Demonspawn (9 page)

I was confused though when I heard the TV. I
poked my head out the bedroom and looked toward the living room. I
saw Cindy sitting on the couch, waving the remote control around.
She saw me out of the corner of her eye.

“Hey, zombie. Glad you could wake up.”

Cindy stopping by unannounced was nothing
new. It only stopped when I was dating someone. When she was single
I did the same thing to her.

“Damn, did you sleep here last night?”

“Nah. I had three male models waiting for me
when I got home. Why the hell would I sleep here?”

“Funny.”

“Don't come out of there naked, please.”

“If only you could be so lucky.”

I took a quick shower. After I threw some
clothes on Cindy was in the kitchen pouring two glasses of soda.
She handed me one.

“Okay. Donuts are right behind you. I've got
eighty movies in the living room.”

“What time is it?”

“One o'clock.”

I nearly spit out some soda. “In the
afternoon?”

“No. In the morning. Don't let that damn
sunlight fool you. It lies.”

“How the hell do you get up so early?”

“Because Alicia called me. To check up on
you
, she calls
me
and wakes me up. You've got a hell
of a sister.”

The attention was starting to get
embarrassing.

“I broke up with a girlfriend, that's all. I
didn't have surgery or anything.”

“Okay, we'll ignore you from now on. Now
watch a movie with me. But I swear if you try to hold my hand I'll
beat your ass.”

“I'll try to behave.”

We sat on opposite ends of the couch and
started a movie. Cindy curled her legs up under her like she always
did, a gesture I always thought sexy. She was an action movie
person, like myself. She put in
The Matrix
. It was relaxing,
just hanging out with my best friend. But my mind started drifting
in between action scenes and Keanu Reeve's superior acting. I
started thinking about Julie. I went back and forth between
self-pity and anger. It wasn't only Julie either. I was just
unhappy. I was a suddenly single shipping dock worker. Not really
much to brag about there. Nothing compared to Cindy, who was a
college graduate with a good job doing something she loved.

Julie was icing on the cake with how I felt
about myself at that time.

“What the hell happened?”

Cindy looked at me. “Huh?”

“We had sex on Wednesday night. Then Saturday
morning she tells me it's not working out? How do you go from naked
time on one day, then three days later, oh it's not working out?
After a damn year?”

She wrinkled her face. “Christ, Alex. You
could have kept some of that to yourself.”

“Sorry. But you get what I'm saying.”

Cindy didn't say anything. She just looked at
me, sympathy in her eyes. Maybe she didn't know what to say.

“Remember Marie, two years ago? She at least
had a reason for breaking up. She was screwing someone behind my
back. That's a reason, right?” I paused. “Did I goof up somehow and
not know it?”

Cindy uncurled her legs and leaned toward me
slightly. “Do you want to know what's wrong with you?”

“Hold on,” I said, and put my soda on the
coffee table. A definite plus about our relationship was that we
knew each other so long that honesty was never a problem. We could
be honest with each other, even if it was painful, and we'd still
be friends. “Okay, what's wrong with me?”

“Absolutely nothing.”

I was surprised, to say the least.

She continued.

“Alex, you've got faults, like we all do.
You're a little more down on yourself than you should be. Sometimes
you can be a little too quiet. Not as bad as when we were little,
but it's there sometimes. But don't change. Ever. Forget those
stupid bitches. You're awesome just like you are. That's why you're
my best friend.”

I let her words sink in. Right then I knew I
would get over Julie. I could get through anything, because of
friends like Cindy.

“Thanks, Cindy.”

We turned our attention back to the
movie.

“I never thought my best friend would be a
goofy white dude.”

I threw a couch-pillow at her.

*****

Monday came around, and the weekly grind
started once again. Nothing exciting ever happened during the week.
I woke up, went to work, then came home. I didn't see Cindy too
much during the week because of her working late with her father.
Alicia did stop by twice. We had dinner together. She filled me in
on the normal topics. Guys she was interested in, classes she had
trouble with.

I felt bad for her. At least when I was
growing up at the house, she had me for company, since Mom wasn't
home much. Now with me gone, it was just her. Although I had a
suspicion she had more people over the house than she let on.

It felt like forever for Friday to come
around. It would be my first official weekend without Julie.
Surprisingly, I was okay with it. Single life had its perks too. On
Friday, when I got home, I kicked my shoes off and threw a quick
dinner in the microwave. I could do whatever I wanted. I never had
to see her parents again, and I'm sure they were grateful they
never had to see me either.

At around seven the front door to my
apartment opened up. Cindy poked her head in, still wearing her
cute dress from working at her father's firm.

“Hey Alex? You're not naked in here, are
you?”

“Nah.”

“Oh, damn,” she joked. “Everyone's coming
over my place tonight. You coming over?”

I knew
everyone
consisted of our usual
friends. At least minus Alicia, as Friday was her night she usually
hung out with her school friends.

“Yeah. What time?”

“About an hour. I gotta take a shower.”

“Good. You smell.”

“You're so damn funny.”

She closed the door.

I did a quick workout before deciding I'd be
first at Cindy's place for a change. I got dressed and walked the
three feet separating our front doors. I was greeted by music
playing in the living room. I could hear her shower at the end of
the hall.

“Hey Cindy!” I called. “I'm in here.”

I stole a soda from her fridge. I walked
around her apartment, studying her decorating skills. She had
pictures everywhere. Most were of her, Alicia, and myself. She also
had pictures of her parents and her grandma. I hadn't seen her
grandma in a few months. I smiled as I looked at the picture taken
just last year of Cindy, Grandma, and me. We were posing in front
of a roller coaster at the Kings Dominion amusement park. Cindy was
giving me bunny ears as I flexed an arm in front of her. Grandma
was playfully pulling on Cindy's arm, as if wanting to go back on
the roller coaster. That was a fun time.

“Alex!”

I jumped. The voice was five feet away. I
looked up to see Cindy, completely naked. Her body had a sexy sheen
from the shower water. My mind barely had a second to process what
I was seeing before I closed my eyes and threw an arm over my
face.

“Jesus, Cindy!”

“What the fuck, Alex,” she said. I heard her
storming down the hallway. “Why didn't you say you were here?”

“I did! I screamed at the top of my lungs! I
said, 'Cindy, I'm in your apartment. Please do not come out of the
bathroom without any clothes on.'”

“Bullshit.”

“Seriously, Cindy. I yelled out when I first
came in.”

She was talking from her bedroom now.

“Well, I didn't hear you.”

“I did, I swear. I've seen enough naked women
in my lifetime. No need to add you to the list.”

She was quiet for a moment. I was trying to
figure out if she really was mad at me. Hell, I'd done worse by
accident over the years, like the time I ran over her foot with her
car.

She stepped out of her bedroom, dressed this
time. Shorts and a tee-shirt. She walked by without even looking at
me.

Yikes.

Before I could defend myself there was a
knock at the door.

“Come in.”

It was Dave. Tina was a step behind.

“Hey guys,” he said. He saw the scowl on
Cindy's face. “Uh, we interrupting something?”

“No,” she said, then motioned for them to
come in.

Dave looked at me. “Dude, why the hell didn't
you say Julie broke up with you last weekend? Man, I feel like an
ass now.”

I waved him off. “Don't worry about it. I'm
good now.”

Tina pointed at me. “Her mistake, Alex.”

“Thanks, Tina.”

Jenny showed up not too long after they did.
Dave and Jenny fought over what to watch on TV. Everyone just
talked about their work week, what was happening in their lives.
Cindy barely looked at me. I decided to steer clear of her for a
while.

We had our share of fights over the years,
like all friends do. Some were dumb, and some not so dumb. She
didn't agree with me dating Marie, a bartender I met while we were
out one night. Turned out she was right about that one. I gave her
a hard time when she lent her last boyfriend Roy three hundred
bucks to “fix his car”. Turns out I was wrong. He paid her back.
But I still insist he was on drugs.

Now apparently we were fighting because I saw
her naked for half a second.

Everyone was vegging out. They raided her
fridge a little and were fighting about what movie to watch when
Dave had an idea that would change my life.

“Hey, you guys want to get out of here? I
know this great place we could hang out at.”

“Where?” Jenny asked.

“It's a cabin in the woods. Awesome place.
Right by a lake. I left a grill there from when I was there last
time. We could cook some food. No one ever goes there.”

Jenny shrugged. “I'm up for it.”

Everyone looked at Cindy. “Sure.”

My turn. I saw this as a chance to go home,
get away from Cindy's evil stare. But when I looked at her the evil
look was gone. She looked better, although she still wasn't
smiling.

“I'll tag along.”

“Sweet,” Dave jumped up. “We brought Tina's
truck. We'll take that. Give Alex a night off from driving. I'll
buy food and gas.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

It was a little cramped in the back of Tina's
truck, but it wasn't too bad. Tina sat in front with Dave, of
course. I tried to avoid sitting next to Cindy, but Jenny didn't
want to sit next to the window. So, stuck I was. Nothing like being
forced to rub shoulders with someone you know is mad at you.

Dave stopped at the grocery store. He and
Tina ran inside while Jenny got out to make a call on her cell
phone. I got out just to stretch my legs, and to get away from
Cindy. To my surprise, she got out with me.

We avoided eye contact for a moment, then
looked at each other. She gave me a half-hearted smile, a sign she
had cooled off a little.

“Are we cool, Cindy?” I finally asked.

“Yeah, we're cool.”

Some more silence. There was still some
discomfort there.

“I don't know what you're thinking, but I
swear that was an accident. Come on, you know me. I don't do crap
like that on purpose.”

“You don't have a clue why I'm mad, do
you?”

I was quiet. Well, I
thought
I knew,
anyway.

“Uh, maybe because I saw you with no clothes
on?”

“No. You saw me with no clothes on, and you
looked away like I was the ugliest thing you ever saw. You actually
covered your eyes, like I was blinding you or something.”

I can only imagine the look on my face.
Probably a mix of plain dumb confusion and surprise.

“Huh?”

“Do you think I'm pretty, Alex?”

I was a little annoyed, simply because I had
no idea of what was going on.

“Is this a joke? What are you talking
about?”

“It's a simple question, with a yes or no
answer. Do you think I'm attractive?”

The simple question with a yes or no answer
made me uncomfortable enough to stall for time. I caught Jenny
sneaking a peek at us, but she quickly looked away and kept on with
her phone call.

“Cindy, what the hell does it matter what I
think? There's a thousand guys out there who think you're
attractive.”

“I'm not asking a thousand guys. I'm asking
you. And you just gave me an answer, I guess.”

“No, I didn't. Don't put words in my
mouth.”

She threw her hands in the air. “Why does
this have to be so damn hard? It's a simple question.”

It
was
a simple question. But it was
wrong somehow to tell your best friend that she was the most
beautiful woman you'd ever seen. I stole looks at her all the time,
but that was always followed by guilt. You aren't
supposed
to be attracted to your best friend.

“You're gorgeous. Come on Cindy, what's this
about? You even know you're gorgeous. You don't need me to tell
you.”

She took a deep breath and smiled. “Then why
did you cover your eyes back at the apartment?”

I barely held in my frustration. Women are
weird.

“Did you want me to stand there and stare
like a pervert? I'm not gonna stare at a naked woman with my mouth
hanging open.”

I saw Dave and Tina walking across the
parking lot with a bag of groceries. It was time to get moving.

Cindy surprised me with a tight hug. Then she
climbed back in the truck. I shook my head. I still didn't know
what the hell just happened, but whatever it was, I was glad it was
behind us.

“Christ. Next time I'll stand there like a
deer in headlights. That'll make everyone happy.”

It didn't take us too long to get to where
Dave had in mind. He took a turn off the highway down a dirt road
through some trees. It was a little creepy considering the only
light came from the moon. But after about five minutes of driving
he slowed down.

It was a hell of a scene. It was just like he
described. The moonlight threw wicked shadows across the worn-down
cabin. Right behind the cabin was a pier leading to a huge lake.
The moonlight shimmered off the surface of the water. The sounds of
nature were all around us. It was freaky. Ten minutes ago we were
on the highway. Now that all seemed so far away.