A month into the new year already? Snatch rolled out of bed and put his bare feet on the floor. He scratched his chin and popped his eyes open to look out into his room. The floorboards from the center of the room still leaned precariously against the wall; he’d never nailed the boards back down. He ran his fingers through his greasy hair and looked down at the floor.
He did not remember coming to bed.
He turned to look out his bedroom window and placed his hand on top of a warm body. He jerked around to stare at a woman in his bed. Her back faced him.
“Danielle?” Snatch shook her.
The woman rolled over. It was Laura, the police officer.
Snatch jumped from the bed and stumbled over the hole in the center of his room. He ran out of his bedroom and slammed the door behind him as he entered the bathroom.
He stared into the dirty mirror.
“What happened?” he asked aloud.
“I don’t know,” his reflection answered. “Why are you asking me? I wasn’t there.”
Snatch shook his head and turned on the water to the sink. He held a hand up to his reflection and looked down into the sink. The faucet popped and burped as air bounced through the pipe before water started to run. He dipped his hands beneath the water and splashed it into his face.
“What did I do?”
This time, his reflection did not answer. Snatch used his thumb to stretch the elastic band of his underwear and then peered between his legs. He studied himself and then looked back up to his reflection.
“Did I have sex?”
His chest heaved and he left the bathroom. He went back into his bedroom and looked at Laura on his bed. She still slept.
Snatch stormed over and gripped the edge of the blanket from the bed. He snatched the blanket off of Laura and threw it to the side.
“Wake up,” he said.
Laura turned over in surprise, covering her chest with one arm. “What’s going on, Edgar? Is something the matter?”
Snatch staggered back a few steps and swayed side to side as his head crashed with the blood behind his eardrums. His teeth clashed together and scraped against one another as he ripped his jaw from side to side. The vein in his left temple pulsed and pounded.
“What the hell happened?” Snatch asked. “Get out of my bed.”
“What?” Laura asked.
“Get out of my bed.” His words pounded past his lips with a monotone, marching force.
Laura sat up and reached for her pants, belt and shirt on the floor. She glanced back up to Snatch with a confused look. “I don’t understand.”
“I said get out. How are you even here?”
“Are you okay?” Laura asked. She stood up and pulled her shirt on. She took one cautious step toward Snatch.
“What are you doing?”
“I wanted to give you a kiss,” Laura said.
“How did you get in my bed?” Snatch asked. He lunged forward and pushed Laura back onto his bed. He straddled her and jerked a pillow over her face. He pressed his arm down over Laura’s face underneath the pillow and held the corner down with both hands.
Laura struggled beneath him, but his strength outmatched hers. He held the pillow in place. She kicked and screamed, though muffled through the pillow.
Snatch jerked the pillow away and wrapped both hands around the girl’s throat. “How did you get in my bed?”
Terror filled Laura’s eyes, but she tried to answer behind sobs. “You said I could stay!”
Snatch stopped his sudden assault, but did not move off of her. His hands moved instead to pin both of Laura’s wrists to the bed. “I said you could stay?” he asked.
“Yes,” Laura said. She sucked a pained breath in and looked up at Edgar.
“I don’t remember.”
“You told me I could stay to talk to your Mother this morning. She’d already gone to bed by the time you warmed up to me.” She eyed him with concern. “You really don’t remember?”
“No.”
“We had a nice long conversation,” Laura said from beneath Snatch. “You told me all about Danielle.”
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