Sometime during the early morning hours, after a nightmare about Jimmy, Caleb found himself tossing and turning, unable to fall back asleep. He squinted his eyes at his alarm clock to read 3:42 AM in red, blinking digits. “Damn it,” he sighed as he swung his feet down to the floor and stood up with groan as he stretched his arms above his head. 

Since Jimmy had passed, sleep was rarely longer than two to three hours a night, which was beginning to catch up to Caleb. He usually would’ve never done something so reckless – killing a man with a witness present – and he was beginning to blame it on exhaustion.  

In only his jeans, a groggy Caleb plodded down the hallway towards the kitchen when he heard the TV playing in the living room, and after investigating, he realized Lola was still up. “Can’t sleep either, huh?” he asked as he turned on the coffee maker before sticking his face in the fridge. Nothing looked appetizing, so he opted for lighting a cigarette instead as he waited for the coffee to brew.

He poured the black liquid in a large mug and joined Lola on the couch, giving her a few feet of breathing room. He snuffed the cigarette out in the ashtray that sat on the coffee table and picked up his mug. “So, when the young college girl isn’t sneaking into bars or giving hula lessons, what do you do for fun?”

To be honest, he was sure that any information she gave him wouldn’t be exciting, but until he had sorted everything out, he would play nice.  For now. He attempted to flash her a polite smile before a yawn took over him. “Shit,” he whispered as he rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes.