Things Change Things Don't Change
The guest parking at the apartment was so full that people started to leave their cars obtrusively in the side of the roads or in the Taco Bell parking lot and the bodies wandered up the outdoor stairwell all the way up to the door on the third floor. The door remained open for a great portion of the night – people were constantly going outside to smoke - and the air conditioning could not keep up.
Inside the apartment, all the walls were decorated with oversized posters of movies, musical groups, and swim suit models. The middle of the walls was covered up by rows of empty and partially empty plastic cups and beer cans – they sat atop all possible furniture surfaces until none were left. In the living room – where the loudest people were hanging out – there was a stereo system in one corner which played screaming rock songs. To the right of the stereo was a dresser with a large fish tank on top of it and the water shook a little from the bass of the speakers. The fish inside seemed oblivious to the swarms of people getting drunk around them.
One of the two bedrooms had been turned into a computer room. Harvey Jones was sitting on the coffee table near where the computer table was. Jack Derry sat in front of his custom-built PC trying to find the grossest videos on Google to show to his friends. Robbie McKinney and a girl that had wandered in with him sat on the white loveseat on the opposite side of the room.
Derry was tanned and muscular with short, brown hair and dark eyes that squinted when he talked. Whenever he smiled it always looked like the kind of smiles people use in photographs. Harvey was tall with long, brown hair and broad shoulders and a belly that was slightly chubby. Robbie had pale skin, dark hair, and a large nose that seemed to make his eyebrows look surprised all the time. The girl beside him was no shorter than five foot two and had smooth light-brown skin, and her hair was long and looked like sheeted milk chocolate.
“There was this one really bad one we were looking at the other day,” Derry told Harvey.
Robbie laughed in recollection.
“What's it called?” said Harvey.
“I don't know. Eel girl or something. It's really gross.”
“Type in eel girl video,” Robbie said.
“I already tried that.”
“Well you did it wrong.”
“No I didn't.”
“Let me try.” Robbie stood up from the loveseat.
“You won't find it, Robbie,” Derry said. Derry and Harvey stood up to exchange places with Robbie. The girl shifted over to the end of the loveseat. “He won't find it,” Derry said to Harvey. They sat down.
“What'd y'all do last night?” Harvey said.
Derry wrinkled his brow trying to put the pictures together in his mind. “Um, well – it wasn't that much fun – but we went over to this park or something to meet some chicks and -”
“It was the Port Neches park,” interrupted Robbie without turning around.
“Yea and fuckin' Robbie, the dumbass, he threw all the weed in the water.”
“It wasn't my fault. Those hicks in the truck were threatening to beat us up.”
“They were just talking. They were idiots.”
“Why did they wanna beat y'all up?” Harvey said.
“I don't know. 'Cause they're stupid hicks is why.” Derry said.
Harvey looked at the girl sitting next to him shyly. He had been watching her all along but now that he was right next to her, he could barely look at her. “Well do you have any pot leftover that Robbie didn't drown?”
“Yea, but Robbie can't have any.” Derry said.
“Fuck you.” said Robbie. They laughed.
“What's your name?” Harvey said to the girl, forcing himself to look at her.
“Raina.” She said. She had a pretty face and decent-sized breasts.
“I'm Harvey.” He nervously rubbed a hand against his stubble. Raina was looking boldly into Harvey's blue eyes. He looked away.
They found the video on Google finally and watched it while they took turns smoking from Derry's pipe. When the pipe came to Raina, she quietly said “no thanks,” and passed it on. The video was gross enough to make even the people who had seen it before cover their eyes, or at least pretend to cover their eyes. Raina's soft arm was touching Harvey's shoulder, and he imagined that it wasn't accidental.
After a while they left the computer room to get something to eat, but Derry ended up leaving to go talk to some people in the living room. The other three shared some leftover queso and chips in the kitchen. They stood around the stove, leaning on the linoleum counter-top, and talked intently with low voices and big grins and tried to hide their clumsiness when eating the chips. Harvey poured their drinks and they thanked him, calling him “bartender.” They sipped and slurped and chugged until their cups were empty.
“Another?” Harvey asked.
“Yea, pour dat drank, bartender.” Robbie said.
He did.
“And you?” He meant Raina.
“No, no thanks, I am good.”
“Really?”
“Yea.”
“Wow.”
“I'm sorry, it's just I don't -”
“No, no. No, it's admirable, actually.” They smiled at each other.

The next month Harvey was staring at Derry's fish tank. It was broken and the giant shards of glass rested in a pile on top of the dresser. The fish and water were missing. It had been broken by someone at the most recent party.
“What are you gonna do about that?”
“Huh? Oh, the fish tank... I don't know - I told the landlord that I was gong to replace the glass myself but he was all pissed about it. He said it was dangerous and that I should just throw it all away. He said it was against policy or something.”
“How did the landlord find out about it?”
“He was at my party.”
“Oh.” They laughed.
Derry changed the channel. There were lots of commercials and reruns.
“Shit, I'm hungry.” Harvey said.
“Yea, me too.” He changed the channel a couple more times. “I got some leftover hamburger helper that I made.”
“B.S. You actually cooked something?”
“Yes, bitch.”
They left the TV on and went into the kitchen. There were still empty cups and cans everywhere. Derry hardly ever cleaned his place, and the only time it was ever really clean was when he had one of his girlfriends do it for him. Derry leaned into the refrigerator and pulled out a large cooking pot with the lid on it and set it on the linoleum counter-top.
The sun was setting and orange light leaked in through the dirty windows over the dining table. Harvey looked out over the parking lot and watched the people walking around. He could see his old Camry in one of the guest spots. The left side of the car – the side with the huge crumple in it - was faced away from him and the car actually looked sort of pretty.
Derry slopped the reddish brown muck into some plastic bowls. The sauce had congealed and the hamburger helper was solid. Harvey stepped past Derry and got two beers from the fridge and put them on the table. Derry nodded toward the empty cups and cans on the counter.
“Jesus we look like we're drunks.”
Harvey laughed. “Yea. We must be completely wasted out of our minds at all times of the day.”
After they finished the leftovers and their beers, Derry got up and started digging in the freezer.
“Hey you still seeing that Rainy chick?”
“Raina Verdad. Yea. We've been going to the movies and stuff a lot for the last month.”
“She's hot. Did you fuck her yet?” Derry found a tub of ice cream.
Harvey blushed. “No. We haven't even kissed.”
“So now you're gonna fuck her right?”
“I don't know. We've only been dating for a little while.”
“Come on, dude! You need to hit that shit! She's hot!”
“What is that?” He meant the ice cream.
“Turtle fudge. It's fuckin' good.”
“Let me have some.”
“No way, there's only enough for me.”
“But I'm a guest in your house.” Harvey said jokingly.
“This ain't no house.”
“Apartment. Whatever.”
“Dis a bachelor pad. And bachelors ain't gotta share nothin'.”

One night Raina and Harvey woke up almost simultaneously and, without words, decided to make love again – the third time that night – this time against the headboard of Raina's long bed, with the pillows and blankets bunched up and twisted around their backs. Afterward, nearly breathless, she lay in his arms and wrapped her legs around him and they breathed simultaneously and smiled in the dark. They had as many as three nights like this each month. Each time, Harvey and Raina would sneak into Raina's apartment – which was a suite on the first floor of a complex located on the corner of campus. They had to tiptoe in, holding their fingertips to each other's lips, and close the door slowly. Then they'd cross the living room and lock themselves in Raina's bedroom without making any trips or stumbles in the dark.
All three of Raina's roommates were in bed by eleven-thirty - with the exception of occasional popcorn-movie nights – and all three of Raina's roommates did not wish to have an unknown guy sleeping in their apartment. It was partly Raina's fault because she never bothered to introduce Harvey to her roommates and it was also partly because Raina wanted her roommates to believe that she was still a virgin. Harvey was hurt that Raina never introduced him to the roommates, but he quickly forgot about it when he was in Raina's bed. Later in the night – around four o'clock – Raina would watch Harvey get dressed and then they would kiss each other good-bye.
Harvey lived at his parents house – which was forty minutes from campus, but on nights with Raina he would go sleep at Derry's apartment. In fact, he spent a great majority of his nights in Derry's apartment, especially when he was drunk. Derry was always awake when Harvey arrived at the deadest hours of the night - Derry said “sleep was for the dead.”
“I used to be so depressed,” Harvey said.
“You were not.” said Derry. He was tossing a football at the wall.
“No man. I mean...” He frowned. “I couldn't even stand to be alive used to be. I used to have the worst weekends all the time. I mean. I just got so lonely. I hate being alone, man. And mom and dad they never do anything. I can't stand my house. I hate it there.”
Derry didn't say anything.
“But then I found Raina, you know. She's the only thing that really makes me happy in life. She is what makes sense of things, you know.”
“That's great.” Derry was trying not to sound sarcastic – he really meant what he said - but he always sounded insincere when a situation made him uncomfortable.
“She's so amazing. But really. She is.”
Derry dropped the football. “Wanna beer or something?”
“Yea.”
After Derry returned from the kitchen, he said: “So how many times have you banged Raina now?”
Harvey twisted the cap off the beer and took a long sip. “Christ. Too many to count. But every one of them has been so totally awesome.”
“Do you have any pictures of her boobs?”
“No. Jesus. Even if I did – I wouldn't show them to you!”
“On principle? Or because she said not to?”
Harvey picked up the football with the toe of his shoe and threw it at Derry – it hit him in the head. Derry laughed and punched Harvey in the shoulder. They sat watching ESPN and Harvey went to sleep immediately.

It was three in the afternoon and the sun was round and clear in the sky. Raina and Harvey had just finished eating lunch at the University Union and accidentally bumped into Raina's friend Ashley. Raina was wearing a dark violet skirt that stopped above her knees, a white, low-cut top, and dark purple shoes that curved around her toes. Ashley wore tight blue jeans, a black halter top, and green flip-flops. Harvey was wearing jeans, a grey t-shirt, and a red Astros cap.
“Come on, fart-head, we're going to the mall,” said Raina.
“Shopping or what?” said Harvey.
The girls didn't seem to hear him because they started to talk to each other.
“Jeez, es muy caliente today!” Ashley said in a bad accent. Raina laughed at her. Raina was the more Mexican of the two.
“Your dumb-ass wore blue jeans. I knew it was gonna be hot. Plus, you're wearing a black top.”
“How far away are you parked?” Ashley was complaining – Harvey could see it in the way she walked.
“Just behind the Auditorium,” Raina nearly shrieked.
“Gooodddd, it's sooooo far!”
“Quit yer bitchin'” The two girls pinched each other.
The campus looked crowded. It was the middle of the week.
“So, Harvey, are you a sophomore?” said Ashley, looking at her nails.
“No, I am in y'alls grade. I'm taking a class with -”
“Oh crap! I hope they didn't already sell that belt that I wanted really bad – you know the one with the purple -”
“Yea, I remember it,” said Raina. “But I think it'd look better on me.” She stuck out her tongue and Ashley laughed. Harvey followed them.

“You're all out of Coronas,” Harvey said. He took his head out of the fridge. “Yo lazy ass needa goto the store.”
“Yea, yea. I will.” said Derry as he tore another piece of cheese off of the block and stuck it in his mouth. He put his feet up on the sofa and leaned his head on the armrest. “I'm going to have another party this Thursday. You need to take me to get the booze 'cause my truck is still in the shop.”
“What? Where's your RSX?” Harvey twisted open the last Corona.
“At my parents house.”
Harvey took a few sips of beer. “Are you inviting Nicole again?”
“Ummmm, maybe. Why?”
“'Cause Raina says she hates Nicole. Says she is a slut or somethin'. Like Nicole took her roommate's boyfriend I think.”
“But Nicole is hot.”
“Yea but can you just -”
“Shit, I'm kidding. I won't invite her.”
Harvey walked into the living room and sat heavily on top of Derry's outstretched legs. “You gonna watch the Cowboys game tonight?”
“No,” Derry grunted. “I've got work.” He lurched and twisted to get his legs out.
“Aw dat's gay.”
“Fo sho.”

That Thursday, two girls were dancing like crazed birds on the sofa and guys were rubbing against them. The stereo played loud rap music with repetitive lyrics that made little sense. The glass shards of the aquarium still hadn't been cleaned up.
In the kitchen, Derry was washing his hands and talking to people. One guy had thrown up on the kitchen floor and Derry was arranging for a car to take him home. Derry had cleaned up the vomit with a few wet rags from the closet and sent the sick guy to sit outside with a couple of friends to watch over him. Robbie was standing by the counter, mixing a few drinks methodically, barely taking his eyes off of the cups while Derry was talking.
In the computer room, Raina was sitting on Harvey's lap in the chair, both of them squeezed in tight between the armrests. They were playing a ripped Nintendo game on the computer, mashing their fingers cheerily into the black keyboard. Raina wore a short, navy blue skirt, a white t-shirt, and brown flip-flops. Harvey wore jeans, a blue t-shirt, and his grey Astros cap.
“UGH, this game is hard!” Raina said.
“No, you just need practice. Practice makes perfect remember?”
“Yea, yea, yea. Whatever Harvey.”
Harvey tickled her. “Uh-oh, you're gonna crash!”
“Quit ticklin' me! You're messin' me up!”
After a minute, Robbie walked in and handed them their drinks and then he sat on the loveseat behind them and began drinking his own.
“Thanks Robbie.” Raina said.
“Much obliged, ma'am,” he said, trying to sound like Clint Eastwood.
Raina wasn't very good at the game and her character died. She said, “oh well,” and got up from the chair to go sit with Robbie. Harvey kept playing the game. Raina carried her drink with her and carefully sat with it on the loveseat and took a sip. She looked at Robbie and smiled. “You make a nice screwdriver,” she said.
“Oh, it's nothing really,” Robbie said modestly. “Ain't like it's hard to make.”
She sipped some more. “So what have you been up to?”
Robbie smiled and turned towards her to talk more intently. “Me and my friend Dale have been building our own paint-ball course. It's really cool.”
“Oh wow, that's cool. I wanna play paint-ball.” Raina spoke with unbridled enthusiasm.
Harvey could hear them, but he didn't stop playing the game.
“Really?” Robbie said with a wicked grin. “I mean, that'd be cool. Yea, and you can borrow one of my guns. And I have some extra gloves and stuff too. Me and Dale and like four other people are gonna play some speedball this Sunday at like eleven or twelve. You should come. It would be cool.”
“Yea, definitely! I want the good gun, though. You can't give me a crappy gun.”
Harvey stopped the game.
“Yea, but getting shot sucks. So don't get shot.”
Harvey got up and left without speaking and Raina didn't seem to notice.
“Do you get shot a lot?” she said.
“No, I'm good at it. I mean I'm not the best of aim, but I don't get shot a lot.”
Harvey walked out the front door and lit a cigarette. Suddenly he remembered that he'd forgotten his drink in the computer room, but he decided not to go back for it. Derry was gone. A couple of people were smoking cigarettes on the stairs but they ignored Harvey. Harvey was on his second cigarette when he saw Derry standing far off in the parking lot. He was talking to someone Harvey didn't recognize. Harvey thought he saw them exchange drugs or something. Derry was always very quiet about where he got his drugs, so Harvey didn't bother much to ask. When Derry came back up the stairs, the smokers moved out of his way without even him asking.
“Hey dude,” called Harvey.
“Oh, hey G. What's up?”
“Just burning a couple smokes.”
“Oh. Where's Raina?”
Harvey felt a surge of contempt. “She's talking with Robbie in the computer room.” Harvey dragged his cigarette all the way to the juncture and flicked the butt off the stairs. He saw something different in Derry's face. “What's up man - are you Okay?”
“Yea.” Derry said. “No I just ran the marathon, donchya know?”
“Oh.”
They went inside and found Raina drinking soda in the kitchen. Robbie was gone. There was a bowl of spaghetti sitting, half eaten, on the counter by the microwave.
“Hey.” Raina said when they came in. “What are you guys up to?”
“Who's spaghetti is that?” Harvey said.
“Oh. It's Robbie's.” She looked at the bowl.
“Where is Robbie?” Harvey was trying to catch Raina's gaze but she wouldn't look at him.
“He went to go make out with some drunk chick I think.”
“Are you drinking a Mountain Dew?” said Derry. Harvey looked at him angrily.
“Yea, I don't know. I don't like to get wasted. Plus I'm sort of afraid of someone dropping a roofie in my drink, you know.”
“Oh. Yea I understand,” Derry said.
Harvey walked toward her and held her arm lightly. She moved away and picked up the spaghetti and felt that it was hot and set it back down. “Robbie just heated this up and left it here.”
“You know what I saw on TV the other day?” Derry said. No one answered. “They were saying that there are meteorites that come down all the time – usually they burn up in the atmosphere – but sometimes they come all the way and can bust holes in people's roofs or put a dent in the hood of your car.”
“Really?” Raina said. She set her drink down and scratched her elbow.
“Yea. It was crazy. I didn't know they hit like that. Like big as a basketball sometimes even. Just come straight through the roof and land on your head. That would be a hell of a surprise.”
“Yea seriously,” she laughed a little.
“It was on the History Channel. Some guy said he collected fallen meteorites from all over the world. All different kinds and shapes with different colors and names too. They're really rare.”
“That seems kind of obsessive.”
“Yea, it was. But I bet if I got one of those rocks I could make it into a necklace or something for you.” Derry leaned in close and moved his hand discreetly over Raina's drink as if he were about to pick it up, but he didn't.
“Really? That'd be kind of weird to wear a space rock on your neck. That'd be cool.”
“Yea you could show it off.” Derry stood up straight and snapped open a Miller Light.
“Yea and then my roommates would all want one, too.” She laughed and shook a little. She picked up her soda and sipped it more.
“Where's yo drink, dude?” Derry said to Harvey.
“Oh.” Harvey, using his left hand, tried to wipe the anger out of his eyes. “I left my drink on your computer desk.”
“Oh. I'll go get it for you,” Derry said.
Harvey thought he saw Derry wink at Raina. Then Derry turned and strolled off to the computer room and vanished.
“Are you Okay?” Harvey asked Raina. He was staring at her, but she was still looking at the bowl of spaghetti.
“I'm fine.” Raina started walking away from the kitchen.
“Where you going?”
“I wanna play that video game again,” Raina said without looking at Harvey.
“Oh. Have fun,” Harvey slumped over the counter.
She paused for a second. She looked at him briefly, as if having second thoughts about something, and then she went into the computer room with her Mountain Dew.
Harvey stood hunching over the counter for about half a minute, as if holding his breath. Then finally, he exhaled a huge sigh of anger and stood up straight. His fingers were shaking a little. Then, on a mad impulse, he grabbed a half-empty plastic cup nearby and chugged it down. It was some kind of tequila. It made his throat burn a little. Then Harvey made some sort of little growl or moan in the bottom of his mouth and his eyebrows were furious. He grabbed another cup and chugged it down, and then another, and another until he had chugged down about four or five drinks. He was muttering a little to himself now. “God,” he said. “She's such an attention whore. She's so insensitive. God. Jesus. Insensitive.”
It was getting very late and most of the people had left the apartment. Harvey laid on the sofa in the living room and watched reruns of the Cosby Show. He was on the verge of tears. Raina still hadn't come back from the computer room. He was very drunk.
A guest, as he was leaving, wanted to go to the bathroom. He mistook the computer room for the bathroom and knocked on the door. There was no answer. He tried the knob, but it was locked. Finally, he just gave up and went outside to urinate. Harvey witnessed all of this and suddenly became very afraid.
Getting up from the couch, Harvey walked hurriedly toward the computer room, knocking over some cans in his path. When he approached the door he was trembling. There was no sound coming from inside the computer room as far as he could tell. Cliff Huxtable was telling a story to his children in the other room. The knob wouldn't turn though Harvey kept trying. A salty tear flashed upon his cheek and dripped into his open mouth. His face was red – either because he was drunk or filled with emotion, or both. Losing it now, Harvey began clumsily kicking the door. On the fourth kick the door busted in and Harvey rushed into the room, nearly tripping over himself.
Raina was passed out on the loveseat and Derry had lifted her skirt and taken her underwear off. He was standing over her, naked, trying to get hard, but stopped when Harvey busted in. Derry made a crazy dash for the door, pulling up his boxers. Harvey wheeled around and knocked him off his feet. Raina didn't budge. Derry rolled over into the hallway. He scrambled to his feet like a dog on a linoleum floor. Harvey lumbered after him, breathing heavily.
Derry ran past the TV- the Huxtable parents were in bed talking. Harvey came across the living room and snatched Derry by the ear. Derry leaned back to not hurt himself, but Harvey pulled only harder. Then he took hold of Derry with both hands and threw him toward the sofa. Derry knocked his shoulder against the corner of the sofa and fell onto the floor, crushing cans and cups. Harvey kicked Derry in the face a couple times, hard. Derry rolled under Harvey's legs and the aluminum cans folded loudly beneath his bare back. Harvey knelt down, straddling Derry, and began pounding him in the face with clumsy, drunken fists. Harvey was probably screaming. Derry kicked Harvey in the groin and pushed himself forcibly up to his feet. He was bleeding all over the floor.
“What the hells a'matter with you?” Derry shouted.
Derry was breathing heavily and each exhale of air sent spatters of blood out of his nostrils. Harvey limped over to Derry and socked him hard in the face. Derry yelped. Then Harvey gathered momentum and barreled all his weight into Derry's gut. Derry tripped over backwards. He crazily grabbed the air for help but fell onto the broken fish tank. He shrieked a high-pitched noise, nothing like Harvey had ever heard before. Harvey's eyes were wide and his fingertips were tingling, almost numb. His heart was on fire.
Derry was bleeding from his back. The glass shards turned red and pink. Then the dresser became dark and sticky. Then the carpet turned from beige to an ugly brown. Derry was breathing very strangely.
“God damn, Harvey,” said Derry in a tiny voice.
Harvey seemed to sober up and suddenly was lifting Derry off of the fish tank shards. He rolled Derry over and laid him on his stomach on the carpet. There were at least a hundred or so pieces of glass stuck in his back, and some of the bigger shards were stuck in deep.
“Oh Jesus Christ. Oh Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Oh my Jesus Christ.” Harvey was blubbering and snot was dripping into his open mouth from his nose.
Harvey pulled out a bunch of the shards and tossed them aside, but there was always more and even more shards to pull out. Harvey had blood all over his fingers, and when he went to wipe the tears and snot from his face, the blood smeared all over and he could taste it.
Harvey tried to stand up, fell over onto the floor, then frantically grabbed at the sofa and pulled himself to his feet. He went to the kitchen to find the phone – another episode of the Cosby Show was starting and the characters were dancing to the intro music. Flailing a blood-covered hand out, Harvey accidentally knocked the cordless phone onto the floor and the thing busted open on the linoleum and the battery came out. Harvey fell to his knees and, shouting obscenities at himself, put the battery back in the phone and closed the compartment. Then he dialed 9-1-1, leaving bloody fingerprints on the keypad.
“Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ.”
It rang.
“Come on. God damn. GOD DAMN.”
“9-1-1, what is your emergency?”
“Oh fuck. Jesus. My friend is HURT.”
“Hurt?”
“HE'S HURT. Oh God DAMMIT.”
Harvey told the dispatcher the name of the Apartment Complex and Derry's Apartment number and the lady on the end of the line said help would be there in a few minutes. Harvey let the phone fall out of his grip. He stood up and limped into the living room where Derry was still laying. Harvey's hands, face, and clothes were covered in Derry's blood. Suddenly, he thought of Raina laying on the loveseat half-naked and felt a overwhelming flood of fear. He looked at Derry's bloody mass for a minute, wondering if he would die. Then he turned and ran into the computer room.
When Harvey came into the computer room and saw Raina laying there still in the exact same spot, his first thought was that she was dead. But then he could see her breasts rising up and down – she was still breathing. He quickly dressed her then tried to wake her up. He nudged her on the shoulder and called out her name but she wouldn't open her eyes. Groaning with frustration, he picked her up and carried her out of the computer room. He put Raina on the floor next to the front door of the apartment. She was starting to wake up.
“Jesus Christ. Raina?” Harvey was talking in a tiny whisper.
Raina groaned lightly.
After a few minutes, the paramedics and police roared into the parking lot with red and blue lights that illuminated the entire block in a pulsing array of flashes. They took Derry away immediately and asked Harvey obscene questions like, “Have you or your friend had any drugs tonight?” or “Do you have a concealed weapon that I should know about?” But after a while the police and medics left and the lights and noise went away.
Raina had awoken during the crazy rush of cops and medics and was now clinging to Harvey's arm fearfully. She had questions but couldn't seem to make herself ask any just yet. Harvey took Raina to her apartment and did his best not to wake her roommates. He smoothed – with trembling fingers - the covers over Raina's body and kissed her lightly on the forehead. Then he sat on the nightstand – there weren't any chairs – and he realized he could not sleep.
The next morning Raina woke up around nine o'clock. Harvey was watching her. He tried to smile, but he wasn't sure of anything.
“Hey baby,” he said quietly.
“Mmm, hey,” she said. She was groggy.
“Are you Okay?”
“I think so. How come you didn't sleep in the bed?”
“Are you feeling sick from last night?”
The little smile and tiny dimples in her cheeks vanished. She looked at the floor.
“A little. What happened last night?” she said.
He rubbed his eyes. “Derry got hurt.”
She sat up in the bed. “Jesus Christ, Harvey, you're covered in blood! What happened to you?”
“It's Derry's blood.”
“What?”
“Don't you remember?”
She scratched her ear. “I remember standing with you and Derry talking about meteorites or something. Then I think I passed out.” Raina was looking around the room as if she had never seen it before. “But I only had one drink."
“Jesus Christ.”
She looked Harvey in the eyes. “What's happened to Derry?”
“It was... An accident. He fell on the fish tank and cut himself pretty bad.”
“Is he gonna be Okay?”
“Yea he should be Okay. The doctors gave him a blood transfusion. They said he'll be Okay, but he'll be really sore for a while.”
“Oh. Did I really pass out last night?”
Harvey slunk over the nightstand and stared at the floor.
“What is it honey? Honey? Please tell me.”
“I think someone slipped you a mickey.”
“Oh my God. What?”
“But nothing happened to you. You're fine. I promise.”
“You're kidding me. Oh my God.”
“Hey it's fine. You're fine.”
“I can't believe it. Someone did that,” she was clenching the bedsheets up into a ball.
“That's why you passed out. But you're fine.”
“Where was I when I passed out?”
“You were watching the Cosby Show with me. So nothing happened. Whoever gave you the roofie probably did it as a joke or something.”
“Jesus Christ.”
Harvey sighed deeply, feeling the weight of the previous night lift a little.
“God-” Raina started to laugh a little.
“What's funny?”
“I think it's kind of cute, actually.”
“What?” Harvey suddenly felt afraid again, like he did the night before.
“Well I mean. It was just a joke, right?”
“Yea,” Harvey's eyes were terrified.
“I don't know. I just think it's cute. Someone would think that I'm hot enough to try to slip a mickey to.”
“Oh.”
Raina laughed sweetly. “It's kind of funny. I guess guys just check me out a lot.”
“Yea. I guess,” Harvey felt like he wanted to break something.

“Has Derry invited you to any parties lately?” said Raina.
Harvey used both hands on the wheel through the right turn.
“Have you been to his apartment at all lately?”
“No.”
The four-cylinder engine groaned.
“You don't talk to him much now, huh.”
“Not really.” Harvey changed lanes, looking deeply into the side mirror. “After a couple months we just sort of lost touch.”
“Didn't you used to go help him when he was sick?”
“Yea.”
“And he still don't invite you to his parties?”
“I don't think he has parties anymore. At least not any that I've heard of lately.”
They squeaked to a stop at a red light. Traffic moaned across the intersection in front of them.
“Oh I love this song!” Raina turned up the radio. It was a recent rap song. She started dancing in the passenger seat, looking out into the other cars. A couple of guys were watching her from a silver Cavalier in the next lane. Raina waved to them and they waved back. They were staring.
When the light turned green, Harvey suddenly veered the Camry over one lane to the left and turned instead of going straight. Raina looked at him. He continued down to the next light and turned right, then left onto the road that went by Taco Bell.
“Where are we going?” Raina said.
“I don't know. How did we get here?”
Harvey pulled into the parking lot of Derry's apartment.
“Harvey.”
“Wow, I don't know what I am doing here. I wasn't driving here.” Harvey was pretending to be surprised.
“You butt-head.” She laughed. Then she watched quietly as Harvey escaped the car and climbed laboriously up the stairs.
It took Derry a while to answer the door.
“Hey.”
“Hey... Are you busy?” said Harvey.
Derry looked at the floor, then back at Harvey. “No. What's up, G?” Then, with a little smile, he said: “Wanna beer or something?”
“Yea, sure.”
They both snapped open a Miller Light and stood sipping around the linoleum counter. There weren't any empty cans or cups anywhere.
“I downloaded Click. It's a funny-ass movie. Wanna watch it?”
“No I can't stay long. I have... plans.”
“Oh.”
They stood there taking sips of the beer for a while. Then, Harvey's eyebrows bent with sudden emotion. His eyes darkened. “I just-” he began.
“What?”
“I wanted to say... I just wanted to tell you that-”
Derry looked inside of his beer can.
“I want to forgive you.”
Derry didn't say anything.
“I mean, you know. I want no negativeness between us. I just get so goddamn depressed thinkin' about the way you are now. You can barely walk, and It's my fuckin' fault!” Harvey turned away to hide his eyes. “Nothing has been the same since that one stupid freakin' night! I just...” He sobbed. “I want things to go back to the way they used to be you know? I wish none of that shit had ever happened. I wish that we could just hang out the way we used to...” Harvey set the beer on the counter because his hands were trembling.
Derry spat into the sink. “I don't deserve your forgiveness. I don't deserve nothin'.”
Harvey looked at Derry. Derry was looking out the window over the dining table. Raina sat in the car down in the parking lot, listening to the radio. She was texting someone on her cell phone – probably Ashley.
“I just wish we could be the way it was.” Harvey said.
“It's impossible.” Derry dropped the half-empty can in the sink with a clunk.
“No, I won't admit that. Not yet. We haven't even tried.”
“Unless you got a time machine, it's impossible.”
“No. Come on.”
Derry wouldn't say anything more and finally Harvey gave up and left the apartment. He got in the car with Raina and buckled his seat-belt. Raina was dancing again. Some dirty-looking men were grinning at her from across the parking lot. She wore a white sun dress and her breasts bounced when she danced. Harvey looked at the men, but said nothing. He pulled out of the parking lot and never went back.