Sina didn't wait till Sunday morning to leave his apartment. It was Saturday evening at a quarter to seven when he skulked into Cookie's tiny home with a suitcase, his backpack, and as many books as he could carry under one arm.

Cookie greeted Sina at the door wearing a floral print kaftan and a long beaded necklace. "You never owned much, did you, Sin?" He raised an eyebrow at the books that looked like they were about to break free from Sina's grip and tumble to the floor. "I take that back; not much apart from books, huh?"

When Sina hesitated by the entrance, Cookie gestured to the interior of the house. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Tapping his foot, Sina clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth then replied, "To be invited in. Duh."

"Foolish bit of fluff," Cookie grabbed Sina's arm and tried to pull him in. When Sina pulled back, Cookie rolled his eyes. "Stop lollygagging and enter, boy. What's with the formalities? You're invited in." When a sharp gust of wind rolled in after Sina, Cookie shivered.

Sina stepped inside the belly of the living room and waited for Cookie to lock the door; all five of the locks.

Cookie followed Sina in once the house was secure. The long hem of his kaftan swished around his bare feet. Looking at the books under Sina's arm, Cookie let out a little whistle, "Those titles. Kind of impressive. Kafka? Franz Kafka? Boy, all I've ever seen you with were comics."

"Yah. Kafka," Sina replied as he dropped his baggage in a corner and then set the books carefully down. "I'm a fan. He was dark. His mind was an abyss. He was not made for this world. Hell, I think he may have even been an alien tossed down in this crap hole and made to suffer. No, not an alien. An angel. I think he's great. What's not to love about a man who tried his whole life to become what he wanted to and could not?" The look Cookie gave him was something between amazement and confusion. "Oh, and I've got about twenty comics in my suitcase," Sina gave his friend a cheeky wink, "in case you're interested in me reading you a bedtime story later."

Cookie rolled his eyes so far back Sina thought he'd rolled them all the way into his skull. "Boy, I've read Kafka."

"The Metamorphosis only, I presume."

When Cookie flipped Sina the bird, Sina flipped him one back.

"You look like Mrs. Roper," Sina commented as he touched Cookie's sleeve.

Tossing his head back, Cookie laughed. "I'd make one hell of a Helen Roper, boy. I'd be a sassy, more snarky version of her. But I'd be taking no shit from no Stanley. For Heaven's sake, the man was toxic. I don't know why she put up with his crap." Patting his hair, Cookie added, "I'd make one heck of a redhead, don't you think?"

Sina shrugged as he lowered himself into a nearby chair. "You make one heck of a whatever you want. You dance better than that grody Shmarial mermaid who's taken most of our good slots. You're beautiful, Cookie." Inside and out, Sina thought but was too shy to say it.

Cookie chuckled lightly, "Beautiful? You will not be getting any brownie points from me this way, boy."

Sina tilted his head back as far as it would go. On Cookie's ceiling, he noticed a tiny spot of moisture – about the size of a penny – glaring at him through a tiny black spot that looked like a mean little eye. "A heck of a whatever you want to be," Sina repeated as he straightened his head. "And that's the truth."

"Pffff..." Cookie waved his arm and the full sleeve appeared to want to swallow him up. "Anyway, were I Helen Roper, I'd make ol' Stanley my bitch."

"I binged watched Three's Company until Chrissy left. It lost its appeal after that. Never liked the other two they brought in. Bor-ring." Extracting a pack of Camel's from his pocket, he raised it to Cookie. "I owe you big."

Big, Cookie mouthed and sat by Sina. "So..." Gesturing to the bags, Cookie raised a brow. "Doesn't look like you had much of a life, apart from those books, I mean." Kafka, Cookie mouthed then mm-mmmed and smacked his lips.

Offering Cookie a cigarette, Sina smirked. "You think I actually ever owned anything I'd ever want to keep? Apart from my books. Don't even want my own skin and bones at times."

"Oh, babe," Cookie uttered gently. "Sometimes you break my heart."

Through crooked smoke Os, Sina looked at his friend. "I don't need your pity."

"But you need my charity."

Sina slouched low into the chair and grumbled as he reached for an orange ashtray and rested it on his belly. "Thank you for letting this poor lost soul stay with you for a week."

Taking a long drag, Cookie spoke, "You know I'd love for you to stay with me forever. It would be like an endless slumber party full of moodiness and woe," he teased, "but when aunt May returns from her holy pilgrimage -"

"From the holy land of Viva Las Vegas!" Sina chimed in, then mock-crossed himself but it was nothing more than his hand waving around him like he was trying to ward off a mosquito.

Exhaling, Cookie crossed his legs. "She'll need her room back and for motherfucking sake, where did you learn to cross yourself like a broken Muppet?"

Sina groaned.

Cookie leaned forward as he spoke, "I need to teach you about God, son."

"I don't doooo God. Don't do church. I think you know that since I've said it about half a trillion times."

Cookie rested his cigarette in the ashtray. He went to speak but paused when someone's child ran past his window screaming about a lost baseball. "Motherfucking Ames boy. I've told him a hundred not to shout like that when he's passing by my window." Turning his attention back to Sina he reached out and touched the other's leg. "You'll go to hell if you don't believe."

Irritated by his friend's words, Sina shook his leg until Cookie moved his hand away. "I'm a homeless stripper who sucks cock for a fistful of dollars. I do drugs and I can't even afford a pack of cigarettes. No one loves me except for you and Cody and even that's not enough, you know."

Cookie pursed his lips. "But hell, Sina. Eternal damnation."

Narrowing his eyes, Sina straightened up and hissed, "Stop telling me there is something worse than this life I live. I am in hell. I don't need to go down there to feel worse." Grinding the remainder of his cigarette angrily, Sina rose. "Look, I'm an asshole. You mean well and I'm sorry." Feeling the sting of tears he clenched his jaw and breathed deeply.

"No need to apologize," Cookie said softly and got up as well. "I may have crossed a line. God is my main man, I simply wish He was yours too." Reaching for Sina's waist, Cookie curled his fingers around a belt loop and pulled him for a hug. "You're my friend. Possibly the only real friend I have, especially since losing Travy. And I care. That's all."

As Cookie held him, Sina let him. But he didn't hug back. When he breathed, he breathed in a clean soapy scent coming from his friend's skin. "I know," he uttered into Cookie's warm chest then pulled back. "I just... fuck it. I got to take a walk. Need air."

"Alright." Handing him a spare key, Cookie nodded and watched him go.

As an unexpected wind howled outside, Cookie Jackson moved to the window and watched the sky darken and turn the dusty twilight into a veil of black. 

* Fun Fact: I used to binge-watch Three's Company until John Ritter passed away. I wasn't able to watch it again for years.