Blackbirds

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

​A few days had passed and Mike was still trying to remember when the guy had told him his name. He had vivid memories of Chester all the time now. Flashes came into his head as the other man spoke. He would see Chester everywhere. Maybe he was going crazy. He sat on the couch watching hockey the one day while his therapist sat next to him. Mike continued to glance at him. The other man had a flannel shirt on again and jeans. That was almost the only thing he wore. No t-shirts. No shorts. Just flannels and jeans. He seemed like an old guy. He'd been helping Mike get used to walking with a metal foot and it was starting to become a little easier. Using one hand to do a majority of his tasks was difficult. His robot arm wasn't doing well at all. They'd worked with it but Mike just didn't want to think about the fact that he wasn't even human anymore.

​"You're barely even human anymore!"
​
​"Have you ever said something you've regretted?" Mike asked finally. The other man turned to him and looked at him for a minute before turning away.

​"I think everyone has."

​"What'd you say?"

​"I've pushed a lot of people away. Not in the nicest way possible."

​"Oh."

​"Why? What have you said?"

​"Just some things that......weren't right. I had a friend and I was worried about him and instead of saying that I yelled at him."

​"Oh."

​It was quiet again. Mike wondered what secrets this man was hiding. What was he keeping locked away? And then all of a sudden he couldn't take it anymore. This guy was making him spill everything but he wasn't spilling a thing! He stood up.

​"I don't understand how this works! How is it that I'm the one that's saying everything? This isn't an interrogation! I have the right to know about you! I don't even know your name!"

​"You do. You just don't remember."

​"And fuck that shit! You never told me anything! I get that I'm the one with all the past problems! I get that you're the perfect little educated boy that got straight A's in every fucking class you took!"

​"You don't know that."

​"But it's true! I get that you were smart. That you never had problems! That your family supported you through everything and paid for you to go to college. And look, four years later and you're exactly where you wanted to be!"

​"Mike....you don't know what you're talking about."

​"I do. I know. You don't have to tell me anything! I'll figure it out all myself even though that's supposedly your job! I'm sick of being here and not even knowing who I'm living with. Why the hell this random guy shows up in my life and decides to let me live with him and pay my medical bill which must have cost a fortune!"

​"Because I care."

​"YOU DON'T KNOW ME!" Mike screamed as he pushed the other man over on the couch and held his shoulders down, "YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ME WHEN YOU DID THAT! YOU DON'T KNOW ME NOW!"

​He looked down and saw his hands gripping the skinny man's shoulders. His sleeves were pulled up and his shirt rode up a little too, revealing pale skin and a flat stomach. He stared as he saw thin white lines, barely visible against his skin, but still there. He swallowed and then something caught his eye. The sleeve of the other man's flannel shirt had been pulled up enough that Mike could see blue and orange coloring. He slowly took the edge of the man's sleeve and ripped it upwards. The other man squirmed in protest but Mike held strong. He stared at the blue and orange flames on his wrist. There was only one other person he knew that had those same exact designs. He looked up and was met with chocolate brown eyes that were so deep and full of secrets. The black framed glasses were crooked on his face as he tried to pull out of Mike's grip. Mike felt as if his world had stopped.

​"What's your name?" he asked softly to a little boy who was crying behind the building. It was recess time but this boy wasn't playing.

​"Ch-Chester."

​"Hi Chester. I'm Mike. Do you want to be my friend?"

​"R-Really? I d-don't have any friends."

​"Yea! You and I will be Batman and Robin!"

​"Superheroes?"

​"Yep."

​"Ok."

​Mike looked at the little boy who was wearing glasses and brown eyes that reminded him of M&M's. Mike smiled and held out his hand.

​"Come on! Let's go get the bad guys!"

​Chester laughed, "Yea let's go!"

​He gasped and leapt backwards off the man's body. He felt his hand come up to his mouth. Tears crept into his eyes.

​"Chester," he whispered. The other man looked up at him and Mike saw tears on his face.

​"I didn't want you to know. I knew what you would think of me," Chester whispered. Mike slowly reached his hand out to touch the new Chester. The one who had somehow cleaned up his act and gotten to be a therapist. He gently brushed his hand against Chester's cheek. And then he couldn't contain himself anymore. He leapt at the skinny man and hugged him tightly.

​"Oh my god you're ok. You're ok. I thought you'd be gone. I thought you'd given up. God I'm so glad you're ok," he said as he hugged the other man, "I thought I'd never see you again."

​Chester stared up at him with disbelief in his eyes as Mike gently helped him back into a sitting position. He put his arm around him and closed his eyes.

​"I've been so worried about you. I didn't know where you'd gone off to. Everything I said to you, I'm so sorry. I wanted to help you, I really did. I was wrong to put baseball over you. I'm so sorry. I just want you to be ok," Mike said. Chester's shoulders shook in his arms and he could tell the other man was crying as well. He sighed softly as he comforted the other man while holding back his own tears.

​"But look at you. I'm so proud of you Ches. Look. You're better now. You did it. You got out of it," Mike said softly as he put his hand to Chester's chest and felt his heart beating.

​"I should never have gotten into it," Chester whispered, "I've made such a mistake. I threw my life away. All of it."

​"No you didn't. It'll be better now ok? You're going to be ok," Mike said as he held his best friend next to him. How he had wished to say those words to Chester. That everything would be better.

​"I didn't think you remembered me. I thought you'd completely forgotten," Chester said quietly. Mike shook his head.

​"I could never forget you," he said, "You've always been my friend. It'll stay like that."

​Chester nodded and sighed, "Some therapist I am."

​"I think you're a great one," Mike said as he finally let a smile light up his face. Chester smiled back at him and now Mike saw it. He saw the boy from high school. He smiled again and then got up. Chester followed him and they headed into the kitchen.

​"You hungry?" Chester asked and Mike nodded.

​"You know I love to eat."

​"Yea. Always was about you."

​A few minutes later, they were sitting at the table. Mike had a plate of nachos in front of him with loads of cheese. Chester was munching on a bit of cereal. Mike glanced at Chester's skinny frame and then at the small amount of food he'd been eating. Was Chester ok?

​"Ches.....are you ok?"

​"Yea," Chester said with a small smile in his direction. Mike nodded slightly and then went back to finishing with his nachos. He saw Chester get up and then rinse his bowl out before leaving the room and going to the bathroom. Mike put his plate in the sink and then went to his room. He couldn't believe Chester was still around. That he was here. With him. A few minutes later, he saw Chester walk out of the bathroom and then into his room. Mike waited about ten minutes before going over to the room. He walked in and saw that Chester was asleep. He was sprawled on the bed with his mouth hanging open. His normally fitted jeans were hanging off his hips, revealing black boxers. The blankets were crumpled underneath him. Mike sighed softly as he straightened the blankets around and then wrapped one around his friend. Chester's body shivered and then he rolled into a ball, hugging the blanket to himself. Why did it seem like he'd be the new therapist here?
​He walked back to his room and sat down at the little desk in his room. He dug through the drawers to see if there was anything inside. He found a notebook with a bunch of amounts of money in it. And then when he reached the bottom compartment, he stared down at the stuff inside. Ziploc baggies full of white powder and see-through chips laid towards the front. In the back, more white powder along with some sort of liquid and a few needles. Cocaine, meth, heroin. He couldn't believe it. Chester wasn't a changed man. He had just let up enough to actually do something good. He was still the same drug addict that he would always be. He frowned, there was something else there too. He pushed aside one of the bags of cocaine and saw silver razor blades against the wall of the drawer. Two of them had a rusted, red bottom. Chester cut. One more thing. Mike got up and then walked slowly towards the bathroom. He slowly walked inside and inhaled the air slowly, gagging when it smelled slightly of vomit. He'd thrown up everything he'd eaten. There was no one different here. Chester was the same person he'd been not long ago. And he would never change.