande was out of town.
The rest of the Carter clan that called only wanted me to check in so Quinn would know that I was all right.
Well, it was none of his fucking business.
I wouldn’t be telling him that I was a shell of the person I’d once been.
I wouldn’t be telling him that my brother was burying himself in a gang that was probably going to kill him sooner rather than later.
I wouldn’t tell him that money was tight as hell, and sometimes I wondered if it would be easier to start traveling again, without Ande this time.
In an act of desperation, I decided to go for a walk.
It wasn’t the safest place in the world, but there was a movie theater across the street that I knew I could make it to without too much fuss.
It wasn’t the nicest one in town.
In fact, it was the one I most expected to be closed by the end of the year.
I got into the movie theater thanks to the owner, who’d been working the booth since his employees refused to come to work. He must’ve given my name or photo to the staff, because they all knew to let me in free of charge.
The phone in my pocket rang again, and I ignored it.
I walked up to the ticket counter and smiled at the older woman.
Before Nonna had died, I’d brought her here with me to escape reality for a few hours.
Now I stopped by and the owner always smiled sadly at me and let me in.
After insisting that I pay like I always did, and her insisting that I go in without paying, like she always did, I reluctantly left without paying because I was going to miss the movie.
Today was a rerun of Battleship.
I loved the movie, and though I’d seen it so many times I could recite every single word, I still wanted to see it from the beginning.
I also didn’t examine the way my brain lit up with happiness because I’d been with Quinn the first time we’d both watched it, and we realized it was one of the best movies ever created.
I took my usual seat in the front left closest to the emergency exit, then snacked on my popcorn and Dr. Pepper that was also free.
At first, I wasn’t aware that there was anything going on around me.
The movie I was watching had a lot of gunfire in it.
Also, the acoustics in the place had definitely seen better days, so I could be hearing clatter from the next theater over, as well.
But then a faint ‘pop’ had me glancing up.
I watched in confusion as the man’s extra-large drink just down the row from me started to leak.
Brown liquid gushed from a hole…
My heart seized.
Panic started to fill my lungs.
Gunfire.
I was hearing actual gunfire.
