Dark Hollows

“Really? You sure about that? I thought I paid.”

“Come on, Mattie.”

“No, yeah. I paid Reggie. Like, last week, I paid him.”

“Mattie, Reggie sent me.”

I noticed that the two guys on the couch, while still high, were intensely watching our conversation.

“Oh … Really?” Mattie asked, stalling for time.

“Who are your friends?” I asked with a nod towards the couch.

“They’re just friends, you know? From out of town.”

The guy with blotchy skin and the bad haircut, sitting on the far end of the couch, flicked his eyes towards the darkened hallway off of the kitchen that led to the bedrooms.

“Is that some of your inventory?” I asked, pointing to the table. “Because if it is, and you’re behind on payments, I sure hope your friends have paid for it. Also, if you’re keeping your stuff here with the money, you know how bad that is.” I was going for bravado, but I worried that I had overplayed it.

Mattie nervously snorted. “Yeah, yeah. Of course, they paid for it.”

“Great. Then you can give me the cash, I’ll get out of here, and you can continue to entertain your guests from out of town.”