“Do you have a ride home?”
“No.” she mumbled.
“Can I take you home?”
“To what home.” She stated flatly and he nodded.
“What happened?”
“I got fucking evicted.” She mumbled and he nodded. She looked up with shining eyes.
“Got a cigarette by the way?”
“How old are you?” he laughed as he pulled a pack out from his pocket.
“Twenty three.” She answered as he offered the open pack of ten. She plucked one from the pack and he flicked his lighter. A dancing flame rose from the small opening and soon, a thin dancing line of white smoke was rising from the cigarette.
“Want…to come home with me?” he asked and she looked at him.
“You can have your own bed if you insist.” He said with a small smile and she sucked the cigarette. The smoke exited from her nostrils and she nodded.
“Why the hell not. I’ve got nowhere else to stay.” She sighed, “I don’t care about another bed. If it’s a roof, I’ll take it.” She said and he rubbed his thumb against his lip in habit.
“Want to leave now?” he asked and they got in the car.
The drive was thirty minutes from where she had stood and it happened that getting to work was nearly an hour everyday. The sun was setting in a back drop of purple with a splash of pink and orange.
It turned out that he lived in an over-priced, decent apartment that he struggled to pay for every month but the surroundings were beautiful. There was a lavish white-stoned waterfall in the center of a circle of apartment buildings and there seemed to be a parking space for everyone who occupied a living quarter. She stepped out and the wind whipped her hair violently around. By then a soft rain had began to fall as he hurried to his apartment. He unlocked the door and held it open for her and she stepped inside. He flipped on the lights and the place was spacious and well planned out. There was a wooden table in the middle of the living room with a small black, plush couch that could fit one person lying down. There was a mini bar of various alcohols on a table next to a large mirror. She nodded as she walked into the kitchen. The cabinets were made from fine oak and the counter was a marble color. The floor was tiled with shining wood and the wall was a cream-colored white.
“Very…beautiful.” She said and she looked back at the mini bar longingly.
“You can have some alcohol, I have to run to the store.” She admired his immediate trust but that could be dangerous, even deadly.
“Thanks.” She said and he hurried back out the door. She searched the different cabinets for glasses and pulled a clear glass from a cabinet that was lightly chipped at the bottom.
She started with a couple straight drinks of Vodka then turned the television on. Wheel of Fortune was on briefly and after ten minutes it ended. She turned the channels then stopped. It was like an undercut into her gut, a stab in her back. A sick feeling of intense nausea washed over her mind and into her stomach. She didn’t know if it was a movie or a show. But what ever it was, a woman was being raped and everything flooded back. Two drinks turned into ten and she stumbled onto the open patio. The shatter of glass was so loud to her ears and blurred at the same time. She felt herself fall painfully to her knees and she felt herself being drenched by a heavy downpour of water. She wanted it to stop. The pounding of her heart, the splatter of rain against the wooden deck. Her arms were heavy and her eyes shut plunging her in a world of deep black and unconsciousness.
