Stepping Up to the Plate 1 - Stepping Up To The Plate by J. M. Snyder

Author:J. M. Snyder [Snyder, J. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Stacy frowned at the envelope. Lamar must've brought it in—he'd probably ask about it tonight. If he did, Stacy would tell him it was only about the ged. He'd even show him the letter with the test dates on it as proof. Shuffling through the papers he kept in the front of his math notebook, he found the letter and folded it into Mack's envelope. Hell, maybe he wouldn't give Lamar a chance to ask, he'd just leave it on the table and let his roommate look through it, Stacy knew he would.

With Mack's check, Stacy only needed another hundred bucks by the end of the month to pay his part of the rent. He didn't want to pester Darian about paying him, but he really needed the money. But when he finally decided to approach him about it, late Friday evening just before closing time, his boss already had a fistful of twenties for him. "I don't really have a pay day or anything like that," Darian said. Stacy took the money without counting it, stuffing it into his back pocket. It felt like a lot of cash, even if it was only what he earned for the past week or so. "How's every Friday sound to you? We can make it every other week, if you want, since that's the way most people tend to do it, but I went through the tax stuff and you get more money if you get paid every week."

"That's cool," Stacy assured him. With a laugh, he added, "Just getting paid is good enough for me. Thanks."

Darian grinned. "No, thank you. You're a big help around here, I mean it. I don't know what I'd do without you."

On the ride home, Stacy stared out the window and replayed those words over and over again in his mind. He liked the way they sounded in Darian's voice. He liked what they implied.

* * * *

Back at the apartment, Lamar was waiting for him in the living room, eating a bowl of cereal and watching tv. No pot tonight, not when the rent was due, but an open can of beer on the table in front of him gave Stacy a small clue about his roommate's mood, even before Lamar asked, "Where you been?"

"Work," Stacy replied. Lamar laughed, a short, derisive sound that said he thought Stacy was full of shit. "What?"

Lamar shook his head, but something in his hard eyes made Stacy nervous. The envelope, he thought, glancing at the kitchen table. There it was, right where he had left it earlier in the week, so blatantly untouched that he knew Lamar must've looked inside.

Maybe it was the rent that bothered him, maybe he'd smoked his half away and wanted Stacy to cover the full amount, though in the past when that happened, Lamar had been overly sweet, too nice, lulling Stacy into thinking everything was great between them before asking for money. At the moment a gulf spanned across the room, separating them, distancing them for some reason Stacy didn't yet know and Lamar wasn't ready to tell.

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