The Art of the Hustle

by Edward Mullen

  ***

  Judy was so sick of us living in the house that she found us a one-bedroom apartment in the West End overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I was looking for a two bedroom, but that was not in Darrell’s budget.

  We decided to flip a coin to see who would get the bedroom and who had to sleep in the living room. I won the coin toss fair and square.

  “Not so fast, bro,” Darrell said, suddenly inventing new rules, “you haven’t won anything; it’s best two out of three.”

  The coin was flipped again and it came up heads for the second time in a row. I had officially won the bedroom. In Darrell’s mind he was probably searching for another dirty tactic to change the outcome. He begrudgingly lost and was noticeably unhappy about it.

  The next day, Darrell told me he had to go somewhere with his dad. Everything was always so vague with him, for all I knew, he was leaving town.