Page 77 of A Duet of Darkness and Dreams

“Dave, you ready?” Sam asks.

I grin. “Yeah, man. Oh, wait, let me just grab my spare drumsticks. They’re inside.”

I head inside the house and look through the living room. Locating my spare sticks, I tuck them into my back pocket and head back toward the garage. Just before I reach the door, thephone on the kitchen wall rings. I stop and stare at it for a long moment. Normally I wouldn’t answer someone else’s phone, and I certainly wouldn’t answer the phone when I’m headed out the door. But something about this phone call—this one time—makes me double back and pick up the receiver.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Sam?”

“Oh, no, sorry, it’s Dave.”

“Dave, good. This would be harder if it was Sam.”

My forehead creases. “Wait . . . Tyler?”

“You need to come to the diner.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s Emily.”

My stomach drops like a lead balloon. “What—what about Emily?”

“Dave, she’s wasted. She stumbled in here and started shouting at everyone. She said she was here for her shift, like, dude, she doesn’t even remember she was fired.”

I fall back against the kitchen wall and close my eyes. “Fuck, man . . .”

“The girls got her sitting in a booth with some coffee, but she’s starting to get agitated again.”

“Yeah, I’ll . . . I’ll be right there.”

I hang up the phone and head back out to the garage, grabbing my keys off the counter before heading for my station wagon.

“Hey, Dave, where the fuck are you going man?” Sam calls from the van.

Shit.

“Uh . . . my dad just needs me to pick up a prescription for him. I’ll just swing by the house and I’ll meet you guys there, okay?”

“You can’t do that later?” Sam asks.

I drum my fingers on the top of the car door. I should tellSam. She’s his cousin. But what if I do and he cancels out on making the demo to take care of her?

Fuck.

I’ll tell him later. I’ll bring her back here, go do the recording, then tell him everything when we get back. “No, the pharmacy will be closed by then. I promise, I’ll be right behind you.”

“Yeah, okay,” Sam says, a hint of distrust in his tone.

Throwing myself into the car, I peel off down the street. Fuck, fuck,fuck. Of all the fucking days.

Thankfully, the diner isn’t far, and when I pull into the parking lot, I can already hear the chaos from inside, glass shattering and voices shouting. I race up the steps and run inside to find Emily sitting on the floor in the corner of the diner, the shattered remnants and puddle of dark brown liquid surrounding her like a debris field.

“Em?”

She turns to face me, but her eyes are unfocused and swollen. “Davey! Baby, you have to help me,” she says, attempting to stand, but she slips on the spilled coffee. I rush over, my arms scooping under her to try to help her up, aware that every eye in the diner is on the two of us.

“Come on. I’m going to take you home.”

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