I scratched nervously at my skin, ducking under a streetlight to briefly convince myself I’d escaped the rain.
‘I don’t know what your big idea was,’ Marcus growled, screeching to a halt next to me, hoodie pulled defiantly upwards. ‘But am I right that it’s not working?’
‘I just need to find somewhere to lay low,’ I growled. ‘I thought there was somewhere here, someone I knew… maybe it’s the next street over?’
‘You still haven’t told me why we’re running,’ Marcus shouted over the increasing noise of the storm. ‘What did you do?’
‘I borrowed money I couldn’t pay back,’ I told him, reluctantly. ‘And their patience ran out.’
‘How do you know?’ he asked with a frown. I sighed and pulled up my sleeve, showing him what I’d been scratching.
‘What the—’ he frowned. ‘Is that a tattoo? What does it say?’
‘It’s a date,’ I sighed. ‘And an amount.’
‘That was yesterday’s date, right?’ he said. I nodded.
‘And a big number,’ I sighed. ‘I think they did the decimal places just to hurt me.’
‘Look, we’ll just find a place in the city that’ll do a cover up tattoo. Ideas?’
‘There isn’t anywhere,’ I shook my head. ‘Everybody knows what this tattoo means – nobody will touch it.’
‘Gimme a pen and a lighter and I’ll do it,’ Marcus rolled his eyes.
‘You know how to do that?’ I frowned.
‘I may not be a the best realism tattoo artists near Brisbane,’ he shrugged. ‘But I’m sure I can find a tutorial online. Got any better options?’
I looked up and around the street one more time. I spotted a flickering neon light, and my arm shot up to point at it.
‘There!’ I said excitedly. ‘I knew it was this street!’
‘What’s there?’ Marcus asked apprehensively.
‘A friend,’ I whispered. ‘An old friend.’
I took off across the street, barely pausing to check for traffic.
‘That’s not an answer, you know,’ Marcus barked after me. He shook his head and followed after me with a sigh.