In My Bed

It was quiet. Too quiet for Nancy's paranoid liking. She rested her eyes and sprawled over the couch with a throbbing headache clawing it's way out of her skull. Her drained eyes snapped open when she heard the incredibly annoying sound of the house's doorbell. She mumbled a curse or two before gathering her strength and trudging towards the front door.

"Can I help you?" She asked at the sight of a long-haired girl wearing a knit cap. A slim early 20 something with something to prove.

"Yeah." She formed with pale lips. "Where's Len?" The tired green eyes of the nameless youth were less than welcoming.

"He's not here."

"Where did he go?"

"I don't know." Nancy answered defensively with a furrowed brow. "I'll tell him you stopped by. You are..?"

"Mara." She said tossing a long black lock of hair behind her slender shoulder out of habit. "Promise me you're going to tell him I stopped by?"

"Yeah, I will."

The junkie looking girl mumbled a whatever under her breath before turning around and walking down the street. Nancy watched her go as if she was waiting for her to turn back around and steal a lawn ornament or something. Shutting the door the mother of two stumbled back to the itchy couch and collapsed. Soon after falling asleep.

A few hours later when the sun fell deep below the horizon she found Lenny caring for his mother. Nancy rolled her eyes and thought about how much she wish the old woman would die already.

"Lenny." She addressed.

"It's Len."

"Right. Whatever. Some girl stopped by today looking for you."

Len let out an audible sigh.

"She said her name was Mara." Nancy continued. "I don't usually go around butting into people's business, but who is she?"

"What are you talking about? You love getting in people's business."

Nancy widened her eyes, and took a much needed drink of her diet coke.

"She's my mom's sister's granddaughter."

"What? What does that even mean?"

"My mom's sister's daughter's daughter."

"What the fuck is she doing here?" Nancy shook her head as soon as the words left her mouth. "Never mind. I don't have time for this family fuckery. I have to go."

It wasn't until she had successfully made the trip across the Mexico border and back after blowing the test with the Asthma inhalers did Nancy run into Mara again. Botwin had an illegal alien criminal bolted in the car, and the dilemma of having to kill an on life support thousand year old woman presented itself.

Walking back outside to see a certain drug trafficker leaning against the very girly looking prius made her laugh to herself. She went to say something but was cut off by the very same Len's mother's sister's daughter's daughter that had stopped earlier. Still wearing that same knit cap.

"Hey.." Mara stopped for a second and chuckled. "What are you wearing?"

"Jesus christ." Nancy grimaced. "I told Lenny you stopped by."

"I know, I know. But I just wanted to say sorry for being a bitch to you." Those green eyes sparkled with endearment. "What's your name?"

"Nancy, Nancy, who is this?" Guillermo slithered in next to them with subdued excitement. He gave her a once over and ignored the biting insult from his little Botwin.

"Lenny's neighbor." Nancy wantonly informed.

"And does Lenny's neighbor have a name?" He directed the words towards the confused Mara. "Hm?"

"Mara." She answered quietly.

"You can rodeo ass later. I have a grandmother to kill." Nancy interrupted his advancements. "Let's hurry this up."

Grieving time in the household was a long and solitude time. Seven days of sitting in the yellow tinted home 'grieving' and remembering Len's mother. It was a hell of a lot of time to spend crying over someone you despised.

Mara softly knocked on the open front door. "Can I use your phone?"

Nancy was puzzled as to why she didn't seem even remotely upset about the death of her grandmother's sister. Why was she even here?

Lenny's face was a mixture between anger and confusion. He wanted to ask the girl why she couldn't use her own phone but thought it better not to. Unless he wanted a very long thought out bullshit reason Mara had came up with on the way over.

"Hurry." Was all he said.

She made her way into the kitchen and picked up the old phone. Taking in a quick breath she dialed the number on the piece of paper in her sweat slicked hand. It rang a few times before someone picked up and waited a few seconds before answering with a calm tone.

"Hello."

"Yeah, hey.." Mara stopped breathing for a few seconds. "This is, uhm.. Mara."

"I was wondering when you were you gonna call." His thoughts switched directly to the way her ass looked in the jeans she wore the day they met. Her slender neck, and pouty lips he wanted to taste. "Where are you?"

"What? Oh.. I'm here at Len's."

The line was silent for a moment. Mara's heart skipped a beat when she heard shuffling on the other side.

"Hang on a minute, Lolita."

Mara didn't say anything and thought about hanging up. What was she doing? She had things to do. She didn't have time to waste trying to set up a date with some guy.

"You still there?" He asked after a minute or two.

"Yeah, I'm still here."

"Good." He laughed. "I thought you'd have hung up on me already."

"I should have." She joked.

"You want to meet up sometime?" He propositioned in a lax voice. "Maybe meet up at the maternity place Nancy works at and go from there?"

She hesitated. "Yeah." She finally choked out. Mara was shy, and felt her face getting a little red. Thank god Len's suburbia family were still sitting in the living room and not walking about, she thought as they finalized the plans.

"Tomorrow."

"Yeah."

"Sweet dreams." His words made her glance to her wrist watch.

"Night."

She hung up the phone first. With deliberate steps she crossed the living room without saying two words to Len who had bid her a disgruntled farewell.

"Yeah, bye." Were her quick and final words for the night.