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“Goodbye, darling.”
The cool night air is a welcome relief from the stuffiness inside. The driver greets me with her usual cheery wave, and all it takes is one question. Then I’m pouring my slightly drunken heart out to her about my family problems. She listens, interjecting a few soft words of advice every so often. By the time she drops me back home, my heart is lighter, and sleep calls with every step up the sidewalk.
I use the app to tip my driver generously and wave her off, and then I head for my door.
Suddenly, a strange crunch of glass reaches my ears. Glancing down, the sight of broken glass scattered across the sidewalk halts my steps.
Why is there glass everywhere?
I follow the trail with my eyes to the right side window of my car, and horror locks cold around my throat. The window is smashed in, and the windshield is completely shattered. Part of the body is dented and broken and something sharp has torn the covers of my seats to shreds.
A tremble shoots down my limbs and I wind my arms around myself, fighting the sudden internal freeze.
Some asshole broke into my car!
6
EMMA
“It’s bullshit! It’s complete and utter bullshit. I can’t believe this happened to me, of all people. What the fuck did I do to piss off the karma gods, huh?”
Frustration swells in my chest and the once neat sugar packet between my fingers quickly gets torn into paper confetti.
“I’m so sorry,” Ana says.
She sits across from me with Meghan, each of us balanced in the uncomfortable, white plastic chairs that surround the few wooden tables near our favorite coffee cart. The sun bakes down from above and the pink umbrella stretching up from the table does absolutely nothing to provide cooling shade or protection. It might as well have been made of paper.
“My seats were destroyed, my laptop is gone, and my bag of spare clothes is gone!” I puff out a breath and remove my glasses as the warmth from my cheeks begins to fog the bottom of the frames. “They even took my air freshener.”
“Oh babe.” Meghan loops one arm around my shoulder and pulls me close for an awkward half-hug. The warmth of her arm is almost too much against my bare, sun-warmed shoulders, but the affection is appreciated.
When she releases me, her hand rises to my cheek, and she cups my face. Her thumb slides under my eye and she meets my questioning look with a smile.
“Your eyeliner is running.”
“It’s supposed to be waterproof!” I wail, slumping back in my seat once she’s tidied up my face. The remains of my coffee taunt me, fueling my craving to get up and have another, but so far the line is long enough to keep me seated.
“What are you going to do?” Ana asks sympathetically.
“What can she do?” Meghan snorts. “Hunt down the asshole herself?”
Ana flicks an empty sugar packet at Meghan. “I was talking about the missing stuff you ass, not the culprit.”
Meghan rolls her eyes while I force out a deep sigh to try and calm myself down.
“I have no idea. Luckily, I have a backup of everything important on my laptop, like my pictures and assignments and everything. But the cost of repairs alone is going to kill my bank account.”
“What about your insurance?” Meghan tucks some of her auburn hair behind her ear and adjusts her wireframes. “Surely that has you covered.”
“In an ideal world, sure,” I reply, running my fingers along the edge of my empty coffee cup. “But my insurance won’t lift a finger until the cops are done with the case and who knows how long that will last. I need my car fixed now. I did ask my father but…” Trailing off, our earlier conversation floods back to me.
He’d been irate at me even asking for that kind of help, but I had told my mom that without my car, I couldn’t make his birthday. With any luck, that will be enough to persuade him to help.
“But?” Ana prompts.
“Well,” I groan softly. “He blames me for leaving expensive things in my car, so he doesn’t think I deserve any kind of help for something that’s obviously my fault.”
“Bullshit,” Ana retorts. “You don’t blame the victim and even if you have something valuable in your car, that doesn’t give someone the right to take it.”
