I guess we're in time

 "Well, femicide is up, around the world," Roxanne explained about the paper she was working on.

Jade wished she hadn't asked now, but at least she wasn't alone, trying to let the phone conversation with Tristan rest. She grimaced. Why? Why did she do this? She cringed more. But she did her best to look at an essay question she was supposed to be working on.

"Sorry." Roxanne shrugged.

"Are you going into criminology?" Jade felt she should ask.

"No." She bit the end of her yellow marker. Actually, she hadn't used it for anything. The paper was a word document on her laptop that was in front of her at the kitchen table "I just felt like writing about it." That's when she talked about the missing woman that might have been murdered by somebody from Kansas who fled to Mexico. She also mentioned a story from the local news about a young woman in Iowa who said her grandfather killed fifty women and buried them in a field, decades ago. Even a cadaver dog picked up a scent but it still wasn't enough for the police to start a crime scene. "See, it's always been happening."

Jade's eyes lit up. It was like listening to a nightmare. Just what sort of person was Roxanne? She sighed. She actually felt a little faint. Her heart felt so tight. She wanted to get out of there.

Was this all a bad omen of some kind? She'd only come over so Mona and Nic could have some private time. She knew Mona expected it. Since Mona thought Jade was going to Ari's to spend the night, but not yet.

Of course, Pan was here, but he scampered off to the curtained-off bedroom to play a Warcraft game on his old PC. He took a peanut butter sandwich and a glass of milk with him.

"Do you want hot chocolate?" Roxanne got up to make some.

"Well- I might as well."

"Sorry, if I sound so creepy," Rox apologized. "It's just I was listening to this friend of mine who's in Maryland."

"Oh," Jade was listening as she stood up to shake her restless wayward thoughts, watching Rox put the contents of the packets in mugs. She added a bit of half and half to each and stirred while the water boiled in the kettle.

"She's really insane. A big pothead, possibly a drunk too. I mean, it's amazing she's survived this long. I wouldn't dare go out at night where she lives. Actually, I wouldn't even do that here, either." Rox shook her head as if it was too scary. "She gets in bar fights, fights with women in her building. And then she goes on and on about how she can't let herself be with anybody nice, just because ..well, something happened to her with one of her Dad's friends when she was a middle schooler, and..her mom still blames her. Anyway, it's such ancient history..but she says she just doesn't deserve to be with anybody who treats her right."

Rox poured hot water into the mugs and let Jade stir with a spoon. "I dunno, I run out of positive things to say about how she should love herself more, you know.. take care of herself. But she just likes to call and tell me, all sorts of things."

"Like what?" Jade wanted to know.

"She thinks her neighbor almost choked her to death when they had sex at Thanksgiving, but she can't remember, only there are marks on her neck that seems to make it so. She was drunk at the time." Roxanne told her.

Jade brought the hot cocoa to her lips, but she couldn't let her throat touch it. Why was Roxanne telling her this? It was giving her a headache. She wasn't sure she wanted to go to Ari's tonight, but sure enough, he called. He was coming to pick her up.