✓24 - There's A Thief In My Racket!

"Tell me one more time," Carter called out into the darkness. "Just once and I promise it'll be the last."

"The date was awesome."

"Go on! Give me some deets!!"

"It was the best of the best and honestly I hadn't expected it to be so refreshing you know. His kisses were pure mint and it was like alcohol I'm seriously getting addicted to. He invited me to his place tomorrow."

"Good, now you're done. I'm wearing off on you. I can't wait to see what the future holds for you two."

I flipped on my side in comfort. "You'd be here, right? I just want you to see me married."

"Don't you think that's a little too far-fetched? It's not even a proper relationship yet."

I shook my head delicately, increasingly sure of myself for the first time in years. "No, it's not. Nothing's impossible anymore."

"Now, I can proudly say I taught you."

—

Exactly twenty minutes past three in the afternoon, I raced down the stairs in a flurry, my long overall trailing out behind me. I was already late, so late I wouldn't even drop by at the grocery store.

"Where are you going?" Sidney queried, curiously coming after me. "Oh, get back here! Someone has to help me with my makeover!"

I scrunched my nose, slipping in behind the wheel, then rolled up the windows to shut out her threats.

I've got a crazy sister!

Charlie was at the door when I arrived and we both paused for a rough thirty minutes make-out session with which he led me into the house. The intimacy was becoming a lot daring these days. Cursive short blowjobs whenever I sneaked out to see him, lots of fingerings...there was always new stuff to try out each day.

His home was smaller, cozy, and had a general warm feel in the air just like summer. The furniture was newly bought for the better part, a wooden recliner, flat-screened TV, and a purple rug.

He pushed me onto the sofa, clambering on, our lips never apart from each other. His hands consumed my private regions and at a point, I felt I was about to combust.

I pulled back to catch my breath. "Let's talk first."

He whimpered, his eyes dilating like a puppy's. It made me laugh out stupidly. "Don't make that face. I'm not going anywhere and this is important."

"What's there to say?"

I paused to mull over the jumbles in my mind for the last time. I couldn't be sure he'd agree. "I've decided to leave with you, Charlie. I don't want to stay here anymore."

He angled his body over mine at once — kissing, touching, caressing — his movements were frantic. He reached out for my shirt buttons below and undid them, pulling it open to reveal bare skin. I moaned as he sucked on a tender spot just above my neck bone — teasing and biting it until a bright red mark appeared. "I've marked you."

The four o'clock emergency news came up at once. I pushed him off to listen, jerking my head towards the screen when a familiar name was called.

No. It couldn't be true.

"Carter Geppeto has been a fugitive in Bald Slope for over six years now." I tilted my head back to give Charlie more access to the hickey on my neck, never breaking eye contact with the news anchor. "His original hometown isn't known but some have mentioned seeing him stealing around and pranking people. He was a nuisance with a record of dating several male hoodlums here in town." the man held up a photo of Carter who was laughing while he wagged a finger at the camera. It was like he meant for it to be taken. "He's roughly nineteen and has been confirmed dead in a neighboring river because he could not swim and had drowned... It'd been a month now."

I took a dip into the river before I came here. It was my very own baptism.

"No," I placed both palms over my ears in shock, tears streaming out the corners of my eyes. "I must be dreaming. This is so unreal."

"What's wrong?" Charlie frowned at me then at the screen. "What did they say?"

"Carter is dead," I told him. "Your brother... he was dead!"

I stood up and with the last strength left, I ran home.

—

I shot into the house, spiraling upstairs to my room. Carter sat just where he'd always been when I opened the door. "Oh my god, thank goodness you're still here. I thought I lost my head back there."

He remained mute. "It's time."

"I saw you on the news. You look more adorable when younger, but it's okay. And you're such a maniac, with a smile for the camera." I laughed nervously, hoping he'd join in instead of staring, hoping he'd convince me otherwise that he's not a ghost. "Anyways they said you were dead and I was speechless. So I ran home at once so we'd laugh about it. I mean, you're here with me, flesh and blood."

"It's time for me to leave you." he smiled, a bright one that lifted my spirit. His tear streaks glistening like the first time I saw him.

"What? You're an idiot! You promised you'd see me get married and... I told Charlie about you. He'd be here any minute. You'd be back, right? You're not dead."

"I tried to be happy Carlie, believe me, I did. But happiness doesn't come if you don't work well enough for it. I learned that late, and then I passed it on to you," he broke off. "I'd have loved to see him, but it is, as they say, there are things you can't just have no matter how hard you try. I've paid for all the pains I've caused, and now I must leave this world, happily..."

His voice grew faint as he began to fade away into a misty whiteness. I reached out to touch him, to feel him for the last time.

"Carlie?"

I glanced back at Charlie, struggling to abate my tears. He looked worried as he glimpsed into the now empty closet. "He's gone."

And that was all that suddenly mattered.

I craned my head over the side of the bed, sobbing quietly. He wrapped an arm over my body. "I know how you feel. We'll miss him."

"Yes. We will."