When She Sleeps

Change

I never thought I’d be here. I laughed to myself. At the gym, I am actually doing a decent job. I finish my set and begin to rack my weights. Buzz buzz! My phone vibrates; it's a text from Tonya. "Hey, babe, your mom wants us to all meet up at that new Mexican restaurant that just opened up in town.” “Yikes.” I muffled to myself: more alone time with mom so she can ask when I’m going to give her grandchildren blah blah blah. I shudder, me? A dad? If it weren’t for Tonya, I wouldn’t know how to do anything. "Okay, hun, I just finished up at the gym; see you soon!” I messaged back and put my phone back in my pocket. I head to the gym bathroom expecting the worst smells to ooze into my nostrils, but instead a strong smell of alcohol-scented body spray with a hint of axe fills the room; it nearly takes my breath. Why do people think that smells good? I’d rather smell armpits, I laughed to myself. Catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I can’t help but stand in awe. I used to weigh so much more than what I do now. My jaw is contoured and slim, and my chest is muscular and tight. I look so different, and my hair is even longer. My green eyes stole the show, adding the finishing touches to what makes me Benji. I love myself finally. I sighed, relieved. I grabbed my shaker cup and my duffel bag and headed out of the bathroom before the axe guys could spray anymore. “Oh my god!” A short black-haired girl said, “I am so sorry. I thought this was the girls room!” She looked down, embarrassed. “I am so sorry.” "It's okay, no worries; you probably wouldn’t want to go in there anyway." I grinned. “They’re getting ready for a sacrifice for the axe body spray gods.” She laughed, “Hey, I am Sarah. I definitely new here; I don’t know if you can tell or not!” “No, not all." I say it sarcastically. My phone rings. I grab my phone to check who it is. It’s my mom; she’s probably going to tell me the same thing Tonya did. “Give me one second.” I asked politely. “Hey mom, what’s up?”"Hey Benji, I forgot to stop by the ATM earlier today, and now that this big storm is coming through, do you think you could stop by the bank on your way home? I really don’t want to get back out until it passes.” "Yeah, mom, dad's card is still active, right?” I ask. “Yeah, the pin is the same as mine, your birthday." "Okay, mom, I’ll see you soon. Love you.”Beep, beep, beep, the phone call ended. Hmm, that’s weird. She must have dropped the call. “Sorry about that; my mom hates it if I don’t answer the first time.” I chuckled. "Oh, I totally get that; that’s the rule of moms; I don’t think it ever goes away.” "No, it doesn't,” I laugh. "Well, it was nice talking to you; we should catch up sometime,” she smiles. “Here is my number; I’d like to at least have one friend around town.” “I definitely understand that; most people here only talk about snorting pre-workout or seeing how much protein powder they can buttch.” She laughed and said, “I hope you don’t do any of that; that seems kind of extreme.” Jokingly, I say, “How do you think I get these abs?" Buzz buzz, my phone vibrates, “Severe thunderstorm in effect until 5:30 p.m." The weather announcement rings out. I guess I get to drive home in this, I say to myself. “It was nice talking to you, but I better get home before it gets too bad.” "Okay, yeah, I should probably do the same!”We both walk out of the painfully purple waiting room to the parking lot. It was so muggy that sweat started pouring immediately from my forehead. I hear a low rumbling in the background, and it begins to pour. “Great!” I said enthusiastically, I look across the parking lot and see Sarah make a mad dash for her car. I can’t help but giggle; she looks like a Mario character dogging enemies trying to get to her vehicle. I finally make it to my truck when the rain picks up, and I can tell the storm is going to get pretty nasty. The sky looks a sickly shade of green. My dad always used to tell me to take cover; it should be fine, though plenty of people are still on the road. I connect my phone to the radio, turn on my favorite song, and start driving out of the parking lot. BOOM! I jump, thunder startles me as I’m driving 20 miles under the speed limit because of the white minivan in front of me. She probably has never driven in the rain in her entire life! Buzz buzz I hear my phone ringing. Sorry, whoever it is. I don’t answer while I’m driving. After my dad's wreck, I don’t think I ever could again. He was 47—way too young to have to say goodbye too. I turn into the bank parking lot and turn the volume of the radio down, and I hear a loud, howling siren. “f**k!” The tornado sirens were blaring. I park and look at my phone. Two missed calls from Tonya. I quickly call her back, "Hey, sorry, I was driving." "Benji, you need to check on your mom; I’ve tried calling her! That tornado just ripped through her town. "Okay, babe, are you okay?” "Yeah, just shook up. I hate storms.” “I know, hun, I’m going to head to moms. We can just use my credit card tonight.”"Okay, be careful, please. I love you.” "I love you too, hun.” I hang up and haul ass to my mother's house. As I get closer, I can tell a tornado has been through; power lines are down everywhere. Bits of metal are hanging from trees, and cars are flipped over on one another. Pieces of roof and glass are everywhere. I turn down my mom's street and start feeling a bit better. Her neighbors houses seem to be fine; I think they may have just missed her. I start to pull up the street, and my stomach hits the ground. It was my bed, my bed from when I was a kid, and it still has the power ranger sheets on it. The issue was that it was in my mother's neighbor's driveway. My eyes followed the driveway up, and then I saw it. My mother's house was completely devastated. It’s completely unrecognizable; her Nissan was in the big oak tree across the street. My heart completely sank, and all I could think about was helping my mom. She wasn’t answering. She was home when she called me at the gym. I’ve got to find her!