For my Life
911 Words
After showering I left the bathroom relieved to find that my late-night visitor had taken my advice and exited my apartment with no argument.
The coldness of my tiled kitchen floor felt nice on my feet as I made my way to my Kurig, pushing the button and waiting for my morning cup of coffee to brew.
My apartment was small but I was proud of it. I had busted my ass for the place after arriving in New York 5 years ago, homeless and utterly hopeless.
This was home to me now. My safe place. A place were I could be myself without any judgement from the outside world. A place that hid me from the lurking eyes of those from Grimm Hollow.
I sighed pulling my phone from my back pocket of my jeans, pulled up Ensley from my contacts, and hit the green call button.
Ensley is my best friend. The only person in this city that knows my story and the truth about my past. She took me in when I came here five years ago, broke with no were to go and no one to turn to. She helped me get a job at a local diner and gave me a place to stay while I put myself through college. She was the only person in the entire world that I trusted with my secrets and the only person I had allowed to get past the brick wall I had so long ago put up around my heart.
The ringing in my ear sounded several times before Ensley’s familiar voice answered on the other end spun ding as crackling as mine had earlier.
"WHAT?" She snapped obviously still asleep and hung over from last night's festivities.
"I need a favor. "
"What kind of favor?"
"I need you to water my plants and feed Salem while I'm gone."
Salem is my pet cat. He has long midnight black fur that feels like silk, and these beautiful sapphire green eyes seem to know my deepest darkest fears when he stares into the. He is like my child. He had showed up as a kitten on my fire escapes a year ago and I hadn't had to turn my back on him so I gave him a home, and hoped like hell my ass hat landlord didn’t find me out. The lease he had me sign was specific, absolutely no animals, especially cats, or to be more specific stray cats.
"Wait, were are you going, We have work Monday morning?" Ensley barked into the phone.
Ensley and I both worked as paralegals for the largest law firm in the city, The law offices of Peterson and Collins.
Ensley had gotten me the job when I had got my degree. I am still attending college and I take the bar exam at the end of the year hoping for a junior position at the firm.
"My grandma passed away, I have to go back to Grimm Hollow to attend the funeral and for the reading of the will."
"Wait, what? You're going back?' Her voice now sounded very awake and alert. She knew how big this was for me. She knew I had vowed to never go back.
"I know Ens, but I've got to. My Nana," I trailed off.
"I know Red, no reason to explain. I'll take care of the office, drop the key at the front. And Red,"
"Yes Ens, "
"Be careful, and come back home quickly please.'
I could hear the fear in my friends voice. She was scared for me, scared of what this meant for me. Scared that Grimm Hollow would dig its roots into my veins and latch onto me and not allow me to return.
Honestly, so was I, but I had to go.
"I will, I promise.'
"For my life." My friend said the phrase I cherished so very much.
A phrase we had started saying to each other so long ago when Ensley was almost killed in a hit-and-run accident.
"For My Life," I repeated and hit the red button ending the call.
I had asked my ancestors as I sat holding her limp hand in mine sitting next to her hospital bed, listening to the slow beeping of her heart monitor, to trade my life for hers. At that moment she had awoken from her coma and had heard what I said. Ever since then before we left each other, or hung up the phone was said, "For my life.'
I pulled up the name Eric from my contacts and hit the message button.
[Hey big brother! I'll be in by midnight tonight. Please let mom and dad know. I love you, Eric.]
I knew I wouldn't get a response. My older brother hadn't spoken to me since I left Grimm Hollow. I knew he felt betrayed and abandoned by me. And I didn't blame him. I couldn't.
I also knew he wasn't the only one who felt this way. There was another who felt even more betrayed than Eric, and my stomach dropped at the thought of seeing him again.
I tried calming my nerves before pulling the bottle out of my cabinet and removing the child-proof cap. I shook the bottle until one of the tiny blue pills fell Into my hand and popped it in my mouth chasing it with a drink of coffee.
It was time to get packed and hit the road.
- Writer
