My Last(15)

Riley found the address that Jason had texted to him, and he had to circle the block ten times before he was able to find a parking space to squeeze the rental car into. By the time he climbed out of the car, he was exhausted from driving all day, annoyed from having to look so hard for a place to park, and cognizant of the fact that he needed to be in Oakland in a few hours if he was going to make his flight. And who knew what traffic would be like? All in all, he was ready to get this reunion   over with! He had already called Tommy, the buddy he was supposed to meet up with, and had told him that something had come up, so that was off his plate. Now, all he had to do was a quick inspection and an even quicker report. After that, he was out of here.

He walked halfway up the block and stopped in front of the glass door that had the number 2202 painted over the top of it. He opened it and headed directly up the stairs. Katie’s apartment was on the third floor. He glanced at the text message again to reconfirm the apartment number: #314. On his way up the stairs, he noticed that it was a nice building. Older, but well-maintained. He could see Katie living here.

On his way to the unit, he passed an elderly woman who was peeking out of her door. She looked to be about 4’10” and she had curlers in her hair and a lit cigarette hanging out of her mouth. She eyed him suspiciously, but he smiled at her and noticed a faint flush rise from her neck to her cheeks. She mumbled something about him being a flirt and closed the door.

Before long, he had reached the door that had a plaque next to it with the metal numbers '314' attached to it. He took a deep breath. It was go time. He knocked and waited for an answer. Nothing. He knocked louder and said, “Chelle? Its Riley. Open up.”

Nada.

He knocked again speaking loudly, “Chelle, Katie is really worried about you. Jason sent me to check on you. Open the door.”

He put his ear to the door to see if he could hear any movement, any noise – anything at all that would tell him that she was, in fact, alive and in the apartment.

He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see a portly man who looked to be about seventy coming up the stairs with a large set of keys in his hands. Riley exhaled. Wow. He hadn’t even realized that he had been holding his breath at the thought that it might be her walking up behind him.

“Hey there, young man,” the elderly gentleman said as he bustled up beside Riley, “I got a call from Katie and she said that you needed access to her apartment.”

Riley nodded.

The older gentleman unlocked the door, “There you go, son. My name is Randall, let me know if you need anything else.”

Riley extended his hand, “Riley Sloan, nice to meet you.”

The man smiled warmly, “Sloan, huh? Are you related to that boy Jason who swept in and stole our Katie from us?”

Riley liked this man, it made him feel better knowing that Katie, and Chelle for the last week, had been under his watchful eye. “I am, sir. Jason’s my little brother.”

“Well, he seemed like a good man. But I told him,” Randall sternly pointed his finger at Riley’s chest, “I said, if you hurt our Katie, mister, you’ll be dealing with me. And I meant it.”

“I’m sure you did, sir. And I'm also sure that he heard you loud and clear,” Riley knew for a fact that Jason would never do anything to hurt Katie. Jason was one of the good guys.

Not like him.

“Hey, do you know if Chelle, the girl who has been staying here, is out?” Riley asked.

Randall lowered his voice, “That poor girl hasn’t left the apartment in three days. She just keeps having food delivered...and I did notice a couple of deliveries from the liquor store across the street, as well,” Randall’s eyes narrowed and he took a protective step in front of the door. Keeping his voice low, he asked, “You aren’t the reason she’s been holed up in here crying her eyes out, now are ya, son?”

“No, sir.” Riley answered honestly, “I’m just here to make sure that she's alright.”

Seemingly satisfied with that answer, the man patted Riley briskly on the arm before stepping around him and heading back down the stairs.

Riley took a deep breath and opened the door, stepping into the darkened apartment. It took a moment for his vision to adjust to the dim light. He waited until it did before closing the front door. He looked around the small space and saw empty pizza boxes, Chinese food containers, wine bottles, bags of chips, and Snickers wrappers strewn across the kitchen table, the couch, and the floor. It smelled stale, like old food.

He stepped around and over the junk food debris and headed to what he assumed was the bedroom. “Chelle, open up. The landlord let me in,” he said as he knocked on the door.