Page 74 of Hiss and Make Up
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Sierra climbed the three wooden steps and shoved her way through the crowd of smokers on Some Pig’s front porch. She let the screen door slam behind her, ignoring annoyed looks from customers in the front room. When she threw aside the orange-striped curtain, she found Liz hunkered over her bench with a pile of fries.
Fighting off Liz’s defensive hand, Sierra stole one then dropped her bag on the ground and pulled up a stool.
“What now?” Liz asked.
“I can’t visit my friend at her place of employment without something being wrong?”
“It would seem that way. What’s up? Begging for a freebie?”
Sierra wanted to object and pretend to be offended, but she had spent the last few weeks buttering up Liz for a new tattoo. That was before she’d lost her job and before Marc had shown up.
“No. Still not sure.” She had some ideas, but she hadn’t had time to think about it over the weekend. It wasn’t something she wanted to decide on the fly, and her thoughts had been pretty preoccupied lately.
Liz shrugged. “It’ll come to you when it comes to you. I have some free slots today. Let me know if you want to sketch stuff out.”
“Thanks. I have some ideas, but nothing solid yet.”
“One of those ideas named Marc?”
“Nope.” Sierra stole another fry and chewed so she didn’t have to answer more questions. But Liz was patient. She folded her arms and waited for Sierra to finish chewing. The poor fry was down to a liquid pulp before Sierra gave up and swallowed.
Liz looked her up and down. “I’m not bailing you out of jail or visiting you in the hospital, so I guess that’s a good sign. Want to elaborate more on last night?”
Liz had called early that morning to chew Sierra out for not checking in the night before. Sierra knew she deserved it, but Liz’s concerned ranting had flustered her, so she hadn’t had a chance to offer any details. “Trap didn’t work.”
“Aw, shucks.”
“The only person I caught breaking into the house was Marc.” Sierra cleared her throat. “I kind of knocked him out cold. With a saucepan.”
“Lordy.” Liz shook her head and waited for more of the story. When she didn’t get anything else, she asked, “Ishein the hospital?”
“No. He’s fine. I think.”
She glanced at her bag with his check. Maybe that was it. Maybe it was the concussion. Maybe he wasn’t thinking right this morning. Maybe he wouldn’t even remember writing it.
“Well,youdon’t look fine.” Liz pointed a fry at Sierra. “And I’m assuming you spent the night there. So what’s the problem?”
Sierra frowned. She didn’t want to say what she was thinking, but if she couldn’t say it out loud to Liz, she might as well stop thinking it. And she absolutely could not stop thinking it.
“He’s pushing me away.”
“No kidding.” Liz chuckled. “You knocked him out, and now he needs some space. Shocking.”
“It’s more than that.”
Liz stared at Sierra for a minute, then her face softened. “It was a long weekend, hon’. Y’all are both tired.”
Sierra couldn’t deny that.
“I still say it’s better if you stay away from this guy for a while,” Liz added. “Doesn’t sound safe.”
“Well, if he’s out of the picture, I’m going to need some help.”
Liz eyed her suspiciously again. “What kind of help?”
“For starters, I need a little help getting inside a place.”
