I'll Be Here All Life | ✓ | ONC 2021

[7] Won't Be Human Again

Abby outdoes herself, as usual, when it comes to her attire: she dons a cream-colored blouse, pulls her blonde hair up into a severe bun, and tucks her pinstripe pants into her knee-high boots. To top it all off, she wears a dark red lipstick. "The color of blood," she tells me as we walk toward my parents' apartment building.

I scoff. "Are you trying to terrify my parents?"

"I just want them to wonder if I've already eaten," she says, feigning innocence by widening her eyes and blinking.

Moving my hand up to her shoulder, I give her a small shove, and she staggers. "I mean, at least I'm not wearing overalls." Her eyes dip my body.

Before I can do anything more than glare at her, I trip over a crack in the sidewalk. She snickers. "Abby," I growl, adjusting my leather overall left shoulder strap, "I asked you to come with me because I trusted you."

"But you know how I am?" She tilts her head to the side and smiles. "Don't you, by now?"

Again, before I can retort, I trip, but Abby grabs my arm. Then she lets out a small gasp. "Oh... is this it?"

I look up and, sure enough, my parents' apartment building sits before me. It's not tall, despite being an apartment building on the outskirts of the city: just two floors, brown siding, with balconies all situated to the top apartments. Biting my lip—and piercing it yet again—I gesture with my head. "C'mon. Their door is in the inner courtyard."

Her steps click behind me on the sidewalk. When we come to the inner courtyard, a sad smile spreads on my face: nothing has changed. It's the same bougie tree-plants, the same staircase leading up to the second floor apartments, the same black shitty mailboxes on the side of the building.

"Which one is their apartment?" Abby asks.

I hesitate but point to the one marked 1045. "That one." I gulp.

Her hand finds its way to my shoulder. "You've got this, Vick. You get to see your parents again! I..." Her voice falters, but then she charges on strong, though wavering. "I-I never got this chance with my parents. They're dead now, but you—you can do this. The world is different. Please take advantage of that."

I reach up and place my hand on top of hers, leaning my head toward her. "Yeah... you're right. I-I want to do this."

With that, I march forward, Abby trailing behind me, and go ring the doorbell for 1045.

The door opens in an instant, as though they already knew we were there. I gulp again as I take in my parents.

My mother is dressed, as usual, in her favorite khaki slacks. Even away from work and at home, she enjoys wearing them. She dons a floral top, which I always used to tease her was aging her, but she looks good for her age. My father, too, with his short stature and buzzcut hair, peers around my mother's form at me. He wears his favorite pair of jeans, a raggedy old pair my mom threatens to throw out at least once per day.

Oh. I'm crying—I didn't think I could cry anymore, but right now there are visible tears on my face. "Hi Mom. Hi Dad," I whisper.

"Oh, Vick!" My mother jolts forward, though hesitates a second before wrapping her arms around me. As I return her embrace, I can sense it. Her coursing blood. It would taste so good—

I pull away, throwing my eyes away from hers. "S-sorry. The..."

"Oh! Are you hungry?" she says, eyes widening. "I made meatloaf, your favorite!"