I Said Enough // Sashanne

[10] I Remember That

          Looking through the rubble and debris of what used to be her mother's house gave Sasha such a heavy and empty feeling in her chest. She kicked around metal pieces that were twisted and blackened by the fire, unable to discern what the original object was supposed to be.
          Anne messaged Sasha on her temporary flip phone, explaining how she had to stay home to rest for awhile and that she'd come by once she feels up to it. Sasha was a little glad for this because she really needed to process what happened between her and Anne.
          Did we almost kiss? Why didn't Anne say anything about it when she texted me? Did I screw up? Sasha was questioning the whole exchange, but she needed to focus on one thing at a time.
          She went over to the section of the house that used to be where her room was. Everything was just gone. She saw her small desk, or what was left of it, and saw her bed frame, or what was also left of that. There was nothing.
          Heat radiated from the house and smoke streamed out of some spots. Sasha bent down and moved some of the charred debris, seeing if she could find anything that wasn't taken. When moving and tossing burnt wood on the side, she found a pink, but mostly black stuffed animal. Sasha pulled it out from under the ruins that lay under her and dusted it off. It was the sloth Anne gifted to her a few years ago, almost completely unidentifiable. Only its head, part of the torso, and left arm remained. Sasha discarded it and moved on to another spot.
          Sasha only found what she thought were books, clothing, and trinkets she kept, but nothing was left in good condition. Everything was scorched and nothing was left behind for Sasha. She stood in a pile of ash where any sort of things she'd had or loved had been wiped from her. The pictures, the gifts, the memories, they were all gone.
          But something really bugged Sasha. What actually caused this? She dug in another location and stumbled upon something unusual. Sasha's hands were caked with soot, but she didn't mind getting dirty at this point, although she was careful to keep her clothes clean. Sasha heaved a large metal piece out from under the rubble. She wiped her hand over it, revealing a greenish looking metal arm with 4 silver claws at one end, with the other end seemed to be melted off of what it was originally attached to. Sasha recognized exactly where this came from. She needed to contact Anne and Marcy.
           Sasha snapped a quick photo using her flip phone and sent it to a group chat with Anne and Marcy with a message that read, "Is this what I think it is?" Sasha dropped the arm to the ground with a heavy thud and walked over to her mother's car that she's temporarily borrowing from a friend. Ms. Wayrbight was leaning on it, smoking a cigarette while waiting for her daughter to finish up looking at the house.
          "Are you going to look around?" Sasha asked her mother as she wiped her hands clean using a rag that was left in the car. Ms. Waybright kept a neutral expression that Sasha never liked. Sasha never knew how her mother was feeling, so she always felt like she needed to choose her words carefully to avoid any sort of outbursts.
          Ms. Waybright didn't respond. She flicked her cigarette to the ground and walked around the car to get inside. Sasha rolled her eyes and got into the passenger seat, tossing the rag into the back seat. When she got inside and put on her seat belt, Sasha felt her phone start vibrating like crazy. She took it out of her pocket and saw Marcy and Anne blowing up the group chat. Before she could open the messages, her mother snatched the phone from her hands. She silenced it, and tossed it in the back with the dirty rag. Sasha didn't say anything since her mother normally did things like this to her, but she was still very annoyed.
          "Sash, I need to talk to you." Her mother still kept a neutral look on her face, so Sasha didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Sasha shrugged.
          "About what?" Sasha kept eye contact with her mother, showing that she wasn't afraid, but inside she was worried.
          "About your friend Anne." Sasha's heart dropped with the mention of Anne's name. Sashanne. We called ourselves Sashanne.. Yeah, Sashanne.. Sasha could hear her heart thumping in her chest. She broke eye contact with her mother and looked out of her window instead.
          "What about Anne." Sasha uttered, crossing her arms.
          "I wanted to apologize for yesterday evening." Sasha jolted her head to her mother. "I told said you couldn't talk to Anne anymore because you came home late from her house. You said something like you were helping her out, but I didn't care. I was wrong about that. Anne is a good kid." Sasha was in disbelief. Her mother never apologized for anything, especially not to her own daughter. She looked away again.
          "You didn't have to take my phone to say that." Sasha mumbled, not accepting the apology, or at least not showing it. Ms. Waybright sighed and started the car.
          "I'll drop you off at Anne's since I know you probably want to make sure she's alright." They drove their way there in silence.
          Sasha reached to the back and grabbed her phone and checked the messages. Marcy and Anne were going back and forth, freaking out about the photo of the metal arm Sasha sent. Sasha messaged Anne saying she was going to her house and obviously, she was fine with this.
          Every message she saw from Anne made her feel like her soul was going to jump out of her body; it was a bit overwhelming so she turned her phone off. She watched the scenery go past her window as her mind was battling thoughts of the metal arm and her interaction with Anne.