Here's my contribution to the latest Kween of the Queens challenge.
11:37pmThere was a loud knock at the door. I had no idea who could be at the door at this time of night, without first calling or texting. I wasn't upset, but the norm was that friends would call or text when something was wrong before coming over. I had this sudden thought that something absolutely horrible must have happened, and that whoever was at the door was too shocked to have called first. I got up, walked to the door, and looked through the peep hole. I was completely stunned at what I saw. My jaw litterally dropped. I quickly composed myself before unlocking the door and swinging it wide open.
"Hi."She was so meek and mild when she said it. Standing before me she looked so utterly pitiful. I couldn't remember the last time that I saw anyone look like that...and I certainly had never seen Sam like that.
Hey.I thought that I would have to force myself to smile at her, but it came so naturally.
"I......"She hung her head in shame. She still wouldn't...or
couldn't look at me.
"I...um..."I reached out and gently lifted her chin up. Her mascara had run down her entire face. She looked as if she'd been crying for days.
Come inside.I stood back giving her enough room to come inside. She walked past me and into the living room, and just stopped. She stood there with her shoulders slumped and head once again hanging down in shame. We were both in our early 30s now, but Sam looked like a small child standing there. It had been at least 10 years since I had seen here...around 8 since I had last heard anything from her. She was hurting...a lot...that much was obvious. All these years later, my heart still ached for her. I hated seeing her in pain.
Sam?Her mouth was slightly open now, her lower lip trembling so much I was afraid it was going to fall off. I took a step towards her and brushed her dark, curly hair out of her face. She brought her head slightly up, but still wouldn't look directly at me.
Come on.I reached out and took her hand. She momentarily lifted her eyes to look at me. I smiled at her and we walked down the long halfway to the other half of the house. I had a flashback to the first time Sam and I walked this hallway together, hand in hand. It had been about 15 years earlier. It was the summer after our freshman year at college and Sam had come to stay with me for a few days while my parents were out of town on business. Had my parents known that Sam and I were romantically linked, I'm not sure tht they would have suggested that she come visit to keep me company while they were away. At that time though, they thought that we were best friends, and we were...it's just that we were more than that as well. It was odd though; we had been roommates our freshman year in college, but never slept together until that night 15 years ago.
We were finally at the large bathroom at the end of the hallway. I took a small wash cloth from underneath the sink and dampened it with warm water. I looked up to see Sam's reflection in the mirror.
"You still have that piece of crap?" 
I grinned from ear to ear as I turned around.
I do."Well, at least you keep it hidden away back here in this bathroom."The 'piece of crap' that Sam was referring to was a large picture on the bathroom wall. It was actually a piece that Sam had used in one of her digital media classes when we were undergrads. It was a picture of me that she had manipulated. At the time, she was unbelieveably proud of it (as she should have been). But I had to admit, looking at it now, it really was a piece of crap, at least from a purely aesthetic perspective. She had actually made it for me, and had given it to me as a gift when the semester was over.
"It's absolutely horrible."I took a step towards her and began to gently wipe her face with the warm wash cloth that I had.
Hey...give me a break. Flannel was in back then. Seattle grunge, remember?She smiled weakly at my lame joke. It was the first smile I had gotten out of her all night. The grin on my face got even larger.
"That's not what I mean, and you know it."She took a step back and sat down on the toilet. She hung her head again and began to fiddle with the cuffs of the jean jacket she was wearing. I took a step forward and crouched in front of her while I continued to wipe her face.
I love it. I actually think that it's amazing...I always have. I have a real emotional connection to it...to the person who gave it to me...to the person who created it.I took a deep breath.
I actually put it in here because it's so special to me. This is the bathroom that I use every morning when I'm getting ready...and when I come home from work this is where I go to clean up. I...I think that art is so much more than the finished product, you know? It's about the process that goes into making it. What it's REALLY about are the emotions behind it. That's what makes it so absolutely lovely and precious to me.Sam hung her head once again. I put my hands on her lap, and felt the biggest and wettest tears ever fall on my hands.
"Gali, I really messed up."Her body was trembling now. I hated seeing Sam in so much pain and not being able to fix it. I didn't even know what the problem was...how was I going to fix something if I didn't even know what was going on?
She finally looked me in the eyes, and did her best to speak in between sobs...
"I'm so sorry, but I didn't know where else to go. I...I...I had heard that you had moved back in here after your parents retired a few years ago, so when I left the hospital I just got in my car and drove here, it..."Wait. Hospital? You were in the hospital? Are you okay? What's wrong?She completely ignored my questions and went on telling her story in between sobs...
"...it was the only place that I knew to go. I...I...I'm so sorry, Gali. I totally screwed up. I ruined everything......I was just so scared. I've never been brave like you. I'm so sorry that I ran away after we graduated. I threw away everything, and now"I recycle!I just blurted it out. I'm not even sure where it came from.
You know, like glass and plastic and paper. I recycle all of it. So whatever you're afraid that you lost because you threw it away...it's okay. Because I recycle. And recycled stuff is even better than the original. I'm not exactly quite sure how that works, but there was some article in Newsweek the other day that said something about it.I suddenly stopped and just stared at her. I still loved her. I was still
IN love with her. Time and distance had done nothing to diminish my affection for Sam.
"They're never that bad, individually that is...but it's just that over time they add up, you know? The weight just gets to be too much. I couldn't deal with it anymore. I was so alone, and the weight was just too much."I wasn't quite sure what Sam was talking about, but then she slowly took off her jacket and I saw it. She was wearing a navy sleevelss shirt, and both of her arms were absolutely covered in bruises from her shoulders to her elbows. Some looked weeks old, and others from the past few days. As she finished slipping her left arm out of her jacket, I saw the bandages on her wrist. I bit my lower lip as tears began to well up in my eyes.
How long did they keep you?"Only a few hours. I had been drinking, and told them as much...I just convinced that I had been drunk and it was one of those freak accident things."You're back, right? I mean, you're staying here...aren't you? Look...regardless of what we are right now, you and me, this house is huge. You can always have your own bedroom and bathroom and all that jazz, okay? So you should stay here......and I'll call Dr. Stone tomorrow and make an appointment for you for sometime next week. She's the psychiatrist that took over my dad's practice. You'll like her...I promise."Psychiatrist?"Yeah...I think that you need to talk with someone about...about what happened...about all those bruises. Whether or not you want to file charges is irrelevant, but you've got to talk to someone about the abuse, okay? I love you. I love you and I want you to be okay...and I want you to get all the help that you need to deal with all this crap that's happend to you. Okay?For the first time that night there seemed to be a glimmer of hope in Sam's eyes.
"Okay."I'm not quite sure how it happened, but by this point we were standing facing each other, less than a foot apart. At this point, my heart was racing and my mind was going a thousand miles a second. I felt my chest begin to tighten as I fought to find the right words to say.
"Gali?"Yeah?She took a step forward, wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me on the cheek.
"I'm really glad that you recycle."Me too.
Comments (3)
Lovely.
that was absolutely adorable. :D Terrific job.
Interesting take on the challenge, well written and intriguing, I wanted to keep reading to find out what happens next. Thank you for sharing.