Under the Streetlight
'Wait.'
That was it. Just the one word, spoken with such authority that I couldn't help but do what she said. I waited.
Tenia walked away from me, into the night but also into the light. The overhead streetlight streamed a flickering orange pulse onto the pavement and Tenia walked into its glow. It bounced off her hair, black and shimmering, and turned into a halo that surrounded her entire body. She'd lost the long leather coat early that evening, so she was left with just a fitted black t-shirt and cream jeans. Gods, she must have been cold.
A car pulled up as if she'd summoned it, which she might have done for all I knew. Still unmoving, I watched as Tenia opened the passenger door and leaned in to speak to the driver. He, or she, I couldn't see, but I didn't think I'd like them anyway. Blue BMW, recent registration, driving along at three a.m.; let's face it, the driver was a twat, whatever gender.
The chill started to get to me as I watched them talk. I couldn't hear a thing but the wind. It was whipping around my legs, bare thanks to the not-very-long skirt I was wearing. A decade ago, I'd have worn tights. But then a decade ago, I was a different person entirely. This current one didn't go in for tights.
Fuck me, come on Tenia.
I don't know why I didn't move. I was pretty sure there was nothing from stopping me. Nothing physical, at least, but I just wanted to please her. I so wanted to please her. Tenia had said wait, and that was what I was going to continue to do.
BMW driver revved the engine, a sudden noise that cut through the night. We were in a residential area, for fuck's sake, that sort of thing really wasn't cool. Still, Tenia stepped back and I realised that the obnoxiousness was at least tied to some sort of action. He (or she) was leaving, which meant Tenia would come back to me and I could get off my spot, where I'd been standing for what seemed like ages but was, let's be honest, less than three minutes.
Tenia's head exploded. Then I heard the shot.
I didn't move from my position. I just stood there and watched as BMW driver zoomed off past me. I couldn't see in the window - they were blacked out, of course, because... well... twat.
Fuck me, Tenia just got shot.
Shit like that doesn't happen. Not here. Not in fucking Swansea. This is Wales. This is the UK. We don't do guns. We really don't do guns.
What was left of Tenia was bleeding onto the pavement, the red of her blood glinting in the orange streetlight, and I was standing still.
She'd told me to wait. Was I allowed to move yet? Did her death make her command no longer valid? Fuck. I should do something.
My hand found its way to my phone without my consciousness catching up. I was speaking to an operator before I realised it.
'Yes, umm, police please. My friend's been shot.'
I don't know where I am. I just followed Tenia from the club. We'd been walking hours.
'Move? No, I can't. I...'
No, I'm not injured. I just can't move, OK. Can't you fucking understand that? She told me to wait.
She told me to wait.
