Late August, Veronica and I have managed to nail down a little apartment just outside of Sherwood. It's small, cheap, but it's home. We aren't very picky.
"Shit!" Veronica exclaims. Something hits the ground with a loud thud. I peak into our new bedroom with two cardboard boxes in my arms.
"You good?" I ask as I set the boxes on the mattress.
She chuckles. "Yep." Veronica picks up the scattered books and stacks them on the card table we will be using as a desk for the two of us.
I nod and bite my lip, scanning our bedroom. Where to hide my gun? There's no way I'm ever getting rid of it. I glance at it, make sure it's on safety, and set it on the nightstand for now. Veronica looks up at me, bewildered.
"What?" I ask, leaning against the wall.
She sits back on her heels. "Nothing…" Veronica slowly stands up, walking to her little carry-on suitcase she's had since we first ran last year. I watch as she unzips a pocket on the very front and reaches into it.
She sets a gun, the pills she snatched from me in our senior year, my old pocket knife, and a switchblade on the nightstand. She brushes past me to get a few more boxes from the car. I grin at her as she passes. She's twisted just enough to suit me. She matches my madness with calm power.
We unpack all the boxes and she heats up a frozen pizza in our tiny kitchenette. I end up spreading our weapons throughout the apartment. I throw out the pills though. The switchblade, I know that was hers. The blade is perfect for the ever so faint scars on her thighs. I hide it in a tall kitchen counter she can't reach. The pocket knife and my own gun reside in my jacket pocket, obviously. Veronica's .357 caliber Colt Python is to be kept in the nightstand drawer.
It's the perfect home for a pair of semi-sociopaths. Though Veronica may not admit it, I can see it in her eyes. She's just as bad as me. But over the year, we have learned to contain it. We can be normal, and we will be.
Veronica slides a newspaper article over to me as she takes a bite of her pizza slice. "You should apply."
I look at it, setting my can of Coke, (my new favorite soda, since Courtney's little OD), and look at it. It's a job offer for a self-defense teaching position, part-time. I laugh.
"Seriously, Veronica?" I hand her back her newspaper. "No way."
She shrugs. "You need a job, I already applied to that part-time tutoring place down the road. Better to use your strengths than to work at some fast-food joint or something."
"Whatever." I grin at her and she smiles back. "When do you start school?"
"Two weeks." She sips her own soda.
"Right. I'll miss you all day." I bring her other hand to my lips and kiss her palm. She giggles, I've touched her ticklish spot.
"I'll miss you too." She bites her lip playfully.
We eat our pizza in peace. The little apartment window is open, letting the curtains blow around. The glistening stars are visible through the sheer-ish material. The echo of the wind kissing the treetops and crickets chirping joins our silly and lovesick chatter. The syrupy lamplight casts shadows around the room, but illuminate my beautiful wife's blushed and laughing face. I am happy, I need nothing more.
