Sven gasped and jolted free of the entangling blankets, nearly leaping away from the edge as he remembered that the body of Janoos was supposed to be lying there, bleeding onto the shag carpet. Janoos’ cold body that should by all rights be in the morge.
Sven squeezed his eyes shut. He firmly believed that if the world were entirely fair, Janoos would still be alive. He also knew the world was not fair at all.
Janoos’s body was all that was left of his friend. Sven felt so useless that he could not stop his friend from bleeding out beneath his hands.
Sven landed ungracefully on his backside, still gasping panic filled breaths and staring, wide eyed, at the spot beside the bed. The carpet was relatively clear of the usual household clutter, and, even though it took many heart beats for his frazzled brain to register the fact, very clean of any blood. Sven stared some more, this time in disbelief.
He heard the trilling of his cell phone, likely hidden somewhere in the laundry piled in the many piles next room over, and scrubbed his face with both of his hands.
“Nightmare. “ He muttered, and began his search once more. The trilling became more shrill when he heaved the entire pile over with a sweep of his arm. He rummaged through the remains, and beneath a ratty pair of jeans, he uncovered the device.
“Hello” He exhaled as he slumped onto the couch. He eyed the sleeping form of Mark curled up on the loveseat, and didn’t want to know just how the cell ended up buried. The wafty remains of his dream conjured up images of trebuchet mayhem, and hazy recollections of scattered alcohol fueled conversations
“How’re you doin’ son?” replied his father’s gruff voice.
“Dad..?” Sven said, his voice suddenly raspy and weak. He told himself it was because he had just awoken, and swallowed the thick knot at his throat.”I’m. I’m fine, why..”
“Your mother. She. Well. We heard on the news. Son.”
“Heard what?”
“Your neighborhood’s..um it’s not safe. She.wants you to know that there’s space for you here.” He said. “If you need it.”
He lowered his brows. Moving back in with his folks was the last thing to pass through his mind. His neighborhood wasn’t the greatest, but what was? He certainly had no wish to relive the events of his childhood, not when he was trying his mighty best to put the entire sordid mess firmly behind him.
Sven let out a breath, and ran his hand through his hair. The locks felt a might too long, and he chewed the inside of his cheek as he silently calculated if he would be able to squeeze out enough from his last paycheck for a decent haircut.
Of course, he mused, he could always just shave the entire thing off.
“Tell her thanks for me. ‘k” Sven said evenly. “I’m fine here.”
“Will do.” The phone clicked, and Sven lowered the cell from his ear. The conversation ended as abrupt as the usual he had come to expect from his old man, and he had long suspected his old man felt the same as he did. This was simply further proof for what he already knew. He did the only thing he could do about it.
He pretended it didn’t add to his hurts.
No comments:
Post a Comment