“I’m down,” Apollo stammered, his eyes locked on Zed’s back. She turned, her hair swinging over her shoulder like a raised mace. She stepped forward and faced Apollo directly, almost confrontationally. Apollo expected a slap, but received a peck instead, her thin lips slickly gliding across his. Grabbing his left hand, she led him back to the party, where they proceeded to corral their friends. Kai and Theo were sitting poolside, the quiet splashing of their partially submerged legs the only sound between them.

° ° °

“Where’s Sol?” Zed asked.

“Probably caking. You know how she does,” Theo said. “She just understands women, I guess.”

“It’s not hard,” Kai said, removing her legs from the pool, rising, then leaving Theo behind.

After lingering for a moment, Zed and Apollo continued toward the house, hands still clasped as Theo and Kai filed behind them. The party was dying down, its death fueled by a rumor that there was an even better party in Peachtree City. They found Sol on a couch in the living room, curled up like a hermit crab, her shell the chest of Alice, who was also dozing.

“She never talks about juvie, but I feel like this was what probably happened,” Kai snorted, inciting a booming collective laugh. “This bitch is over here making literal bosom buddies,” Kai continued, summoning a second wave of guffaws. Sol stirred at the sound, dazed yet compliant. She quickly rose, following them out the front door.

After making plans to convene once Waffle House reopened, the crew split up, exchanging hugs and daps and retreating to their cars, which were parked on opposite sides of the lot. Despite the setbacks of the day, both known and unknown, Zed felt there was resolution in the air. Maybe Sol will finally talk, she hoped. Kai had told her about the liquor cabinet.

High, but somehow still perceptive, Kai pointed out an object lodged between the windshield wipers of Zed’s MINI. Kai grabbed it and read it aloud: “Hey angels I knew you would come to my party. You’re welcome, bitches. Je suis Charlie.”

“Oh hell nah. You got some paint? I’m gonna tag the shit out of this McMansion motherfucker.”

Zed shrugged and climbed into the car, starting it. “Let’s just go home,” she said. “I promise you we can do something much worse. Trust.” Kai laughed and obliged, opening the passenger door and plopping down into the seat. “Fuck Fayette County,” Sol declared, folding into the back seat as the car pulled out onto the street, the night taking them in like family.

chapter 7

“What does DC smell like?” Rick asked.

Tilly kept her eyes on the road, pretending she had missed the question. She knew he would ask again, but she had learned to cherish these silent interstices. They didn’t happen often.