Falling

46

Vinny Taylor

The thing about not having anyone was that when I needed a place to escape to, I had nowhere to go. I was a fire that burned everything around me, a loaded gun that fired off shots to the people I was closest to. And it left me with nothing and no one.

I couldn't go home because I had gotten into it with my dad again about talking to the police. He didn't understand why I couldn't do it, why it would be more painful for me to do it. He couldn't understand and didn't even begin trying to. It was just another thing to cause a rift between us and I didn't want to go back there. I didn't want to fight with him about it again, didn't think I could handle it without having a breakdown.

And I couldn't go back to Carson. Not after speaking to him the way I did and what he said to me. I couldn't go back because I was afraid that if I did, he would end it between us right there. And I couldn't blame him for it. I deserved it for the way I treated him.

So with nowhere to go and no one to see, I walked myself down to the bus station and looked at the routes that would take me to the address I had memorized for all these years. It had been the return address I had seen on the birthday cards I had gotten every year until they eventually stopped. I couldn't remember why I had memorized it, but I knew I would never forget it. Though, I never had any intentions of actually going there, it still stuck in my brain like I was waiting for it to become useful.

I found the correct bus route and waited there until the bus came. The ride was only about thirty minutes and once I got off the bus, I plugged the address into the gps on my phone and saw that it was only a five minute walk from the bus station.

I passed through the town, passing by groups of friends laughing and filing in and out of the many restaurants that littered the town center. A few blocks down, I veered off to a side street, then down another until I reached the house I had been looking for.

It wasn't really what I expected, I supposed. It was a two-story house, larger than what I had imagined, with a two car garage and a porch perched on the front. The yard was well kept and there was a fence that blocked off the backyard, but from what I could see, the yard extended considerably.

I stared at the house for a few more moments and before I could stop myself, I walked through the front yard and up to the porch. I hesitated a moment before knocking on the door.

What the fuck am I doing? I thought.

I turned to leave the house, but before I could go, the door opened and revealed a woman that appeared to be in her late thirties or early forties. She was shorter than me by at least half a foot and she looked up at me with curiosity.

"Hi. Can I help you?" she asked, not opening the door all the way.

"Uh..." I trailed, turning to face her completely. "Uh, yeah. Is Robbie here?"

"Robbie..." she started, then her eyes widened and she looked at me with a certain familiarity. "You must be Vincent."

"Uh, yeah."

"Rob!" she yelled from the door way. She opened the door wider and motioned for me to come inside. "Come in, please." She smiled at me.

"Thanks..." I said, stepping over the threshold. I couldn't help but feel like this was a bad idea. Stepping into that house was like stepping into a different world, one I wasn't supposed to be part of.

"Rob!" she yelled again, shutting the door. "I'm Kristie, by the way, Rob's wife."

I had known Robbie had gotten married, but it still felt strange to hear someone refer to themselves as his wife.