Almost a whole work week passed by now and it was Saturday once more. Every day was work and work and followed by more work. If Spongebob wasn't flipping patties at the Krusty Krab, he was slinging pills out of his house or some random parking lot. Bubble Bass came by like clockwork to pick up the money and drop off more Percs. This time Spongebob actually asked if he was able to sell more stuff other than this one drug.
"If you'd like, sure…what do you wanna buy?"
"Anything good and profitable"
Bubble Bass promised the yellow sponge a shipment of goodies soon and to be ready to deal with a wider crowd.
"I'd suggest getting a burner phone…and stop having people over here, you'll have junkies crawling into your windows for a fix"
Spongebob went ahead and did just that. Got a separate phone and usually only sold in 'public' places. On top of that, he decided to purchase a gun. A simple Glock is all and obtained it legally of course. It may be over the top, but he can't risk anyone harming him or his snail at home.
"Thank god this is a stand your ground state "
No one has heard anything from Squidward since Monday. No one knows where he's at or how he's doing. But life is going on as usual other than that. Sandy visited Spongebob a few more times over the course of the week. Sometimes they'll just talk or just fuck in the cooler again. He doesn't dare let her into his home though, it's far too messy and he just can't let her see how he truly lives. He thought of dedicating a Sunday to cleaning it eventually.
Some odd feeling has crept up on him, however. They have been texting for over a week now, but she suddenly stopped replying over a day ago. The last message from her was Thursday night:
"Gn bb I love you. Text me when ur on break tomorrow!"
He did just that and then nothing. No read receipt. No acknowledgement. Nothing.
A few calls were even made but to no avail. Maybe she lost her phone? Maybe she just got busy? Who the hell knows?
Spongebob checked his phone every few minutes while on grill duty. He eventually received some indication she was alive while he was mid flip of a patty.
Ding!
Sandy finally replied:
"Hey! Sorry I ghosted you for a min. Can we link soon?"
Spongebob was too busy feeling elated to question her disappearance.
"Sure! C'mon over!" he texted back.
"A krabby patty with fries, Spongebob!" Shouted the crab from the other room.
Spongebob pulled out his baggie from his back pocket and finger dipped in. He scooped up a dose with his nail and held it up to his nose.
nffffNFFFF
"Ahhh"
The chemical drip was felt at the back of his throat as the rush of the coke swam in his head. It was show time.
He flipped patties with both hands while keeping an eye on the fryer timer. Like a cutscene in a movie, he was done making it in under a minute flat. That includes condiments, veggies, fries, and the works.
DIng ding!
"Order up!"
Knock knock
SpongeBob's heart skipped as he turned and shouted.
"Come in!"
Sandy threw open the door and stumbled in. She was surprisingly still wearing a skimpy outfit that Spongebob figured would be only for her nights at Shelly's. A pink crop top was adorned with one strap falling off the shoulder, her jorts looked freshly cut with the pickets sticking out and threads frizzing out everywhere. Wait a minute. Is that-
"A tattoo?!"
Spongebob pointed down on Sandy's left thigh which was freshly shaven and marked by an upside-down black heart outline and the word 'Texas' written right side up. The squirrel looked down on her leg as if she was seeing it for the first time too.
"Well well well.." she muttered
"Who thunk to put that der hahaha!" she laughed as she slapped her knee.
Spongebob tilted his head. Something seemed really weird about his girl. Almost like she was losing her mind.
"Are you ok, Sandy?"
The disheveled squirrel jolted up with a big ol' grin at the greasy fry cook in front of her. It looked like she had lashes on, well had one at least, her teeth were stained with lipstick, and the eye liner ran into her fur.
"Spongie bob! I'm fine! Why'd you ask"
SpongeBob looked at her up and down and then turned to tend to the grill. Sandy shrugged her shoulders and slammed the door before hopping on the rolling chair. She swiveled around the kitchen with her legs and bumped into the condiment table.
"OW! Oooo" she grabbed her foot before laughing it off.
The sponge turned his head sharply at her.
"What the hell are you doing?! Sit still…"
Sandy rolled her eyes
"Sir yes Sir!"
She sat down hard on the chair while huffing and crossing her arms.
"Got a cig I can bum?"
Now it was SpongeBob's turn to roll his own eyes. He reached into his front right pocket and took out the box before tossing it over to her.
"Here"
"Yesss" Sandy excitedly whispered while picking out one from the box. She sat the box on the floor before she pulled out a light and lit the cigarette. She took an inhale.
"Where have you been, Sandy?"
The startled squirrel exhaled while coughing
Cough cough "what?" cough
The fry cook waved the smoke out of his face and turned to face her.
"I said…where have you been? You were MIA for like a day and a half! And look at you…"
Spongebob looked up and down his girl again which prompted Sandy to do the same to herself.
"You look like a mess"
The messy squirrel straightened her back up and scoffed.
"Oh, so yer judging me now?"
"No no…it's not like that, I'm just concerned!"
Sandy took another puff and flaked the ashes to the floor. Her attitude was raunchy and boisterous, but her face looked deprived.
"I just got a little carried away with some of the girls from my night job…"
"A whole day and a half though?!"
"It ain't my job to check up on you every four minutes, Spongebob"
"But you said you'd see me at work yesterday"
"And I'm sorry! Honest! I went out like two nights in a row and was sleeping the rest of the time. It's no big deal Spongebob!" she smiled while pointing both hands to her chest.
Is he overreacting? He felt like everything in life got dramatic all of a sudden and sometimes wonders if he really just blows things out of proportion.
"Well…ok then…"
He turned to flip a patty.
"So, you called out of your day job yesterday?"
There was silence followed by a "uh ya…"
"Sandy"
"What?"
"You called out properly, right?"
"Spongebob it's fine don't worry about it"
"Sandy…"
He turned and faced her again.
"That job is super important for you…way more than any stripper gig could be"
"It's not stripping Spongebob…"
"You know what I mean though"
Sandy flicked the bud on the floor and crushed it with her foot.
"I appreciate yer concern but i'm ok Sponge, I promise"
Spongebob shook his head.
"I sure hope so"
"Ya don't believe me?!"
"No... I mean I DO but like I don't know. I can't shake this feeling you're getting into trouble"
"Like what?"
"Are you drinking a lot? Are you drunk right now?"
"You're one to speak-"
"Are you?!"
Sandy got up and held herself with one hand on the chair, finding her balance.
"I ain't drunk no sir! Breathalyze me if you must…my last drink was a night ago! I'm just a little hungover alright?"
Spongebob looked into her bloodshot eyes and down to the shotty tattoo job. Something about her was not right. Was this some kind of call for help?
"Alright babe. I believe you. Just promise me you keep up at the community college, ok?"
Sandy giggled and threw her arms around him.
"Aw you worry too much! But that's why I love you…" she planted a kiss on his cheek and made her way to the door. Oddly enough he did not smell any booze on her lips, but it doesn't explain the erratic behavior.
"Buh bye Spongebob!"
"Bye Sandy…"
—-
The rest of the day went by smoothly. Waves of people came and went, leaving behind their mass destruction of littered wrappers and soda cans. Mr. Krabs was cleaning the tables while Spongebob mopped the floors. Spongebob felt a sense of mediation just scrubbing away at the floorboards, it was secretly his second favorite thing to do besides patty flipping. Dunk, wring out, swipe-swipe, wring out again, dunk. He continued this rhythm for a while until the whole place sparkled and shined.
"All done Mr. K…anything else i can do?"
Mr. Krabs looked up from the table he was wiping.
"Aye lad, go into me office and grab me bags before locking the door"
He did just that. Found the black satchel, grabbed the keys and locked the door. The bag is something he's only seen once before when Squidward and him were making plans on going out. It was lumpy and heavy. The fry cook guessed it was probably just stacks of cash or something.
"Here ya go!"
Mr. Krabs grabbed the bag and placed it on the table.
"Alright lad, g'nite"
"See ya Monday"
The walk home under the dusky sky Spongebob set the mood for him as he got lost in the sound of his footsteps. He still felt an immense sense of guilt with Squidward and that whole shitstorm. Is he gonna be ok? Are things gonna work out between them? That led him to ponder about his newly rekindled relationship with Sandy. What the fuck is even going on in her own head? Is he the responsible one now? There was just too much going on; it felt like he was trapped in the eye of a hurricane watching the winds destroy everything around him. He needs a distraction.
After getting home, he changed out of his clothes before washing up and throwing on something new. He rung up Patrick.
Ring ring. Ring ring.
"Spongebob?"
"Hey what's up? Down to hang?"
"Sure buddy what do you wanna do?"
"Drinks? We could check out a new bar or somethin'"
"Ok I'm down…meet at your place this time"
Spongebob hesitated before answering. He probably has to clean up a bit first.
"Sure ok…It might be a little dirty here though"
"Fine by me…see ya!"
Spongebob put his phone back in his pocket and looked around his house. It was mangled and dilapidated as it was months prior. He went downstairs and started picking up litter of his past self.
"Time to organize I guess"
