A Day In Charleston
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The sun was high in the sky by the time we got back to our room. I had been worried about leaving my phone behind, but it turned out that there were no cell towers around here anyway and they didn’t need them for their magic.
They did have a computer network which was how they kept track of everything happening on the island. The girls told me later that all three of us would be able to access our phones via magic whenever we wanted. It sounded like an interesting concept, but not one I ever really thought much about since I never carried mine with me anymore.
“So what now?” asked Molly as she sat down next to me at the table where breakfast had just arrived. “We can do whatever you want.”
I looked over her shoulder and saw that it was still early enough for lunch too so I ordered another plate full of food. We ate quietly while talking about nothing important until finally deciding to go check out some shops downtown.
There wasn’t anything special or unique anywhere in town, but it was nice walking along the streets together without any issues from people who couldn’t see us. The only problem came when we passed a store called ‘O’Malley’s’. A couple of guys inside waved at us as we walked past and then started laughing and pointing after catching sight of Molly.
“Hey! That girl is hot!” said one guy loudly.
“Yeah, right,” replied his friend as he laughed. “She looks like she could use some more meat on those bones.”
Molly blushed slightly as we continued walking away. She knew better than anyone else how pretty she was, but sometimes she forgot just how different she was compared to everyone else. I reached out and put my hand on top of hers.
“Don’t let them bother you, sweetheart. You’re beautiful and smart and kind – they don’t know what they are saying.”
“Thanks,” she whispered softly before looking up at me again. “You look good today too…”
My face flushed red as I realized exactly what she meant and quickly took my hand off of hers. I turned to walk back towards the shop, trying desperately to hide from her view as I mumbled something incoherently under my breath. Molly giggled lightly and followed after me.
When we entered the store, both men left their seats near the front window and headed straight for the door. They weren’t alone either; several other men joined them outside once they noticed what was going on.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” said one man angrily as he grabbed hold of one of the guys who had spoken earlier. “That’s my girlfriend!”
It took him a moment to realize that he’d actually touched me instead of Molly. He froze in place momentarily before turning to run. His friends chased after him, yelling obscenities as they did so. My eyes darted between the two groups and I saw that most of the others inside the store were staring at us too.
Several women even whistled and made cat calls as they watched the scene unfold. One woman began to follow us out into the street but stopped when she caught sight of the people chasing the first guy out of the shop. Another group of men appeared behind us shortly afterward, and this time they seemed intent on following us out onto the sidewalk.
“Just stay calm,” warned Molly nervously as she led us through the crowd. “They aren’t bothering us unless we draw attention to ourselves.”
I nodded silently as we slowly moved forward. It felt strange being stared at like this, but I supposed that it must happen everywhere in the world. This wasn’t the first time that I’d seen a mob mentality take control of someone, although usually, it happened after a disaster or during a riot.
These guys clearly hadn’t done anything yet, but I could tell that things were getting tense. Finally, one of the men who had been standing outside the shop decided to speak up.
“Hey fuckers, get your asses moving! Move it!” he yelled as loud as he possibly could. The words echoed across the street and the entire crowd fell silent. Everyone looked at each other curiously for a second before breaking out into laughter. The man who had been shouting stepped forward and pointed directly at the one who had come up with the idea.
“Who the fuck are you?! What makes you think that you can order us around? If you don’t move, I’m gonna kick the shit out of you!”
The man who spoke was tall and muscular with short brown hair and a beard. Most of the others had longish dark hair and wore similar clothing. Judging by their ages, they probably went to school somewhere nearby. All of them looked familiar somehow, except for the one who had shouted at us. He stood apart from everyone else and seemed to be studying our situation carefully. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and serious.
“Do you really wanna start something here?” he asked calmly. “Because if you do, you’ll regret it later.”
After taking a step closer to the rest of the group, the man leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. “Look,” he continued. “I understand that you’ve got some beef with these kids. But why not just leave them alone? Why risk starting an incident that will make all of us look bad?”
He paused briefly to give the others a chance to respond. A few muttered comments were heard, but no one offered any sort of explanation. After another pause, the man sighed heavily.
“Fine then,” he said simply. “But remember: there’s always a price to pay for messing with someone stronger than yourself. And you haven’t paid it yet.”
With that, he walked away without further comment. The crowd dispersed immediately thereafter, leaving only a handful of people scattered about the intersection. Molly hurried over to us and pulled me aside.
“Are you okay?” she asked worriedly. “Did they hurt you anywhere?”
I shook my head. “No, nothing like that. They didn’t touch me at all, but… well, you saw what they were doing. It was crazy.”
She gave me a curious look. “You mean the way they started acting like that? Did you see how many of them were staring at us while we were in there?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I guess so. There were a lot more people watching than usual, right?”
Molly shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe. I know that a bunch of girls has been coming in lately, but I never thought that they would cause such a stir.” She glanced down at herself briefly before looking back up again. “And now I hear that there might be some kind of gang involved.”
My heart sank slightly as I remembered the man who had spoken to us. “A gang?” I mumbled. “Like the ones from last night?”
“Probably,” replied Molly quietly. “There has been a lot of talk around town recently. People keep talking about how easy it is to find drugs and alcohol nowadays. That’s because those kinds of things are becoming harder and harder to get.”
“What does that have to do with gangs?” I asked confusedly.
“Well, apparently the big drug dealers in town buy their supply from these smaller groups called ‘gangs’. So I guess that means that they’re trying to muscle in on their territory.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” I commented. “If they decide to go after the girls, it won’t end pretty.”
Molly nodded grimly. “It’s definitely going to get worse before it gets better.”
We stared at each other for several seconds before turning to face the building once again. I couldn’t help but feel uneasy about the future of our little business. Our customers weren’t exactly normal, and I knew that they could be dangerous at times.
Still, I had hoped that we wouldn’t have to deal with anything like this until much later. Now, however, I wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to continue working at the club. We had already gotten ourselves into enough trouble with the police; getting caught by a gang sounded even scarier.
***
Several days passed since the incident with the guys outside the club. Unfortunately, none of the regulars showed up during that time, which meant that we barely made any money. In fact, we actually lost quite a bit of cash thanks to the lack of patrons.
Eventually, though, word began spreading through the neighborhood that the club would reopen soon, and customers started trickling back. By the following weekend, we were able to open the doors again. This time, however, we decided to close earlier than usual.
When we arrived at the club, it was nearly empty. Only three regulars were present, including two young women who worked there. Their names were Alicia and Jessica, both of whom were fairly attractive and friendly. As usual, they greeted us warmly when we entered the room.
“Hey, Molly,” said Alicia cheerfully. “How did your first day off go?”
The girl smiled at me before glancing at Molly. “Oh, hey! You finally finished fixing the front door, huh?”
Molly nodded slowly. “Yes, it’s done,” she replied softly. “Thank you.”
Jessica giggled lightly. “Don’t worry about it. If you hadn’t fixed it, I think that we’d still be stuck out there!”
Both girls laughed loudly at the joke, causing both Molly and myself to laugh along with them. Once we settled down, the conversation moved on to lighter subjects. Neither of the girls mentioned the incident from the previous week, nor did they bring up the men who had caused it. Instead, they talked about their lives, hobbies, and interests.
After an hour or so, the girls excused themselves and left. With no other customers, Molly and I sat together at one of the tables. We chatted about various things, but eventually, the subject turned toward the recent events at the club.
“So, uh…” I began hesitantly. “Do you really believe that there is a gang involved here?”
Molly frowned deeply. “Honestly, I’m not too sure anymore. When I heard about all the stuff happening around town, I figured that it must be something serious. But then I found out that you got attacked by those guys outside the club. And now that I’ve seen what happened to you, well… I don’t know if I can take another attack from anyone else.”
I sighed softly. “Me neither,” I admitted sadly. The memory of the pain and fear that I felt when those men grabbed me came rushing back to mind, and I shivered slightly. “But I just wish that I knew why they were attacking us in the first place.”
Molly shook her head. “No idea. Maybe it was some kind of personal vendetta? Or maybe they’re just crazy.”
“Or maybe they work for someone else,” I muttered darkly. “Someone who wants to shut down my club.”
Molly looked over at me sharply. “You mean like the people from last night?”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah, I wonder if they’re connected somehow.”
She thought for a moment before shaking her head. “They didn’t seem very organized, and I doubt that they could afford the kind of protection that you have.”
“Maybe not,” I agreed. “Still, it might make sense. After all, they seemed to know where we lived, right?”
“True,” Molly murmured. “And besides, they kept showing up whenever you went out to meet clients.” She paused for a few moments before adding, “Of course, I don’t know if you should say anything about this to the cops. They probably won’t do anything anyway.”
“Probably not,” I echoed. “At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.”
My words prompted a frown from Molly. “Look, Alex. There are lots of reasons why someone would want to kill you. It doesn’t necessarily mean that someone is trying to stop you from running your business. At worst, they may simply be jealous of you or angry because you hurt their feelings.”
I snorted. “Whatever, I don’t care about that. All I know is that I feel safer inside the club rather than walking around outside.”
Molly shrugged. “Well, whatever. Just try to stay safe, okay?”
I nodded silently.
As the minutes ticked by, Molly and I continued talking quietly. We discussed everything from our favorite foods to movies to TV shows. Before long, though, we noticed that the club was getting busy again. Several new customers came in and ordered drinks, and several others gathered at nearby tables. Soon enough, we were once more surrounded by dozens of people.
Several hours later, as the sun started to set, Molly and I headed home. I walked behind her, keeping pace with her while she led the way through the city streets. We passed by several clubs and bars, each of which was filled with loud music and drunk people.
In many ways, it reminded me of the old days, when Molly and I used to hang out in downtown New York City. Back then, we were both students, and we spent most evenings drinking alcohol and dancing.
Eventually, we made it to the apartment building where Molly lived. As usual, we took the elevator, and soon after stepped into the hallway leading to her room. From there, I followed her down the hall until we reached her door. She unlocked it with ease, and we slipped inside.
Once the door closed, Molly looked over at me. “How was your day?”
“Good, I guess,” I answered vaguely. “What about yours?”
Molly shrugged. “Pretty good, actually.” She glanced at me for a second before continuing, “Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Okay,” I said cautiously. “Go ahead.”
“There’s something that I need to tell you,” she explained. “Something important.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked curiously. “Is it about your job? Because I already told you that I’ll help you find a new one.”
Molly shook her head firmly. “That isn’t it,” she insisted. “It has nothing to do with work. Well, sort of. Actually, it does have something to do with work, but only indirectly.”
I waited patiently for her to continue.
After a short pause, Molly began speaking again. “The thing is, I think that you and I are going to end up being roommates sooner or later.”
I blinked in surprise. “Really?” I asked incredulously. “We aren’t even dating yet!”
“Yes, we are,” Molly corrected me. “And unless you want to go back to living on the street, you really can’t avoid it.”
I frowned. “Why not?”
“Because you’ve been spending so much time here lately,” Molly pointed out. “And I’m tired of sleeping alone every night.”
I groaned. “Molly…”
“Now, wait a minute,” she interrupted. “Don’t get mad at me! I never meant to imply that you’re cheating on me or anything like that. Really, I just figured that it wouldn’t hurt to warn you.”
“Warn me?” I repeated. “About what exactly?”
Molly sighed softly. “Alex, I know that you’ve always had trouble committing to relationships. You tend to date a lot of women without ever making any serious commitments. And that’s fine, I guess. But now that things are different between us, I’d prefer if you stopped seeing other girls.”
I stared at her blankly. “But…but how am I supposed to do that?” I demanded. “You know I haven’t dated anyone since my breakup with Julie, right?”
Molly rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I remember. That’s precisely why I’m worried about you. If you keep hanging out with me all the time, eventually everyone will figure out that you two are together.”
I lowered my voice. “That’s impossible,” I whispered urgently. “I promise you, no one knows that we’re friends anymore.”
Molly raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Really? How would you explain this?”
She gestured toward herself. “Everyone sees me wearing your clothes, Alex. They see me using your bathroom, eating your food, and sleeping in your bed.”
My mouth fell open. “Wow,” I breathed. “I didn’t realize how obvious that was.”
Molly laughed. “Come on, stop trying to be funny, okay?”
I shook my head. “No, seriously, I’m sorry.”
“Forget it,” she replied nonchalantly. “Look, don’t worry too much about it. It’s not like anyone’s going to believe them anyway.”
“Of course they won’t,” I agreed. “People hardly ever take rumors seriously these days.”
“And besides,” Molly added, “it doesn’t matter whether or not anyone believes us. All that matters is that you and I look guilty, right?”
“Right,” I muttered.
“So, what are you going to do?” Molly pressed.
I thought for a moment. “Well, as long as it’s okay with you, I guess I could try to cut back on our relationship a little bit. I mean, I still want to hang out with you, but maybe less often than I have been, okay?”
Molly nodded eagerly. “Great. So, let’s start tonight, then. Instead of coming over tomorrow morning, why don’t you come by around eight o’clock instead?”
I grinned. “Sounds perfect.”
***
In the weeks following my conversation with Molly, I continued to spend more and more time at her place. It wasn’t intentional; rather, it was simply a consequence of my regular visits to the park. As far as I could tell, nobody seemed to notice that I spent most of my time there with her. At least, not until last week when someone finally did.
The End