Bruno walks out of his room in his work out clothing as usual with a water bottle in hand. He says 'good morning' as he does every day but, the look on his face tells me there's something else on his mind. His brows are pulled together, the worry-lines in his forehead showing as his face holds a concentrated solemn expression with his jaw tight. He begins his push-up and sit-ups without another word, completing forty of the first three sets. He sits down against the wall for a water break.
"We need to talk." he insinuates without looking at me.
"Ok," I say back watching him out of the corner of my eye.
"Tonight, in my room." he replies.
"Alright."
I watch him throughout the day but no matter what he does his face doesn't revert back to it's usual demeanor. Something must be wrong.
_____
As soon as the lights go out I head over to Bruno's room. I'm not standing outside his door long enough to enter his code before he's standing in front of me.
"Come in." he says flatly stepping aside. I walk inside and he locks the door. He walks to his bed, kneeling down beside it as he retrieves a cardboard box. I sets it on his desk as he takes a seat on his window sill. "I got this today." He says an edge in his voice. I pull away the flaps of the box revealing a DVD along side a picture of a woman with long wavy black hair dressed lazily in a pair of jeans a cropped tee, a red and black flannel and a black beanie that reads Hawaii on the up fold. Her curves gently fill out the clothing, the tank top riding up enough to show her almost flat stomach. She smiles brightly as she looks up at who I assume is Bruno's Two with his arms around her. I set the picture aside and take the DVD over to the TV where I place it on the open tray and press play.
The screen opens a shaky, self held camera view of Bruno's two smiling; his eyes only open a sliver. He speaks.
"Babe, hand me my sunglasses please," he laughs as he takes the Raybans from her sliding them onto his face. "Ok, much better, I can see! Thanks to this beautiful woman!" he beams into the camera for a second before directing it to the woman from the picture, lounging on a white towel in a black bikini, her own large framed sunglasses on her face. She shoves the camera away whining Bruno's name.
"Jess, come on lets go in the water!" He sets down the camera and it tips to the side as the video continues to roll. The woman bounds down to the water's edge Bruno right behind her. He grabs her from behind spinning her around before he sets her back in the water. They splash around, boogie board and jump the continuous waves of the ocean; the water so clear it's perfectly transparent the sun reflecting off of it sparkling. I long for the sun's touch of warmth on my skin.The video ends with Bruno's Two planting a kiss on the woman's lips, wrapping his arms around her as she holds his head in place; her expression fades into one of pure happiness. The video cuts out.
"What the fuck do you call that?!" Bruno whispers harshly, anger coating his words. I let his words hang in the air; the room grows colder. "I mean...like...why would They pull this type of shit?" He paces, back and forth in front of the window excessively, I watch.
"It's a form of torture." I say. I pause as I choose my words "....What's her name?"
"Jess...that's Jessica." Following his words, there's a deep sigh. "My..."
"You're girlfriend."
"Yeah." He settles for a seat on the window sill where I join him, taking a seat on the opposite side.
"You're not the only one they've done this to." I take the picture of Stellan and I from the other night out of my hoodie pocket. Placing it against the sill I slide it to the center. Bruno's eyes meet mine as he moves to retrieve the glossy piece of paper. "That's Stellan." We make eye contact again as he takes a closer look, he then sets the picture back on the sill.
"Sorry, I just...lost it." He says this softly, remorse laden in his tone.
"Don't apologize. You couldn't help it and I don't blame you." Sitting in silence for a while I decide on something to do. I step off the window sill carefully."Come on, lets see if you can keep up with me. I want to see those sit-ups you've been working on. He doesn't move from the sill. "Come on, if you're going to get in shape now's the time to do it."
He jumps off and walks to me. I start my first set and Bruno joins me. We go through each set completeing them all with in a few hours. When we finish Bruno opens the trap door under his bed and tosses me a water bottle. I thank him as he grabs one for himself. "Feel better?" I ask between breaths.
"Yeah."
YOU ARE READING
Larceny
Fanfiction(n.) the wrongful taking and carrying away of the personal goods of another from his or her possession with intent to covert them to the taker's own use.
