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Tyler hadn't show up that next Saturday. Dakota had, of course, but the boy's reaction was what hurt her the most. According to him, Tyler had abruptly left town for the weekend with a few of his friends and wouldn't be back until late Sunday. Though he loved his cousin Zack, he continuously claimed that Tyler's younger brother listened to music with 'bad words' and that he was not allowed to listen to music like that.
Charlie couldn't help but smile at that. His only worry now was the fear that his mother may find out he'd been listening to dirty music. She wished that was all he'd ever have to worry about.
Once Charlie wrestled Cody into her little, green harness, Dakota's attention was quickly diverted elsewhere. Charlie was thankful the boy was no longer upset, but that didn't mean she wasn't worried about Tyler.
"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
Charlie looked at the green-eyed boy. They sat outside the shelter, Cody happily bounding about the dandelions while her two friends comfortably lounged in the sun. The question had come from the brink of nowhere, but Charlie didn't mind. "I have an older brother."
"What's his name?"
"Xavier."
"Why don't you talk about him? I know if I had a little brother I'd always be talking about him."
She swallowed nervously. "He isn't a very good guy."
"How come?"
She sighed, trying her utmost to stop the anxiety building up inside her. You're fine. "Why don't we talk about something else? How about those new shoes you've got? I bet you can run as fast as Flash." That was all it took for the boy to babble excitedly for ten minutes just about his new, bright green shoes that his mother had bought him and how, yes, he could totally beat the red and yellow superhero.
—
The days that followed felt like a blur. At the same time, however, they felt as if they'd never come to pass.
She spent a lot of time wrapped in her covers, the only thing that seemed to give her any kind of comfort and warmth. Though Mona was one hell of a cuddler, Charlie couldn't depend on her every moment of every day to make her feel better.
Her phone was never far away. No, it was never further than a foot from her reach.
She knew she should feel scared. Perhaps even angry. She still felt nothing.
The text message came at eleven-thirty Sunday night.
From Unknown:
(11:30 p.m) Meet me @ our usual place next Saturday
That had been all. There had been no explanation, no reasoning — nothing. Just a demand, as they had always been.
She couldn't summon the guts to respond. No, not after all those moments before. She knew better than to respond. She had learned the consequences years ago.
"Don't question me — god damn it Charlie! Just go fucking do it!"
His words echoed through her mind, as if they were just bouncing off the walls echoing until they were burned into her memory forever.
"Hermana, up." Charlie opened her eyes, unaware that they'd been closed in the first place. Had she dozed off? "Let's get some food."
Strangely enough, her stomach didn't rumble in agreement as it usually would have.
"No thanks, Mon. I'm good."
Her best friend's eyebrow raised. "What? Since when do you say no to food?"
She frowned. "Since just now."
Mona stared at her for a few, long seconds. Then, she promptly hmphed. "Fine, lo que sea. I'll be back in twenty minutes. I'll bring something back." Then she was out of the door, leaving the scent of a mixture of coconuts and vanilla behind her.
Charlie flipped around to look at the wall her bed was pushed up against. The wall was painted a faded peach, something neither girl had been pleased with when they first moved in. There were faint scratches etched into the wall, some that had already been there while others were most likely from Charlie's bed-frame scraping the paint away.
She stared at the tiny marks. They meant nothing to her, yet they simultaneously meant everything.
This was real. When reality became blurred and Charlie couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't, the small, inessential things like fucking scratches helped bring her back. It was ridiculous.
She blinked.
A humorless laugh fell from her chapped lips. She'd been doing so good. No episodes, no droughts, not shit. Now look at her — a pile of useless flesh and bones. All because of three, stupid text messages.
"Fuck!" She grabbed the nearest object and chucked it, the noise of something dropping falling to deaf ears. She gripped her greasy hair between shaky fingers, tears springing from her closed eyes. Her chest felt heavy as fat drops fell onto her sheets, unknowingly beginning to sway in an attempt to comfort herself.
"Xav.. I'm sorry! I just.. I wanted a cookie..."
His lip lifted into a sneer. "Get the fuck out of my face, you useless thing."
She gasped in a breath, old scars tearing open and beginning to bleed once more.
"Xav? My.. My tummy hurts."
He didn't even look at her, too busy with the card game happening before him. "What did I tell you?"
"Stay in my room.."
He flicked the cigarette between his fingers and she instinctively recoiled. "Then what the fuck are you doing out here?"
From: ty
(7:45 p.m) hey sorry i couldn't come today
From: ty
(7:45 p.m) everything go alright?
She could barely read the text.
She still answered.
To: ty
(7:46 p.m) Helpme
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okay a lotta shit just happened and idk how i feel about it. thoughts?
