"Just really quick." I said.
"Of course."
I walked behind Amy, wishing I could stay behind her the whole time, but she had other plans. She stepped to the side of me and gently pushed me into the center of the room.
"Rick, this is Erica. She is my best friend. We go to the same high school."
"Hello, Erica." He said.
I stood there silent. He looked to be in his early 20's. He sort of fit the mold of someone more inclined to be her friend than that of her sister. He had a couple of tattoos of mysterious symbols on his right arm He wore jeans and a loose fitting t-shirt. He wore a pair of unlaced work boots. His hair was uncombed. The only neat thing about his appearance was his trimmed mustache and goatee.
"Say hello." Amy prompted me.
"Hi, Rick." I said meekly.
"Hey, Girl." He said.
They started talking about some appointment he had missed that morning. They spoke as if I had disappeared. I was so nervous, felt so silly, and didn't know what to do. I felt trapped in a moment of indifference. That morning had ended so many dreams I had about playing baseball beyond the high school level. I actually felt divorced from the person I had been just the day before.
"Sit down." Amy was saying, as she patted the seat next to Rick on the sofa.
I sat down next to Rick, covering myself in an odd pose of arms and hunched shoulders. Amy went into the kitchen to get some drinks. Rick wanted a beer and I asked for the same.
"I can't believe Jill." He said to me. "She gets to vacation as part of her job. You'd think she was trained by now. Get to work bitch! Shit!"
I mumbled something as Amy handed me a beer.
"She jokes that she wants to quit this job and find another like it, and go though the whole process again." Amy said.
Before I even took a drink of my cold beer, Rick had brought out a bag of blunts. Amy's eyes widened.
"Erica doesn't indulge. Not first hand anyway." Amy said.
