AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Blood and Vodka
Going to sleep after Grady left was impossible. I cleaned up the broken glass, cutting my hand in the process. I sat on the kitchen floor, dazed and exhausted, watching the blood drip onto the hardwood.
Drip, drip, drip.
It was morbid, causing me to think about my suicide attempt. Was it this easy? Just do it and watch? Not that this cut would kill me, but I wondered if this was what I did after I took the pills and got into a bathtub or jumped into the ocean or whatever.
Drip, drip, drip.
The blood mixed with the vodka on the floor in a pretty swirl like a multi-colored lollipop from a carnival. It was devastatingly beautiful. I stood up and wrapped a kitchen towel around my hand.
I should have cleaned up the rest of the mess, but I didn't. I had the sudden impulse to pack up what little things I had and leave, so much so that I raced into the bedroom and frantically gathered the toothbrush and paste, hairbrush, and the few items of clothing I owned. I didn't have a suitcase, but I had one of the shopping bags. I shoved the items into it and went to the front door, ready to leave, when I realized I had no money, no car, and no one to call. Or did I?
I grabbed the cordless phone in the kitchen and dialed 411. "Hi, I need the phone number for Ki's, a restaurant in Cliffside, San Diego." I rummaged through the junk drawer while I waited and pulled out a notepad and pen. I jotted the number down. "Thank you," I said as I hung up. I quickly dialed Ki's. "Hi, is Nichole there?"
I SAT IN the dark on the front porch with the sum total of my whole life in the shopping bag next to me. The floodlight turned on as soon as Nichole pulled into the driveway.
She rolled down the window. "Dude, that's bright," she said as she shielded her eyes. "You ready?"
I jumped up with my bag. "Yeah." I hopped in the car and watched the house disappear as she drove away.
"You guys have a fight?" she inquired.
"No. Yes. Not really. It's—"
"Complicated. I get it," she said, cutting me off. "Nothing with the Reilly boys is easy." She winked.
She had turned on a random radio station and rolled down her windows, letting the warm air swirl around us. She drove a black Toyota Prius with the Ki's logo on it. "Is this the company car?"
"No, they pay for the car if I advertise on it."
"Oh. That's cool."
"Yeah, I make good money there, but every little bit helps. I'm trying to finish my degree."
"What's your major?"
"I majored in psychology, and I'm getting ready to start my master's thesis now."
Of course, she was. Irony. "That's great. You're not going to try to diagnose the situation, are you?"
"Hell no. I'm off the clock." She laughed.
"Good. Thanks. I mean, for picking me up. You don't even know me."
"But you're a friend of the Reilly boys, so that's good enough for me. Although if this gets me fired, I won't like you very much anymore."
Her sarcasm was refreshing. She didn't say much at the restaurant or in the bathroom, so I really had no idea what to expect, but she was nice to me, so I knew I could call her.
"Do you have a destination? Or maybe a name?"
I shifted in my seat uneasily. Here it goes. "I don't know my name. Is that weird? Are you weirded out now?"
"No, but seriously, how do you not know your name? What happened to you?"
"Evidently, I tried to kill myself, and I was in a coma for a month. I woke up with no memories and no friends or family waiting, so now I'm here in your car with no name."
She looked at me oddly. "Geez. That's quite a story."
