THE DAY AFTER: MIDDAY

The sun is high in the sky, the air outside humming with cicadas. The car is parked at the top of the long driveway, shielded from the road but not the sun. The smell will be putrid by now, sinking into the pores of the fabric on the back seat. It needs cleaning, a proper professional job.

I’m light-headed from the lack of food. Losing my mind to worst-case scenarios. This was meant to be a quick in-and-out. A business transaction, an exchange of goods. What has gone wrong? How long is too long to wait?

Where the fuck are you? Where the fuck are you? What am I meant to do?

Walk away now, and it was all for nothing. Stay, and the risks become even higher.