Sincerely
"I want peanut butter!"
His lip twitched at the kid's high-pitched whine. "Lori, will you feed the damned kid?"
Lori snarled at her supposed 'leader', "Why don't you get off your ass and go to the supermarket?"
This, instinctively, led to both turning their heads. "Stevie?"
He leapt to his feet, grinning rapaciously. "Anything you say, boss."
***
Stevie hummed to himself as he retrieved a jar of Skippy from the Rite Aid's food section.
"Two dollars? That's highway robbery!"
"I would know something about that."
Stevie leapt at the cool tone emanating from behind him.
"Oh! Sandman...Uh...Tyler's hungry."
"Is he?" Hefting a six pack onto his shoulder. "You wouldn't wanna tell me where the kid is, would you?"
"Uh..." Stevie's voice cracked.
"That's a no." Instinctively, Stevie hit the floor. "Relax kid. I ain't hitting you."
"Yeah?" Stevie sat up. "I wish I could help you. But you know how Raven is..."
"Yeah..." He scatched his chin, trying to get beyond the beer-fuddled cells that comprised his mind. "I think I got an idea."
"But..."
"Let me be the brains, kid. You need 'em."
***
Four hours later, a knock sounded at Raven's motel room door. When opened, all that stood on the stoop was a jar of Skippy.
He plucked free a note attached to the side and, upon reading it, squashed the jar, sending peanut butter across the room.
"Raven:
Hate you. Hate peanut butter.
Taking your bottom,
Love,
Sandman"