“They are better than any housemate that I could find or be partnered with by the company,” as David gave a nasty shiver. “The house stays clean because of my mom, the expenses get paid with the help of my dad, and I still get all the freedom I want.” Then pausing to think before shrugging and saying, “Except not being able to bring a girl home. I’ve got to get creative in that situation. Plus, you know I would probably drive you nuts if we lived together. We might be best friends, but we are too different to go that route."
“Speaking of nuts, thanks for getting in Richard’s way last night. But also, you’re an idiot on multiple accounts,” I expressed, giving him an unseriousirritated look. “You want coffee? I’ll make a new pot,” getting up from my small two-person table.
“Why am I an idiot? And yes, but only because I want to stay and hear what the hell happened last night after you left me here to take Charlie home.”
I kept silent while dumping out the old pot and filling it back up to start boiling, trying to process how to tell David the events of last night without telling him everything. He knows something went down by the way I got rid of him after we came back here.
“Don’t call me an idiot and then clam up. Are you seriously going to keep me waiting? What happened?” David sat down at the table with a plop.
I turned around and rolled my eyes, “You’re an idiot for taking that punch. Even though I’m appreciative that I have a best friend that would protect me like that, you shouldn’t have. Especially with it coming from that dick.” I took a breath before continuing, “You are also an idiot for getting Charlie drunk last night. Are you kidding me?”
Last night was exhausting.
After he mumbled a“sorry”with a smirk mixed with a guilty expression, I shook my head then told him about trying to get Charlie home and him not knowing where he was, so I brought him back here. “Once I got him here, he started to panic,” veering away from what I think is the truth with a white lie. “Not only has he never had beer before but he also has never been drunk, you idiot,” I threw at him again. “He was worried about his dad finding out. It took me a minute to get him to calm down,” turning around to pour the coffee into two cups. Setting them on the table and sitting down with David hoping the outcome at Charlie’s house was positive.
“Where is he?” He took a sip of his coffee, which is black as coal. The way we both liked it. “Is he still upstairs, hungover?”
Also taking a taste of my coffee, burning my mouth in the process. I grimaced before swallowing, “Jesus, how did you drink that without even gasping? It’s scalding hot!” Setting my cup down and away from me, steam pillowing up from the top.
“Coffee tastes better when it’s burning as hot as coal on fire, and stop stalling. Where is Charlie?” David took another sip, probably just to prove his point that I’m a wimp.
“When I woke up, he was gone.” I shrugged my shoulders. “I set my alarm for six so he could leave early to try to find his place and get back before his dad woke up and noticed he was missing.”
“Well, regardless of the outcome, Monday at the mine should be interesting,” chugging the rest of his coffee and taking his cup to the sink. “I'm going to head out and get emotionally assaulted by my mother.” Before he opened the door, he looked back at me, “You want to go down into the city tomorrow? There is a new movie at The Stanley Theatre with James Dean that seems good. Something about a rebel, I think.”
“Sure, sounds good. Then we can go over to Kaufmann’s. There is a book I’ve been wanting to get,” giving him a rare smile knowing he was going to roll his eyes at my hobby that he didn’t understand. Few people did, but that’s okay. I’m a man that likes to read. I fully admit that proudly.
David opened the door and stepped out, the last thing I heard before it closed behind him was, “Be ready by eleven.”
After finishing my coffee in silence and letting my mind wander over last night’s events again, I headedback up the stairs to take a hot shower to loosen my stiff muscles from sleeping on the floor, hoping Charlie was okay.
Jumping under the spraying water, I thought of the fear I had seen in his eyes. It’s not easily forgotten and I wished it had never been an emotion that he should have ever felt. Or continued to feel. I have felt fear before, but mostly because I was fearing myself rather than fearing others. It’s a powerful emotion that triggers your physicality and is not easily controlled at a heightened state.
Mike asked me to protect him, and even though he didn’t mean it in this circumstance, away from working at the mine, but maybe after last night Charlie will be more comfortable and feel safe around me.
Turning off the water and grabbing my towel, I stepped out of the shower. I wiped the condensation from the mirror with my hand, and I looked at myself and wondered how I went from feeling annoyed and put out by being stuck with a nineteen-year-old kid, to wanting to care and protect him. What had Charlie done to me that had me being forced in his direction like holding a magnet close to metal, feeling the forceful pull? Fighting it was starting to become a losing battle.
I shook my head, trying to clear it and exhale. Turning away from the sight of myself, I walked to my room to get dressed for the day of doing nothing but escaping into, and finishing the book ‘Hemlock And After’ by Angus Wilson that the store clerk secretly suggested the last time I was in the city.
ten
Caged
Charlie
The first thing I felt after I woke up after passing out in Jim’s bed was the pounding of my brain inside my head. It felt like someone was hitting me in the head with a hammer. After seeing it was just after five in the morning, I looked over the edge of the bed to check on Jim’s sleep status and saw he was facing away from me, and out of it. I slipped out of bed and toed my way through the house and to the door, shoes in hand.
The door creaked open which made me cringe, looking up like I could see Jim through the ceiling to make sure he didn’t hear it. Thank God the bedroom is on the opposite side of the unit. I slipped out and closed the door feeling bad for sneaking off and not being able to lock the door. After putting on my shoes out on the stoop, I looked around at where I was and saw that Jim lived at unit four forty-eight. I headed forthe center of the Village, away from the road, so I could walk down toward the high numbers through the center of the complex where our unit was, hoping I could find my way back easier than last night.
Man, those beers and that shot really messed with my head. Why does anyone ever drink that much? Is it supposed to be fun? My head still felt fuzzy from it all. I mean, I guess I was having an okay time until we left. David was really nice and lively.
Completely opposite from Jim who was standoff-ish until I started to panic when he was trying to get me home. I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t even find our place. My brain felt like it got some wires crossed, short circuiting my memory to the point I couldn’t even remember my unit number, which was six-fifteen by the way.
Why couldn’t I remember that last night?
Then I ended up in Jim’s house and my memory of getting there, it’s like it had been erased. It was like I came back to the present knowing I shouldn’t be where I was. I have only felt that kind of fear one other time in my life, which is what led Dad and I to Pittsburgh in the first place.
I don’t remember most of what he said to me, I just remember being snapped back to the present and being somewhere I shouldn’t have been, with someone I didn’t know I could fully trust but the word ‘safe’ seemed drilled in my mind with Jim’s face, his eyes conveying the truth. His touch guided me like an angel guiding a lost soul to its finally resting place. Which happened to be Jim’s bed, alone.
