Before Now

by Hope E. Davis

  She sits back down by the door, wondering what to do. She’s already run out of ideas. There seems to be no way out, although she knows one must exist for the water bottles to be placed inside.

  Speaking of which... She opens the half filled bottle from earlier and takes a long drink. She knows it will put her back to sleep, but she’s resisted as long as she could. The water, although it tastes funny, helps ease the tension gathering in her muscles. Definitely a roofie or sleeping pills.

  Although she can’t gauge time, she knows some has passed, and she hopes someone’s noticed she’s missing by now. Her initial thought is John, but then she winces as she remembers the horrid fight they had the night before. He probably doesn’t care where she is now. The thought makes Remi sad, but she pushes it away. She can worry about him later.

  She thinks about her sister, whom she was with the night before. Rayna has to know she’s missing, right? Remi pictures her carefree other half and shakes her head. Rayna wouldn’t notice if her own hand went missing.

  Well. Guess that leaves Daisy, her roommate, who will notice when the rent and power bill don’t get paid. Which is at least a month away…meaning Remi is screwed.

  She lies down on her back on the hard cement, waiting for sleep to overtake her. Before she drifts off into oblivion, a thought peeks around the corner of her mind. But before she can grasp the idea, it’s gone as quickly as it arrived.

  REMI

  BEFORE

  “Yes, meet me at the Starbucks off of Corporate and 5th.” Remi scribbles notes as the woman on the other end confirms the meeting. “Alright, see you then.” She hangs up the phone, setting it on the desk next to her notepad. She sighs and leans her forehead on her hands.

  This will be the fifth person she’s interviewed as a potential roommate. The other four have been absolute duds. The first one didn’t have a consistent job, the second had a kid, the third didn’t even show up for the interview. And the fourth, well, she looked like a slob with no idea what personal hygiene meant, and Remi eliminated her based on personal preference.

  Maybe she’s being too picky. Anyone she finds won’t be as close to her as Rayna was.

  Remi picks her phone back up and opens the text conversation. Four messages sit there, unanswered by her twin. It isn’t like Rayna not to answer texts.

  She glances at the clock on her phone, wondering if she has time to go visit Rayna’s new place tonight. With a sigh, she realizes it’s already almost nine and she has at least another hour of work to finish before bed.

  It’s Thursday, at least she can head to Rayna’s after work tomorrow and check on her then.

  Remi debates texting Zeki to make sure nothing happened to her sister, but she hasn’t spoken to him since the day he mistook her for Rayna and tried to grope her. Things have been awkward ever since.

  Who is she kidding, Remi has never gotten along with Zeki. He’s always given her a major “sleeze” vibe. He seems like the kind of guy who only does things because they’re easy or benefit him, never just to do something nice.

  Her stomach rumbles, reminding Remi she missed dinner in her rush to find a roommate. She could afford the place on her own, but having a rommate is more cost effective. And Remi likes to save for a rainy day.

  At least this Daisy seems like a good bet. They’ve spoken on the phone for about half an hour, and seem to have similar likes and dislikes. Like Remi, she’s a self confessed workaholic. She admits to spending more hours at work than anywhere else. Daisy also claims she’s clean, in her early thirties, and has no children. She seems perfect, and Remi hopes they’ll get along just as well in person tomorrow.

  She sends a quick text to John, letting him know to meet her at the Starbucks tomorrow to help vet the new possible roommate. Remi originally wanted her sister there, but the first text Rayna didn’t answer had to do with the new roommate. And she hasn’t answered any since.

  Screw it! Remi thinks, putting her pen down and grabbing her phone and keys. It’s Thursday, Rayna is probably still at work at the restaurant. Remi will go and visit her there. She can’t stand not knowing why her texts are going unanswered, especially when she knows how glued her twin is to her phone.

  It takes Remi twenty minutes to get to the restaurant via the metro. An Uber would be faster, but she isn’t as trusting of the app as her sister is. She’s felt uncomfortable with many Uber drivers in the past.

  Not that the metro is any safer. It’s probably all in her head.

  Remi checks her phone as she pushes open the door to the restaurant. It’s almost ten, but the sign on the door says they’re open until eleven o’clock. She looks around the white tablecloth steakhouse. She’s been here before, but she’s never seen it so empty. The host stand is abandoned, the host probably already headed home. There are three occupied tables throughout the restaurant, none with more than two people, and one only has one man in a suit. There are no servers in sight.

  She takes a seat at the bench inside the door, intending to wait until she sees a server to ask about Rayna.

  She doesn’t have to wait long before she sees her sister exiting the double swinging doors from the kitchen, a plate held in her hand with a towel. Remi stands up, intending to call out to her, but pauses, deciding she’ll wait until her sister drops off the plate she’s carrying. She’s doing her job.

  Rayna sets the plate in front of the lone man, a smile on her face. Remi smiles, happy her sister is okay, but her smile quickly fades as her sister touches the man’s arm. She watches as Rayna leans over, obviously flirting. With a man who isn’t Zeki.

  She stands, open mouthed, for what seems like forever but is probably only a few moments before her twin glances up and notices her. Rayna quickly straightens up and excuses herself from the patron, making a beeline for Remi.

  “What are you doing here?” she exclaims, grabbing Remi’s biceps and turning her away from the scene she just witnessed.

  “What am I doing? Who is that man?” Remi shout-whispers back.

  “I’m serving him his steak, obviously.” Rayna rolls her eyes, but doesn’t loosen the grip she has on her sister’s arms.

  “Rayna, you know you can’t lie to me. You were flirting with him!” Remi scolds. She tries to wriggle out of her sister’s grasp to no avail. Rayna has always been stronger than her.

  “I was not flirting! Now leave.” Rayna’s face contorts in anger as she releases Remi’s arms.

  “You haven’t answered my texts in weeks! Are you okay?” Remi crosses her arms, not intending to leave until she has some answers.

  Rayna glances back over her shoulder, Remi follows her gaze to see the solo male patron looking their way. Rayna groans in obvious disdain.

  “I’m fine. But you need to leave. Now,” she emphasizes.

  Remi’s torn. Obviously something is going on here, but this is Rayna’s work place, and they’re creating a scene.

  “Okay, but text me back from now on, okay?”

  Rayna nods. “I will. Don’t worry.” With another hurried glance over her shoulder, she rushes back to the man.

  Remi turns to leave, but something tells her to stay a moment more. She glances back in time to see Rayna place something small and white in the man’s hand. Just what has her twin gotten herself mixed up in?

  Shaking her head, Remi knows there’s nothing she can do about it at this moment, and she turns and pushes open the door, heading back into the night.

  RAYNA

  NOW

  She jolts awake to the sound of something thumping on the wall.

  “Remi, you okay?” she calls out, stepping out of bed into her slippers. She stops by her vanity mirror as she heads toward her bedroom door, cringing at her reflection. She needs to shower, and bad.

  As she heads down the hallway, the thumping sounds grow in intensity, with varying amounts of time between them. What is she doing in there? “Remi?” Rayna calls through the closed door.

  Seconds later, the door is ripped open.
But instead of seeing the face of her twin, she comes face to face with a crazed looking Zeki.

  “What the fuck did you do with my shit!” he screams.

  Rayna takes a step back, covering her ears with the palms of her hands. “Well hello to you to,” she retorts.

  Zeki seeths. “I asked you a question. Now answer it.”

  Most women would crumple under the firey gaze of an enraged Zeki, but Rayna’s used to it. His moods are unpredictable, and they no longer scare her. Usually she’s able to calm him down within a couple minutes after helping him solve the source of his frustration.

  “Now babe, what are you looking for, then maybe I can tell you?”

  “You. Know. What,” he replies through gritted teeth.

  Rayna peeks over Zeki’s shoulder, noticing the destroyed guest room behind him. “No, I don’t, and why are you destroying the guest room?”

  There’s no sign of Remi in the wreckage. She must’ve gone home this morning while Rayna was nursing her hangover. Hopefully she went home alone and not with John.

  “I don’t know what you’re looking for, but let’s start picking this room up and I’m sure we will find whatever it is.” Rayna moves to step past her boyfriend.

  “Don’t pretend you don’t know.”

  Rayna leans down and begins picking up the books he tossed on the floor. She doesn’t personally care about them, she bought them to add to the décor of the room. “I really don’t know Zeki, why don’t you fill me in?” She stands up, placing the books back on the shelf.

  “My stash, where is my stash?” Zeki crosses his arms, staring his girlfriend down.

  Stash? Rayna has no idea what he’s talking about. What would her boyfriend possibly have a stash of— “Are you doing drugs?” Rayna’s voice breaks at the thought.

  Zeki rolls his eyes. “God, you really are dumb. I’m not doing them, just selling them.”

  She stands there in shock. How has she lived with this man for a year and not known he’s selling drugs?

  He scoffs at her expression. “How did you think I afforded this house, huh?”

  “But…but you’re a banker…” Rayna whispers in disbelief, more to herself than to anyone else.

  Zeki snorts. “I’m a bank teller. Bank tellers don’t make shit. Why do you think I went on all those business trips?”

  Rayna feels the color leave her face as she realizes she’s been a fool. Bank tellers don’t take business trips.

  “And now, you better tell me what happened to my brick before I lose a big sale.”

  “B-Brick?”

  “Of cocaine,” Zeki elaborates, obviously annoyed at his girlfriend taking so long to figure everything out.

  “You were keeping cocaine in the same house we live in?” Rayna nearly screams, her cool demeanor vanishing. “I could’ve been arrested!” She feels like she’s falling.

  “Well obviously I hid it good,” Zeki replies, pointing to the bookshelf. He pulls out one of the shelves, turning it around so Rayna can see the hollowed out inside. “Now I know you’re the one who found it, so tell me what you did with it before I hurt you.”

  Rayna feels truly scared for the first time in her life. She’s never seen Zeki like this before. “I swear. I didn’t find it. You have to believe me,” she begs as he steps toward her.

  “Then who was in this room? It was a mess when I got home!” he seeths, stepping closer.

  Rayna unconsciously steps back, surveying the room. She can’t be sure, but she thinks if it was this trashed last night, Remi would have said something. And it isn’t like Remi to trash a room…

  Zeki growls, obviously not liking how long she’s taking to answer.

  “Remi was over! No one else, I swear!” Rayna shouts, her legs trembling in fear.

  “I knew that bitch was trouble. Now go get my stash back from her, before she does something dumb like call the cops!”

  Rayna squeezes her eyes shut, trying to picture Remi ransacking a room to find a cocaine stash, but try as she might, she can’t picture it. But she needs to get away from Zeki before he hurts her. “Yeah, I’ll go r-right now and get it back. I’ll be right back!” Rayna quickly edges her way around the still angry Zeki, heading down the hall to leave, before realizing she’s still in her bathrobe. She probably can’t get an Uber looking like this.

  She turns and heads to her room, grabbing the cut-offs from the floor and slipping them on. She tosses on the first shirt her hand touches, not bothering with her hair or makeup. She can do all that at Remi’s.

  Rayna runs down the stairs, grabbing her shoes on her way out the door, planning to slip them on outside. She still needs to call an Uber, but she wants to get out of what she’s starting to consider the danger zone.

  When she reaches the end of the block, she collapses in a fit of sobs.

  How could she miss that the man she’s dating has been dealing drugs? How has she not noticed? How could she be so dumb not to question where all his money comes from?

  And now that she thinks about it, what else has she missed?

  Maybe Zeki isn’t the guy she thought he was…

  RAYNA

  BEFORE

  Rayna groans as she checks her bank account balance on her phone. God, when did she spend so much money?

  Granted, she’s never been good about saving, nor has she really wanted to save for a rainy day. She’s always assumed that Remi would have her back.

  And Remi is great at saving money, her subconscious reminds her.

  They’ve been living separately for two months now, and it has been really hard to adjust. For her, anyway. Remi doesn’t seem to have a problem at all. In fact, she recently found a new roommate who plans to move in later this week. The woman’s name is Daisy.

  Rayna isn’t sure how she feels about her sister’s new potential roommate, but she also knows she doesn’t have the right to say anything. She blew her sister off for weeks while she interviewed potential roommates, and she didn’t even have a good reason. She was just too lazy to go.

  Too lazy or too depressed? her mind nags.

  “Both,” she whispers to herself.

  It’s been hard adjusting to not seeing her sister every day. She thought it would be easy shifting to live with Zeki. It’s not.

  Their relationship has vastly improved since her move, which is great, but also makes her feel like an even worse person when she needs to ask Zeki for money to buy groceries or other essential items. Not to mention, she hasn’t gotten her nails done in weeks.

  Work has been slow lately, which is to be expected, as it’s the down season, but with her expensive Uber ride to and from work, Rayna isn’t even breaking even.

  Her phone buzzes in her hand, a banner coming across the top of the screen to let her know she has an incoming message.

  Daryl: Hey it’s Daryl. I came in and ate dinner the other night and you gave me your number. You still interested in that business venture we discussed?

  Rayna reads the text twice. Sure, she’s been expecting it, but it doesn’t make what she’s about to do any easier.

  Well, desperate times call for desperate measures.

  Rayna: Yes. When do I start?

  She grimaces as she presses send. Can she really do this? She taps her phone lightly on her chin and she waits for the response. It finally comes.

  Daryl: Tomorrow. Meet me at the Hilton Hotel downtown.

  Rayna: Okay. See you then.

  She doesn’t think she’s ever typed in such full sentences before, but she’s also never gotten a new job through text before.

  You’ve also never had this sort of job before, her mind reminds her.

  Come to think of it, her subconscious sounds extremely similar to Remi. She and her sister have similar voices, but the one in her head is definitely not her own.

  Speaking of her twin, Rayna promised she would text her, and that was days ago. More broken promises Rayna just can’t face.

  Either way, she opens up the texting
screen on her phone and sends a quick “I’m sorry” text to Remi, apologizing while also saying she’s been very busy lately. The second part isn’t necessarily true, but it sounds better than, “sorry I didn’t get back to you, I was too busy lying in bed regretting my life decisions.”

  She’s just pushed send when Zeki walks through the door.

  “Hey babe,” he greets her with his signature smile.

  Rayna jumps up, trying to act somewhat excited to see him. “Hey,” she replies as she kisses him on the lips.

  “Did you have a good day?” he asks as he slides his backpack off his shoulders. Rayna has always wondered why he doesn’t carry a briefcase like most bankers, but she has never dared to ask.

  “Yep, how was the bank?”

  He smiles widely. “Great. You working tonight?” He gives her a once-over, probably taking in the fact that she hasn’t even dressed yet for the day.

  Rayna shakes her head.

  “Well, go put some clothes on and I’ll take you out to that Italian place you like.” Zeki pushes her toward the stairs, giving her a suggestive pat on the bottom.

  Rayna smiles and heads upstairs. She doesn’t really feel like going out tonight at all. She’d honestly rather sit on the couch a binge watch TV if it was up to her. But Zeki likes to go out, and he especially likes to show off Rayna.

  He hasn’t mentioned any friends coming to dinner tonight, but she’s noticed lately that he wants to go out whenever they were off, and there’s always another couple to dine with them. Sure, a few have been from the neighborhood (Zeki trying to help her make friends, again), but some have been from his work, and others have been his friends from high school. The parade of people never seems to end.

  As she slides into a short cocktail dress, Rayna finds herself wondering if this is how Remi feels all the time. Rayna has always been a party girl, while Remi wanted to stay home. Maybe she’s finally maturing?