The Remains of Angelo Ch. 03

She turned her head. "What?" Rainbow squinted her eyes, taking a moment to fully recognize me.

"Yes, it's me.

"The apprentice," she said with a smirk.

"What the hell is your problem with Angelo?"

She took a few steps towards me before shaking her head as if I was not worth the effort of composing a valid argument. "Fuck off."

"No, not when you're being such a bitch to the one person who doesn't deserve that."

She rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Are you done defending your boyfriend? If that's even what he is to you."

"What?" For a moment I was too confused to be offended.

She lifted my hand, revealing the ring. "Is he paying for your college, maybe your rent? Did he buy you a car?"

"Um, no." Now I was offended. I didn't know the kind of people she'd known in Missouri, but she had no right to pass judgement on Angelo.

"Well, you need to get on that," she said with a supermodel smile. "And once you get your car you need to leave town and find a way to get out from under him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

I know men like him. Sick, disgusting human beings who prey on the young."

"You don't know Angelo." I gripped her wrist. Only then did I notice her scars. There were cuts but also burns. Some were old and others were quite fresh and painful looking.

Rainbow jerked away. "And you don't know me."

"I'd like to."

"Why?"

"I know what it's like to have no one."

She paused for a moment, taking in the meaning of my words. "Where you from?"

"New Jersey."

She nodded. "Cali is a long way from home."

"Yeah, it is." I had nothing else to say on the subject of 'home.' So, I instead switched the topic. "What's your name?"

"Katie." She lit up a new cigarette, and walked away, heading down the street to God knows where.

"Ok, sure." That was the day I met Katlyn 'Rainbow' Diaz.