"Hey, baby!" Ranae called as Markos made his way toward her. She was wearing a short dress and carrying a gray coat with her.
"Hi, love! Aren't you cold? Put on your jacket!"
"No, I'm not cold at all. I'm sweating."
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I just bought some blow," she explained but Marko was confused. He had never heard of blow but he didn't want to seem stupid and so he just shrugged and figured he would figure things out at some point. They hopped in his lifted truck and took off into the snowy night. Marko drove slowly and carefully while Ranae talked at a pace so fast that it made him dizzy.
He nodded with feigned interest at Ranae began to tell him about all the things that had happened to her that week. She had been his girlfriend a short time but in those short six months, he had really grown to love her. Her long, blonde hair was her best feature, but one could argue that any of her other features were equally beautiful. She had a bit of an edge to her. She had grown up in a tough part of town and her family had struggled financially.
"Do we really have to go to your mom's tomorrow for Thanksgiving?" Marko asked her when she finally gave him a chance to say something.
"Yes! We already told her we're going!"
"Okay, okay! I just would rather go to my dad's house. My grandma cooks the best food."
"If you don't show up at my mom's tomorrow, then you better not bother trying to fuck with me anymore after that!"
"Seriously, Ranae? If I don't go to Thanksgiving at your mom's then you're dumping me?"
"Yes. Because my man keeps his commitments," she stared Marko down as he found a parking space, parallel parking like a master.
"Fine. I'll go."
"Why the fuck did you have to go and get me all upset before the party anyway?" she chastised him. She glared at Marko as she pulled on her coat and stepped out into the cold. He followed her, not understanding that there was something different about his girlfriend that evening. He was annoyed with her as she walked into the house.
All of his best friends greeted them. They all looked a tad annoyed that he hadn't come alone. They would never say it to his face but he got the feeling that his friends didn't like Ranae. They seemed to bristle a bit whenever she was around. Ranae never seemed to notice but it bothered Marko.
"I'm going to the bathroom," Ranae informed him and she walked off, leaving him alone to mingle. He looked around at the small crowd. It was mostly people he knew from high school, all of the people who had remained living in their small town were there, just like they were every year. The night before Thanksgiving was always the biggest party day of the year. Everyone looked faded or drunk.
Markos walked around the party, saying hello to all of his old, familiar acquaintances. Time had passed and he was sure that Ranae couldn't have taken that long in the bathroom. He made his way back through the house when he heard a woman pounding on the bathroom door.
"Stop fucking in there! There are other rooms for that! Some of us really have to pee!" she screamed.
"Can I help you?" Marko asked her.
"Someone is fucking in there and I have to pee!"
"Come on out of there!" he called. There were noises coming from inside the bathroom that were obviously the sounds of sex. He could hear a woman moaning and begging for more dick. He could hear the sounds of their skin slapping and it sounded hot.
"Please! I'm going to pee my pants!" the woman screamed.
"Look, we have an emergency out here! Please come out!"
"We are coming!" a male voice called. In a moment, the door opened and Marko was shocked to see that it was Von, a guy they had gone to high school with. Von and he hadn't always been on great terms. In fact, Von had been somewhat of a bully to Marko back in school, harassing him in the locker room about his shitty sports abilities. Marco hadn't seen him since high school but there was one thing about Von that Marko had always disliked. He was a major player.
"Hey bro!" Von shot him a quick look accompanied by a quick lift of his head to acknowledge his presence.
"Hey!" Marko called and did a similar head tilt to acknowledge Von. Marko flashed back to many incidents in high school, all played out on some kind of memory reel in his mind, all of them with Von making Marko the brunt of some joke. Von was a bully and Marko had thought that all of that high school bullshit was behind him. It figured that a guy like Von could get any girl that he wanted. Girls seemed to love assholes. Still, Marko was not ready for what he was about to see. As Von made his way out of the bathroom, he was shocked to see that the woman who was adjusting her dress was Ranae. He paused, the shock settling over him. His heart sunk. He couldn't believe that she would do such a thing.
"Ranae?" Marko asked, as if it were a question, when the answer was already obvious. She had a wicked half-smiile on her face and she tilted her head slightly before she spoke.
"I guess you shouldn't have messed with me before the party," she said as she shrugged. She looked a bit crazed and Marko was concerned about her.
"Ranae, you don't look right," he said, worried about her. She turned away from him.
"Well, will I see you at my mom's tomorrow?"
"No. Not after this. I can't go there."
"You never wanted to go there. You never wanted me."
"I think I'm going to go to my dad's," he explained. He hadn't wanted to go to her mom's. That was right. He didn't like her dysfunctional family and he didn't want to waste the holiday at her house. He wanted to be with his own family, especially now that he could see her level of loyalty.
"Fine. You'll be sorry," she brushed past him giving him a dark look that Markos couldn't quite read. There was a white powder residue on the counter and he thought he could see a bit of the white powder on the inside of her nose. She had been doing drugs!
"Wait! Are you on something? Ranae? Are you okay?" She was already gone and though he tried his best to follow her, she was swallowed into the crowd. He decided that he didn't need Ranae as he made his way through the party looking for a hot girl that he could use to make Ranae jealous. She had fucked his bully and so he wanted to make sure to choose someone equally heinous to fuck. Maybe her best friend from tenth grade, or maybe the girl that had been her frenemy.