After Dark

fiCTion

afTer Dark

by annie Grimes

Sunni didn’t have five dollars, and apparently, that was how much it cost to walk your dog outside of your apartment on a Saturday night. The man wore a red beanie over his ears, and a baggy black hoodie hung limply atop his skeletal frame. The wheels on his bicycle squeaked each time they stopped and started. “A hot dog down at the gas station costs five dollars,” he said. The Shih Tzu pawed at Sunni’s calves, then stalked away and pissed on the side of a tree. “I left my wallet inside. Sorry,” she said. She smiled but tried not to be too friendly about it. The sun was starting to set earlier these days, though she still got off work at the same time. “You live here?” he asked. Sunni looked around at the apartments. The buildings were packed in tight rows, alternating between dark- and light-red bricks to disguise their uniformity. Most of the concrete staircases to the upper stories were cracked, and green paint was peeling off the corners of all the doors. Some lights were on over the balconies, and nearly every parking spot contained a car, but no one was outside. The air was deadly silent. “My boyfriend does,” she said. The man nodded, messing with the rubber on his handlebars. “I like your pants.” He pointed at her pajamas. They were fleece and printed with yellow rubber duckies. She got them for Christmas when she was eleven, and they were high-waters on her now twenty-year-old legs. “Thanks,” she said, tugging them down. The Shih Tzu swiped his feet against the dirt like a tiny bull and trotted down the sidewalk. Sunni curled her toes into her slippers and jogged after him. The man mounted his bicycle and

followed along in the street. “What’s his name?” “The dog?” she asked, staring at her feet. “Teddy.” “No. Your boyfriend.” Sunni thought about her job at Hank’s, the family-owned burger joint off the highway. Her boss Glenn was nearing retirement, about ready to pass the torch to his much more frugal son. Glenn always gave her extra shifts when she was behind on rent or needed textbooks for school, but he pretended it was because they were short on staff. One time she returned to a cleared-out table to find a couple of raggedy one-dollar bills. Underneath sat a crisp twenty, like it had recently been withdrawn from the bank. Glenn avoided her eyes for the rest of the night, and Sunni didn’t ask where it came from. “Glenn,” she said, pressing her lips into a thin line. “He is a lucky man. You’re a very beautiful girl.” Sunni swallowed lightly. She kept a brisk pace, planting one foot in front of the other, counting each step. The dumpster sat close ahead, marking a dead end to the apartment complex. “Thank you,” she said. The man peddled in front of her, blocking off the sidewalk. He bent down like he was checking his tire pressure. “Well, smile a little. It’s a compliment.” Sunni exhaled a laugh, crossing her arms. Teddy jumped excitedly at a leaf that drifted in front of his path. It tapped gently against the wet of his nose. “Can I pet him?” the man asked. Sunni nodded, gripping the leash a little tighter. The man shifted his squat toward Teddy. He ran his fingers through the dog’s white-and-brown hair, cupping his face in one hand and scratching his ears with the other. Teddy was wagging his tail. The man chuckled. “He likes me.” The sun was getting lower in the sky, so much so that the buildings on the other side of the road started to blend into big gray masses of brick. A car turned in on the opposite end of the complex, illuminating the street with parallel lines of yellow light. Sunni tugged Teddy in its direction. “You should probably get going inside,” the man said as he got back on his bike. “It’s not too safe after dark.” Sunni didn’t look back at him, just took off faster toward the car. It was pulling into a parking spot across the street. The man still peddled behind her, though not as closely. A woman stepped out of the vehicle, her feet bouncing as she made her way to the trunk to unload a few bags of groceries. Relief washed over Sunni. She cleared her throat and released a shaky breath. “Hey, Maddie!” she shouted, one hand in the air. The woman remained in place, facing the trunk. “Maddie!” she said again as she crossed the road. The woman turned around, confusion tinting her face. Sunni blinked a few times, her lips trembling into a scrunched-up grin. Her eyes were watering.

“Maddie,” she said, tilting her head in the direction of the man. “Do you need some help?” The woman saw him and inhaled sharply. “Yes, please.” She sighed like she had been waiting for someone to ask. “How about you carry all the bags so I can pet my favorite puppy?” She bent down, and Teddy went running toward her so fast Sunni had to drop the leash. After a few strokes on the dog’s back, the woman stood and pulled Sunni into a familiar hug. “How was your day?” she asked. “It was good,” Sunni said, her voice cracking. They watched as the man rode away, around the fence and down the main street. The women didn’t let go until he was completely out of sight, engulfed by the prickly hedges. Sunni wiped her eyes and bent down to retrieve Teddy’s leash. The dog sneezed, then proceeded to lick the exposed part of her ankle. The woman pulled the two bags of groceries from her trunk, shutting it with her elbow. A glare hit Sunni’s eyes, a reflection from the name tag on the woman’s chest. Lisa. She was dressed in gray scrubs. Sunni smiled, her heartbeat finally slowing. Lisa smiled back, the bridge of her nose scrunching softly. The two women surveyed each other a moment more before returning to their homes, the whites of their eyes illuminating the darkness that surrounded them.