Read Vacant for Free Online Page B

I’m dead. The cops come and go quickly. The woman refuses to press charges, but the man is escorted off the property with a warning not to return. He’ll be back, though.
    They always are.
    My thoughts drift to moving to a better neighborhood, but then I realize I may not have a job because I’m a complete coward who left for a week without calling his boss; it’ll be a miracle if I’m not fired. How will I take care of Emily without a job?
    I’m an idiot. God, how did I fuck this up so badly?
    I dial Margie’s number and her cheerful greeting relaxes me a bit. “Hey, Marge, it’s Ethan.”
    “Well hey, Sugarplum.  How was your vacation?” She knows I wasn’t on vacation, and I try to discern if there is sarcasm in her voice, but I can’t seem to detect any.
    “Margie, I wasn’t on vacation.”
    “Sure you were, kid. It’s on the schedule; I approved it myself. There’s paperwork and everything. The owners are glad you finally took some time off. You had more than three weeks coming to you. It makes them nervous that you’ve never taken a day off in five years.”
    I’m confused and my silence must confirm this to my manager. “So, are you coming in tomorrow? I’m down a cashier and could use ya.”
    Cashier? I’m a “back of the house” guy . The “ make sure there’s always chips on the display” guy; low man on the grocery store food chain.
    “Uhhhh…” is my incoherent reply.
    “It’s time you take on more responsibility, kiddo. You have that pretty girl to take care of.”
    She knows. She knows about Emily. How does she know?
    “I’ll see you tomorrow, Ethan.”
    I’m left holding the phone wondering what the hell is going on.

~Forgive~
    So far I’ve cleaned the bathroom, the oven, the refrigerator and vacuumed—twice. It’s after nine and Emily still hasn’t shown up. I’m starting to think that her things are simply a mirage, or maybe she just didn’t want to carry a lot of junk with her.
    Maybe she’s staying with one of her school friends, and she didn’t need her hygiene stuff. Maybe my earlier thought about what she would need to do for money wasn’t that far off the mark. Maybe she’s out doing something dangerous, or worse yet, something has already happened to her. There’s no one but me to know she’s missing. How long do I have to wait before I turn her in as a missing person? I know she has to be missing for at least twenty-four hours, but maybe she’s already been gone for a couple days. Oh, God—what if she’s hurt and lying somewhere. Maybe she only has minutes left and I can’t get to her in time…
    “Ow!” I hit my head on the bottom shelf of the linen closet, cleaning the dried and caked shampoo from the floor when the sound of the door closing startles me.
    “Emily?” I hope it’s her. If it’s not, I’m going to call the cops and lie and tell them she’s been missing for days. I hear the slapping of tennis shoes against the linoleum, then a thud on the carpet. I turn and look down the hall to see a brown-haired beauty face down on the floor.
    “Emily? Are you okay?” I almost— almost —laugh when she looks up at me with her hair tangled in her face.
    “Ethan, it’s you! It’s really you!” She scrambles the rest of the way to me on her knees, spitting her hair out of her mouth and hugging me tighter than I can ever remember. Her smile is brighter than a sunny day at the equator. We settle on the couch, still holding on to each other. I can’t seem to let go. I never want to let go.
    “Where have you been?” There doesn’t seem to be any anger in her tone. How could she NOT be angry with me?
    I’m ashamed at my answer. “I drove. I didn’t really go anywhere. I was just running away, Emily.” I hang my head, embarrassed that I don’t even have a good reason for leaving her.
    “I know it won’t make any difference now because you probably hate me, but I love you too, Emily. I have since… forever, and I’m sorry I