Ren & Wade

 "See, J's got this other side to him," Ren wants to come clean on all things Jared with Wade while he's screwing in the third lock on the door to her bedroom. It seems Wade can't decide on the best lock to keep out Auntie M. But he is pretty good at this.

"What are you talking about?" He winces as if they are finished with Jared. "Isn't he seeing Roni?"

"Oh, they are sort of,,,kind of friends," Ren winces. 

At least she and Wade are both slumming in the cheap sweat shorts she picked up at the Hardware store while Wade was figuring out the lock situation. She is in her bra and he has lost his shirt somewhere along the way. After all, it can get hot at Auntie M's who is always cold.

Finally, Wade is satisfied how they are locked in.

"God, I wish I'd gotten us an air conditioner,"  He pulls his hair back out of his sweaty face. She at least has the fan going in the corner of the room, but it's not exactly reaching them. A lot like her one night stand with Jared.

"Well, I actually met J in a pool hall," Ren knows she should shut up, but she can't. She feels as if she tells all this to Wade who will leave in a second and it would be the end of them.

"A pool hall?" Wade reaches for a cold water bottle to put on his forehead.

"It was just an accident. I thought I could get a pizza there," Ren remembers.

"God, a pizza really sounds good about now," Wade does look a bit sleepy. Maybe he'll fall asleep before he knows the truth about Jared, but he looks at her as if she needs to go on.

In the pit of her stomach, she thinks she might be sick. He'll hate her. Hell, she should hate herself too.

"Well?" His eyes lit up as if she needs to talk.

Ren winces hard. "He..he said his name was Blackie."

"Blackie?" Wade scowls as if that is just strange.

"I think he's in a gang or something."

Ren nurses her lip. 

"It was kind of a bet at first," she told him. "And then I won which was just luck with the pool, you know."

"Well, how long did you play pool with him?" Wade squints as his lanky body is almost surrounding her.

"It was a while," she remembers the dark. It was so dark.

"You really had sex with him?" Wade looks sad about it.

"It was just one of those things, I wanted to see how far it could go," she nods. Wade rolls his eyes at her as if he has lost respect for her. 

"And?" He says right before he finishes off what is left of the not so cold water bottle.

Ren sighs. "Obviously, J doesn't remember."

"Thank God." 

She hears the relief in his voice.

"But why is he around?"

"I don't know," Ren says he's indigenous and really smart. She thought he'd forgot about her. "I know he thinks he can save me, but he really can't." She talks about how she knew him at the University. He never mentioned the pool hall. Maybe it was just an illusion, on  her part, she thinks now, but it had to be him. She remembered his sandalwood scent.

"And Roni likes him?" Wade sighs as if this will take some getting used to. "Well, when our time comes, we are doing it in the Black River."

"What?" Ren thinks she knows what he's talking about. "People have lost their lives in that river."' She frets as if he's lost it this time. 

"It'll mean more if we do it in the Black River."

"What are you, a gypsy or something?" She tells him the river is always cold.

"Oh, so you've been in it?" He looks at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Well..."

"You were never in the Black River with Blackie, were you?" He glares at her.

"No, just on the pool table."

Ren is certain she's done it this time, but no, Wade grabs her by the waist. They find their way to be closer to the fan. This is where they sit as the wind blows through his hair as if he might be a romantic god from some semi-erotic novel. She looks at the corner of his face. It's so deceiving she finally understands. He's an idiot who doesn't know a thing about what comes next. 

"Was he any good?" His body is practically keeping her in a sweat.

"Hard to say," she tells him it didn't last very long.