Page 2 of Art of Love
“Yeah,” I agreed and attempted to smile, although she couldn’t see me.
“Hugs and love.”
“You too.”
The minute she hung up, my arm went limp and I dropped my hand to my side, almost dropping my phone.
God, why was my life so shit?
Fifty thousand dollars gone just like that and because of Sam’s carelessness.
I was getting sick and tired of all these crazy antics with Sam.
I’d lived with her now for the last three years. We thought it was cheaper to live together because two of us paying for a nice three-bedroom house in the suburbs of Atlanta sounded a lot better than me living in the city where it wasn’t so nice.
But I nearly went crazy. It was one thing after another and always because of a guy. There was Tim, who stole my car; Dennis, who sent threatening notes to both of us and stalked me online when Sam broke up with him; Porter, who was a drug addict. There was Robert, who stole from her all the time to feed his gambling addiction; Jeff, who went to prison last year for securities fraud; and Brian, who conned her into giving him our rent money to help pay for medical treatment.
We heard he used the money to go on vacation and pay for escorts.
That had been the last stint, and it left us in five months arrears, which she’d hid from me. I’d been so busy and overwhelmed at the time that I couldn’t keep tabs on bills like that. I also didn’t just have myself to think about. I had my niece, Lana, who lived with us.
She was the only reason why I lived with Sam, and for so long, and because it seemed like a good idea at the time. The main plan was to use my savings to get us a place. A home of my own and a place Lana could come back to whenever she needed. It would be our home. I knew Lana would be going to college this year, so I tried to stick it out with Sam until then. Until now.
But hello nothing.
Nothing and no hope. Just my emergency funds and this money Bernice was giving me.
Shit, fuck. Fucking shit. Fuck this. I needed a drink.
Something strong.
I looked ahead, and my eyes landed on a quaint little bar called The Fish Tale. It had that trendy look most of the places around Echo Park had but a little rough like it could do with some work.
I headed there.
I’d arrived in L.A this morning and spent the day unpacking and setting up in my little apartment.
It was already a busy week with me seeing Lana off to college at UCLA. We’d both decided to arrange moving this month; the earlier the better. Her there and me here. At least we weren’t too far apart. Mid-August was nice and quiet in L.A. When I was here last I made the mistake of waiting until it was closer to the start date for my job before moving up. It was awful and it took forever to find a nice apartment. I ended up having to move twice.
The new semester started in a few weeks, and my new job started in two weeks, but I had a meeting tomorrow.
My apartment wasn’t like the house we’d shared back in Atlanta with Sam, but it was cozy. It would serve its purpose.
Keeping busy served as a distraction. Last night, when I spoke to Bernice, she told me the cops picked up Bane in New York, but there was no trace of my money. We ended that conversation with me in tears and her telling me she’d give me an update today when she found out more information.
I’d waited all day only to confirm my worst fears. That money was gone, and there was nothing I could do besides sit tight and wait for more info.
Sam, on the other hand, I didn’t know what she was doing, and I didn’t care.
In fact, this was probably it for me and her as friends. We’d been friends since birth, and she was there for me a lot when Mom died and when Grams died and then when Todd died. My big brother, who had been my everything.
Death.
That was my biggest enemy. It took everyone I loved away.
Todd died in a car accident. He and his wife. It was a drunk driver.
They left my niece behind, who at the time had just turned fifteen.
