Intersections Read online

  “You make your new bad boytoy take your little test?” he asked.

  A tear welled up in her eye.

  “Will you please just go, and leave me alone. Please.”

  “Fine,” he said. “But I don’t fucking understand you. Not for a second.”

  Keisha didn’t reply. Brady turned and walked away. She watched him go, thinking about what he’d said, taking a deep breath, and getting herself under control.

  Stalking her? Following her? Showing up in the middle of the night? On top of the way he’d just talked to her? Who the fuck did he think he was? She felt a rage take her over and with each breath she remembered what the board said.

  Kill him.

  Maybe Conrad was right after all.

  She cleared her mind and when she went back inside, all the anger turned to lust. Before Dick could ask her who was out there or if everything was okay, Keisha pounced on him picking up where they left off and then some. They shed each other’s clothes and explored each other’s bodies. They never made it to the bedroom.

  Keisha jumped up onto the kitchen table sending the Ouija board, planchette and Conrad’s ashes clattering to the floor without a second thought as she opened herself up to Dick and the two of them rocked away to paradise.

  When it was over, Dick carried her to the bedroom where they did it one more time before they both fell asleep with arms and legs intertwined.

  10

  In the morning she woke with a start. Not a full on panic, but with the immediate knowledge that something out of the ordinary occurred last night. She didn’t drink to blackout stage or anything, but upon waking it took her a moment to remember where she was and what had happened.

  Dick.

  She frowned at the empty mattress next to her.

  And that slimy Brady following her around and showing up. What an asshole. Looked like she was back to square one with men, but at least she felt good.

  Keisha stood on tense muscles and stretched. A clang followed by muffled swearing sounded outside the bedroom. She put on her robe.

  And then.

  No fucking way.

  She thought she must have been dreaming.

  She smelled it first. Then she heard it. Then she saw it. Dick, dancing around, dodging popping bacon grease while he cooked breakfast in his boxer shorts.

  Her mouth fell open in surprise before changing to full on laughter.

  “Hey there, Sleeping Beauty. I got up early and thought you might be hungry. We never got around to the drunk munchies… Unless you include each other.”

  He winked at her. “I’m risking my life here, I couldn’t find my clothes and I didn’t want to wake you. Ow!” He yelped as bacon grease splashed his skin.

  “Oh my God, you are such a dork,” she said, ran to the bedroom, and brought back his shirt.

  “Ah, thank you, and here you are. Sorry, all that was in there was turkey bacon,” he said and scooped two strips onto a plate with a scrambled egg and a toaster waffle. He made two portions and they sat across from each other and ate.

  She giggled.

  “Something wrong?”

  “I know what’s in my own fridge, goofball. And no, I uh… I just thought… when I woke up… you’d be gone. I didn’t expect…” Her face flushed.

  “Oh really?” he said, raising his eyebrows. “Should I go?”

  “Oh no, not that. It’s just that usually getting drunk and going to bed with someone leads to disappearances the next morning.”

  “You’ve had a lot of experience in this department I take it? I must say, I prefer trudging through the awkwardness.”

  “Shut up.” She punched him in the arm. “Plus that crazy knock on the door, I just figured you’d be gone.”

  “Well, you figured wrong. What was that all about anyway?”

  “Nothing, some crazy dude. We sort of got along for a little bit, but it wasn’t what he thought it was. And I thought I made that clear to him. I guess I was wrong. At least he didn’t text me again after he left. Maybe he finally got it.”

  “Hopefully,” Dick said. “And I hate to break it to you, but I’ve gotta take off after breakfast. I told my brother I’d help him with some yard work this afternoon. But I’ll help you clean up.”

  “That’s great, thanks, you’re a hell of a cook,” Keisha said, finishing her last bite.

  She sipped coffee while he picked up the plates and carried them to the sink.

  “Oh, and hey, here’s that board you wanted to show me last night. I think we knocked it on the floor. Sorry if I didn’t seem interested, I couldn’t get your body out of my brain.”

  She felt a pang of anxiety.

  “It’s no biggie,” she said.

  “Here. Show me now before I go,” he said.

  His knees popped when he squatted down to pick it up.

  “Wow, this is something. Did you make it?” he said, “Looks like it got some dirt or something on it last night though. Sorry about that.”

  Keisha froze to her seat and her stomach lurched.

  She heard him inhale.

  And she heard him exhale in a “whoosh” and she saw all of Conrad’s ashes puff into the air and disappear as they descended.

  “Much better,” he said.

  Keisha gulped as he set it down on the kitchen table.

  “Jesus, you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he said. “Are you okay? Was it my cooking?”

  “Yeah… no, not the cooking, I’m okay, sorry. Sometimes I just get queasy when I eat breakfast after a night of drinking, even if it’s really good,” she lied.

  “Ah, I see. Sometimes time is the only thing that’ll cure a hangover. Why don’t you relax, while I go work in the yard all day.”

  “Asshole,” she said with a smile.

  “I thought chicks liked guys who were assholes?”

  “Touche.”

  “Okay, I’m gonna get going. Feel better. We should hang out again. What’s your number?”

  “Banging before we even know each other’s phone numbers…”

  “I know right. What a time to be alive,” he said.

  She laughed and put her number in his phone.

  “Uh, okay, bye,” he said, and looked at her, confused.

  Keisha gave him a half-smile and a slight nod and he gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

  “Bye,” she said to his back.

  Once the door closed, she scrambled to the spot where he’d picked the board up and looked for ashes but found nothing significant. On hands and knees she searched under the cabinets and stove until she found the pill bottle. She let out a relieved sigh when she gripped it, but the comfort turned to despair when she looked inside. Empty. Ashy residue clung to the sides of the plastic, but it all disappeared into the oils of her skin when she touched her finger to it.

  “Fuck,” she whispered and sat back at the kitchen table.

  She put her head in her hands thinking about the crazy guy stalking her, the new cute guy she’d just hit it off with, and the lost ashes of her first true love.

  Keisha raised her head and studied the board that had given her so many answers. And now, depending on how she interpreted it, Conrad had given her one last answer in the affirmative.

  Or was it a question?

  The planchette rested perfectly on the letter Y.

  11

  Loud music, light cleaning, dancing, showering and finally reading kept Keisha’s mind off of Conrad’s depleted ashes. By late morning she’d devoured a hundred or so pages of a book when her phone rang. She hoped for Dick, but didn’t think he’d call this early, plus he would be busy working with his brother.

  It was Brady. She didn’t answer. He called again. No voicemail. Then he sent a text.

  Hope you had fun last night.

  “Jesus Christ,” she said. “No wonder fucking Conrad told me it’d be a one-night stand, and then to kill him. This guy is bananas.”

  She put her phone on silent, left it in the kitchen, and went