And His Jacket Smelled of Cigarettes

25 · Dances

     I walked into an old, creaking house, becoming surrounded by darkness. With only a flashlight in hand, I shined it around and called out, expecting someone to be here. A girl came out of a doorway; very small frame, short brown hair, covered in bruises and bandages around her neck. She looked up at me, her eyes not making direct contact with mine, as if she was scared to look me in the eyes. Her mouth opened, but she spoke something I couldn't understand. Bending down, I tried to coax her, but she wasn't listening to me. I pulled on her arm but she didn't move, and her face became blank and emotionless.

     I looked down at my hands, seeing blood pouring onto them from somewhere above me... or... was it coming from me? I stepped out of my body, seeing the same girl getting ripped into by a large man with scars over his right eye in my place.

     She was smiling at me...

     "Wake up, doll," Donn's voice sang, waking me up instantly. I slowly sat up, feeling queasy. I had dreamt about officer Tanner again... and myself. What did it mean?

     "H-hey... what's up?" I eased myself onto the edge of Donn's bed, looking up at him. I had fallen asleep last night in the living room... he must have carried me here.

     "I hope you didn't mind. You fell asleep, so I brought you here. With me." Donn smiled, his face seeming brighter than usual. "I actually had some plans for us tonight."

     "Plans?" I stood up, barely able to keep my balance. That dream really took a toll on me. Donn held out his arm to help me steady myself.

     "Yes, of course. Shall we?" He extended his arm toward the door of his room, and we started walking through the hallway. As we entered the living room, I noticed a few things were different than before. There were colored streamers hanging from the ceiling, a very large, purple rug was spread across the middle of the floor, and a big antique jukebox was lit up in the corner, glowing brightly with multicolored, changing lights. I gasped, looking up at Donn.

     "What is all this?" I asked, surprised. Did he do all of this for me?

     "I wanted us... to have some fun together. I hope it's okay. I wasn't sure what your favorite color was." Donn walked over to the big easy chair, dodging streamers as he made his way over. I walked right under them, as if he had positioned them just right so they wouldn't get in my way.

     "Have a seat, doll. I'll be right back." With that, Donn exited, disappearing around the corner toward his room. I sat down slowly, admiring the string of lights that hung from the ceiling and reached every corner of the room. How long did this take him?

     Donn came running back in, a large grin on his face. His sleeves were rolled up, and he carried a hairtie, some nail polish and a squeeze bottle of hand lotion. I perked up, confused.

     "What's... this?"

     "I'm going to give you a makeover," he said casually, sitting down in front of the chair, "well... I'm going to try, anyway. I've never done anything like this, and I didn't have time to buy anything else. Give me your hand, doll." I hesitantly put my hand out, Donn taking hold of it. His hands felt firm and a bit rough, but his grip was very light, as if he was afraid to hold my hand. He took the lotion and squeezed some into his own hand, starting to rub and massage my hand gently.

     "W-what are you..."

     "I've seen them do this in beauty shops and stuff. Have you never been?" Donn switched to my other hand, starting to massage that one. It felt a little weird, but I couldn't help but feel a little pampered.

     "No..."

     "Well... welcome to Donn's Beauty shop. Would you like anything to drink, sweetheart?" Donn stopped and sat up straight, grabbing the nail polish. I squinted, seeing that the only color he had was black. "Sorry, we only have this color. Jereth used to paint his."