Free Mardi Gras Mambo by Gred Herren Page B

I’m not stupid, Frank.” It came out a lot bitchier than I intended, but I was beyond caring. I sank down wearily into my wingback chair. Another wave was starting to come over me, so I started taking deep breaths again, and began tapping my hands on the chair arms.
    â€œYou need to flush them down the toilet,” Frank went on. His face was really flushed. “Right, Colin? There’s no safe place to hide them from a search warrant.” His scar seemed to darken. His eyebrows came together again. “I told you it was a dumb idea.”
    â€œYeah, well, maybe, but we have to deal with it now.” I scowled back at him. If he said, “I told you so,” I was going to throw something at him—something heavy that would hurt.
    â€œGive them to me,” Colin instructed. “They won’t have probable cause to search our apartment, Frank.”
    â€œAre you crazy?” Frank stood up. He was trembling. Maybe it was just another wave, but it might have been anger. “We just need to get rid of them and be done with it.”
    I stood up without saying anything, walked into the bedroom, and pulled them out from under the blanket. I stood there with them in my hands and thought about it. Maybe Frank’s right, and I should just flush them down the toilet. But if I do, we won’t have any more and Misha’s dead. . . . I walked into the bathroom and stood over the toilet with them.
    But I didn’t have anything to do with killing Misha, and do I really want to ruin my Mardi Gras?
    I said a quick prayer to the Goddess for guidance, but she didn’t answer. I hate when she does that. Oh, sure, I know it’s because I am supposed to make my own decisions, but a little help every once in a while isn’t too much to ask for, is it?
    I looked at myself in the mirror and started to shake. Whether it was another wave or not, I couldn’t tell, but my teeth started chattering and I wrapped my arms around myself. Maybe I should have forced Misha to tell me what was going on. I put the baggie down on the counter and turned on the hot water. Misha was dead. I stared at myself in the mirror. He’d been such a sweet guy—always so happy to see me, always so friendly and affectionate, but never in a sexual way. I’d really liked him, and now that he was gone, I was sorry I hadn’t made more of an effort to get to know him better. But now that chance was gone, and I felt the tears coming. I had always felt connected to him somehow; able to just relax around him and be myself. I stood there for a few moments and let the tears come. As I cried, I said some prayers to the Goddess for Misha. I was going to miss him. I remembered how his big strong arms felt around me as he hugged the breath out of me every time he saw me and spun me around. Why would someone kill him? He was a sweet, kind man. I splashed water on my face and pulled myself together.
    I took a deep breath and walked back out of the bedroom. Maybe it would turn out not to be the smartest thing in the world to hold on to the drugs, but Colin didn’t seem to want to get rid of them, either. I walked into the living room and handed them over to Colin.
    Frank looked at both of us, his head going from side to side. “You know what? You two are fucking crazy!”
    â€œFrank—” I started to say, but Colin cut me off.
    â€œFrank, they aren’t interested in the drugs, and you and I both know Scotty didn’t have anything to do with this, and Venus knows it too.” Colin folded his arms. “ Think about it. You’re not in your right mind right now—”
    Frank turned completely purple, his scar almost glowing in intensity. “And why the fuck am I not in my right mind, huh? I might have known you’d take his side on this—you’re just as bad as he is.”
    â€œHey! You’re not being fair!” I protested.
    Frank stood there for a moment,