The odor of marijuana hung heavy in the air despite the warm afternoon breeze wafting in from the open window. Pale yellow cinder block walls were stripped bare as the dorms were closing for the summer. A few poorly taped moving boxes and a cheap futon with no covering sitting on the worn carpet were all the remained.

  On it slouched a young man in a t-shirt, cargo shorts, and sandals slouched with his head lolled back. One tan hairless arm rested in his lap, the other draped across the back of the futon holding the tiniest remnants of a joint. Ikher Ybarra had graduated and was moving out.

  “E! Any chance I could get a ride to Shannon’s house?!” a deep voice yelled from the other room. Ikher raised his head, opening heavy-lidded, very bloodshot, dark brown eyes and looked over his shoulder.

  “Dude, I am WAY too baked to go to the devil’s house.” A heavyset young man wearing basketball shorts, a Newfield Lions wrestling shirt, and a backwards cap walked into the room and dropped onto the futon.

  “Why do y’all call her that?”

  “Cause she’s the worst, Adam." Ikher ran a hand over his large hawk shaped nose and mouth before scratching at his goatee. "She treats everyone like shit."

  “Oh, cause your girlfriend’s so much better! Candace just hangs onto you cause you’re the weed guy,” Adam said, making a smoking motion. Ikher rolled his eyes.

  “Candace isn’t my girlfriend."

  “I’m not what?” a nasally voice from outside the room asked. Ikher sat up with a start, running both hands through his hair and tying up his top knot.

  “You’re not... um... late. Adam said you wouldn’t make it before they closed the dorms.”

  “Whatever! I’m never late,” Candace said, peeking her head into the room. Her small blue eyes sparkled before she covered her face from the sunlight. “Come on guys, get this stuff loaded. I don’t have all day.” Disappearing out the doorway with a huff, her mousey brown dreadlocks whipping around as they followed her. Ikher melted back onto the futon with a sigh as soon as she was out of sight.

  Adam shook his head and punched Ikher in the shoulder. “Pussy.”

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  The red bricks of the dorm glowed in the setting sun and the frogs in the pond across from the dorm started their evening concert as they loaded the last of Ikher’s things in the little hatchback. Adam took off his hat, wiping his sweaty, balding head with large hands.

  “This everything?”

  “Yeah,” Ikher said, pulling his shirt off and wiping his face and chest with it. In contrast to Adam’s tall heavy frame, Ikher was average height with a thin and lithe build. He grabbed a polo shirt out of a bag, slipped it on, and nodded to Adam. “Preciate the help man.”

  “No worries, I’m surprised more people weren’t here to see you off.”

  “Ehh, it’s like you said. They were only around for the weed.” Ikher shrugged as the car horn blared followed by Candace leaning out the driver’s window.

  “Let’s go!” she yelled, followed by harsh metal on metal scrape of her car starting. Ikher closed the hatch and looked to Adam, who shook his head.

  “Good luck with that,” Adam said, giving Ikher a fist bump. Ikher rounded the car and got in to find Candace glaring at him with furrowed brows and her strong jaw set.

  “What?”

  “Nothing!” she said, throwing her hands up before slamming the car in drive and taking off, making the bald tires squeal.

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On the map, San Ranola crawled out of the Pacific Ocean and spread eastward until it hit the small Medesco mountain range. Locals, however, only classified the beach and the first two miles or so of the actual city to be San Ranola.

  The urban sprawl that surrounded ‘the city’ was broken up by named areas. In the north, the massive Creed Recreational Park divided Golden Villas and City Gardens. Newfield to the east, surrounded the big east/west Interstate 6. And La Puerta housed the port and naval base to the south.

  As you headed further from the city, there was no official sign or line of demarcation, but a gradual increase in greenery signaled the entrance into suburbia. Shrubs and trees appeared on medians and corners while homes had actual grass lawns. The street lights came on as they reached the Oak Grove district in Candace’s little hatchback. It was the last affordable section before the suburban expanse spread east to the expensive homes in the foothills.

  "I mean come on! Normal people wouldn't kidnap someone that rich and not ransom them? Just take her and kill her?! No way. And don’t even get me started on the room they found her in,” Candace said as Ikher was putting in eye drops. “There’s no way it would be clean if her throat was bitten out. Total. Vampire. Cover up. Hey, are you even listening?!”

  “Huh? Yeah,” Ikher said, glancing at her before switching to his other eye. “Maybe it was a dog?”

  “Have you ever owned a dog? They don't take nice clean bites. No, it was a vampire cause they said it was ‘so clean you could eat off the floor’. If her throat was just cut or a dog did it, she’d have bled all over the place!”

  “Maybe they used their super speed to clean up afterward?” Ikher pulled down the visor and blinked in the mirror.

  “What? Ikher, that’s not a thing. Though, I guess they could have their human slaves do that cleaning. I bet this happens all the time, but they fucked up this time by snatching someones rich wife.”

  "I mean, I guess.” Ikher shook his head before turning and rummaging in the boxes. “Hey, Adam was looking for a ride earlier.”

  “Probably to see Shannon cause she’s pregnant.” Ikher looked over his shoulder in horror.

  “Oh god, that poor guy,” he said with a shiver before going back to his digging.

  “Why do you say that? Shannon isn’t bad!”

  “Psssh. He’ll be lucky if his kid doesn’t come out with horns or hooves." Candace gasped, smacking him on the butt.

  “You can’t say stuff like that about a baby!” He flopped back into the seat with a can of air freshener and took a deep breath. “What are you--” Candace started a second before Ikher doused himself with it, shrouding the car in an acidic cloud. They both started hacking and fighting to roll the windows down. “For fuck’s sake Ikher!!!”

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  “Sorry! My mom hates the smell of weed.” Ikher tossed the can in the back and waved his hands, trying to waft out the stench.

  “Wait! What?! I’m meeting your mom?!?!” Candace said, forgetting the chemical taste in her mouth and nose. “Oh my god. I’m totally not dressed for this!” She glanced at her sleeveless blouse and worn jeans. “Why didn’t you tell me?!?!”

  “I didn’t think it was a big deal!” he got out as she punched him in the arm. He shrank against the window trying to escape her blows and noticed they were nearing his house.

  “Hey, that’s the turn!” Ikher pointed, still shielding himself. Candace glared at him with a raised fist before slowing the car and turning onto a short street with five homes. The last house, a slim one story with a small front porch at the end was their destination. A sedan was parked in front and a woman sat on the stairs leading up to the door.

  “Oh my god! Is that your mom?! She’s so tiny!” Candace said, parking behind the sedan.

  “Yeah. She’s little, but feisty,” Ikher said, stepping out of the car. “Hey Ma!” he called out as she pushed herself up with help from a cane. Ikher met her half way as she hobbled toward them. Her head barely reaching his chest, she pulled him down for a hug before framing his face with her small hands and kissing his forehead.

  “Hey Junior,” she said, her smile exaggerating the already pronounced cheek bones of her small heart shaped face. “I’m proud of you, boy.” Veins of silver streaked her black hair making the bun at the back look like a black and white version of peppermint candy.

  “Thanks, Ma,” he said. "Come straight from work?"

  "What gave it away?"

  "Shoes," Ikher said, pointing down. His mother wasn't comfortable unless she was barefoot or in sandals. Candace coughed behind him. “Oh, Ma, this is Candace.” She pushed him aside and threw out her hand to his mother.

  “Hello Mrs. Ybarra!”

  “Mmm,” his mother said, taking Candace in. Her eyes flittered over Candace, going back and forth a few times before she nodded and turned back toward the house without shaking her hand. “Changlek-Ybarra dear. Nice to meet you. I’ll be inside,” she waved as she started back up the walkway. Ikher turned and walked back to the car.

  “Wait. Was that bad?” Candace said as she followed him. “Does she not like me?!”

  “Don’t take it personal. She’s that way with most people till she gets to know them,” he said, shrugging as he popped the hatch and grabbed a box. “She isn’t super touchy-feely.”

  “She hugged you!”

  “Well yeah! I’m her kid. She’s known me for twenty-one years."

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  Ikher set the last box on the dining table. A ceiling fan lit the front room, which incorporated the living room on one side and small kitchen on the other. A round dining table sat in the kitchen under a bay window that overlooked part of the porch and cul-de-sac. There were plenty of cabinets for storage and the kitchen appliances were older but in good shape.

  A large picture window framed by semi-opaque curtains added light from the street lamps to the living room. Candace sat jabbering at his mother on the couch under the window. Opposite the couch, an old tube television sat on a small coffee table against the wall.

  In stark contrast to the cracked and chipped wall paint, the baseboards and hardwood floors were in excellent condition. With a moment of freedom, Ikher left the front and followed the hallway that led to three doors, one on each side with a third at the end.

  On the left was a small bathroom with an older square pedestal style sink and a mirror above it. The toilet, next to the sink, sat across from a slim standup shower with an accordion style door. The linoleum floor was yellowed, but there wasn’t any water damage that he could see.

  Across from the bathroom was a small carpeted room with no overhead light. Separating the window curtains let enough light in for him to make out a small end table off to one side with a vacuum cleaner next to it.

  The main bedroom at the back felt larger than it should have given the size of the house. A queen bed sat on dated but clean carpet with a stand up lamp next to it. The bed frame was actual wood, as was the short dresser on the opposite wall. Closing the bedroom door, Ikher walked back to the front room where Candace got up and kissed him on the cheek.

  “I’ll give you and your mom time to catch up. Be back later,” she said with a wink before she walked to the door. “Bye Mrs. Changlek-Ybarra.”

  Ikher, jaw hanging, turned to his mother. “How d’you get her to leave?”

  She shrugged. “I told her I hadn’t seen you in a while and wanted to have some time alone with my boy,” she said, her brows drawing together. “Though I have to ask, what DO you see in that girl?”

  “I don’t really,” he said, dropping next to her. “She just comes around when she wants.”

  “Do you want her around?” his mother pressed. “Do you like her?”

  “She’s okay, I guess,” he said, laying against the couch and spreading his arms out. “She can be pretty annoying.”

  “Well, she’ll keep coming around and being annoying until you tell her otherwise. One of these days you’re going to have to get off your behind and decide on something,” she said, smacking the back of the head as she pushed off the couch. “Are you hungry? Come, let’s eat.”

  She had prepared chicken rice congee, which was warming on the stove. Ikher made them both bowls and sat with her at the kitchen table. His mother picked at hers while Ikher hoovered his and went back for seconds.

  “Remember, you need to make your own food. Those instant meals are crap,” she said, pointing at him with her fork. “I left you groceries in the fridge and pantry.”

  “Thanks, Ma. Hey, I don’t remember this place. Did we ever live here?” His mother smiled and leaned back in her seat.

  “Not all of us, no. Your father bought this house just after he met me and we lived here for a few months before he got reassigned. We rented it out while we moved around for his job,” she said, her eyes glazing over as relived it in her head. “Once we settled here, upgrading this place this was his pet project.” She smiled, looking around the front room. “He redid the outside and put in the hardwoods.”

  “You know,” she said, thinking for a moment. “It’s possible we made you here,” she said and chuckled at the startled grimace he gave her.

  “Regardless, it’s your home now, which means the next time I come over, I’ll be a guest, so you should be making me dinner,” she said, wagging a finger at him.

  “Yes, Mama,” he said, clearing the bowls from the table. “I’ll keep working on it. Does that TV even work?”

  “No idea. I don’t watch the thing,” she answered, shrugging. “There are books in the dresser. Keep your mind occupied while you look for a job. Any idea what you’ll do now?”

  “Nah,” he shook his head as he scrubbed the dishes. “I’ll figure something out though.”

  “You are his child,” she said, sighing to herself before checking her watch. “All right, I need to get home. Some of us have work in the morning.” Ikher dried his hands and walked over to hug her.

  “You know you could live here, Ma,” he offered, making his mother push him away as she cackled.

  “Oh, could I now? I could work and support you and clean and cook? Will I be wiping your behind for you as well?”

  “No! I didn’t mean that!” She hugged him again and patted his cheek.

  “You’re a sweet boy, but you need your space to become you. Besides, I prefer my solitude,” she said, grabbing her purse and reaching for the door. “Check in once in a while to let me know you’re doing ok.”

  “I will. Let me walk you out,” he said, holding the door for her.

  “No, you need to unpack and I’m just lame, not crippled,” she said with a grin as he bent to hug her again. Ikher watched her leave to make sure she got to her car and drove off okay. Finally alone, Ikher grabbed some bags and headed back to the bedroom.

  Just as he ferried the last things to the bedroom, there was a knock at the door. Leaving the bedroom, Ikher came back to the front and sighed when he saw Candace looking in through the kitchen window. He opened the door and she strolled in, throwing her purse next to the couch.

  “Man! I thought your mom would never leave!” she said, rubbing her hands together. “Okay! Where d’you stash the pot?”

  “Ugh, it’s kinda late. Can we another time?”

  “Please E?” she turned, begging up to him as she grabbed onto his shirt, bouncing on her feet. When he continued to waver, she smiled and bit her bottom lip. “I know what’ll change your mind,” she grinned, whipping her blouse over her head and pitching it to the floor.

  Ikher’s eyebrows shot up, his gaze drawn to the reveal of Candace’s diminutive breasts. She smiled, biting her tongue as undid his zipper. She dropped to her knees, pulling his shorts and boxers down with her. She licked her palm and grabbed him at his base.

  “Uh...,” he gasped, taking a quick breath. Candace grinned up to him, moving her hand up and down.

  “Changed your mind yet? Or do you need more convincing?”