*
“Asshole!”
A door slams.
I press my face into my pillow. A spot below my right eyebrow throbs. Boom. Boom. Boom.
“Asshole!”
A light snaps on. It burns through my eyelids. Boom. Boom. Boom.
I press my face harder into the pillow. I slip my hand into the crevice between the bed and the wall. I feel around for my cell phone. I peel my face off the pillow. I pry my eyes open. I tap at my cell phone. It flashes 3:08 AM. I fall back into the pillow.
The lock on the bathroom door crunches open.
“Asshole!” the voice yellows louder.
I peel my face off the pillow again. Stephanie stands in the bathroom that joins our two single rooms. Wet black, eyeliner creases around her eyes. Mascara crumbles down her cheeks. A pinprick of a nose ring sparkles from her wide nose. Large silver hoops hang from her ears and frame her chubby, peach-coloured cheeks. Her long, black hair waterfalls past her shoulders. Six rings circle her fingers. Her blue-manicured hands sit on her waist. She frowns.
“This is all your fault,” she points her finger at me. She turns and marches back into her room. Her hair whips behind her. A roll of toilet paper topples off the edge of the sink and unfurls across the hair-dye stained rubbery floor. I squint through the bathroom door into her room. A tall figure in bulky boots stands near the door.
I pat the bedcovers around my pillow. I palm glasses onto my face. They ride up on one side. A palm-print fogs the left lens. I stumble off my bed and shuffle into the dark bathroom that joins the room dorm rooms.
Boo nods at me from the door. He steps on the back of his boots. He aligns them on the fluorescent pink welcome mat by the door. A poster of a couple kissing by a black and white Eiffel tower hides a crack in the egg-yolk yellow walls. A sequined beret, a leopard print scarf and a fake fur vest hang from the corner of the bedpost.
“Wha happened?” I mumble. I squint at Stephanie.
“Your stupid ex-boyfriend happened,” she yells. She plops into her black swivel chair. The red, heart-shaped pillow on chair peeks out from behind her oversized sweater. Boo leans on the heavy, oak door.
I move into the bathroom door-frame.
Stephanie sighs. She twists a cross ring on her pinky.
“Like an hour ago, I get this call, telling me I got a free pizza,” she says.
Boo snorts. “Who would buy that?”
“So I went downstairs to see if it was true,” Stephanie says. “And guess who was downstairs sitting on the lobby couch?” She looks at me.
I lean one hand on the bathroom door-frame. I grasp painted, grey wood.
Boo pushes himself off the front door and walks across the carpet. He leans an elbow on the wall beside the bathroom door frame.
“So it was a prank,” I say.
Obviously.” Boo snorts.
Stephanie drops her head and looks at her lap. A sheet of hair masks her face.
“He said something really mean,” she mumbles.
“What did he say?” Boo asks. He pushes off his elbow and circles around the open bathroom door.
Stephanie looks up again. She focuses on me.
“He called me…”
She pulls the ring off her pinky and drops it in her legging-strapped lap.
“He called me flat-face.”
Boo stops pacing. He wraps one fist in the other. His eyes shuttle between Stephanie and me.
“This is all your fault,” Stephanie wails. She prods an index finger with a large, blue stoned ring at me. The sheet of hair slides onto her back as she waves her arms.
“If you hadn’t brought him into our lives he wouldn’t be bullying me.” She pushes herself off her chair. The chair swings to face the bed in the corner. She paces towards me.
“If you hadn’t dated him then—”
BANG.
Boo’s fist slams into the open bathroom door. The door smacks the wall behind it and bounces back. The hinges squeal. The edge of the door collides with the door-frame. A crack crashes through the room.
I drop to the bathroom floor. I fist my knuckle into my stomach.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” Boo drops to the floor in front of me. “Are you okay?”
I extract my hand from the folds of my stomach. I flex my fingers.
Green, blue and purple bruises flower over the back of my hand. The skin of my knuckles dents inwards. My hand shakes.
“You really need to control your anger,” Stephanie turns to face the large window in her room. Silhouettes of tall trees swagger in the February wind. Snowflakes peck at the window and gather on the sill.
“Maybe we should take you to the emergency room?” Boo says. He frowns at my hand. My ring finger twitches.
I shake my head. I stuff my fist back into my stomach.
“Okay, you need ice,” he says. “Where are we going to get ice?”
“You’re not even listening to me.” Stephanie turns to face us. She exhales and rolls her eyes.
Boo looks up at her. “Where are we going to get ice?” he asks again.
“Outside, obviously.” Stephanie waves at the window behind her.
Boo jumps off the ground and pulls on his boots. He presses down on the door handle to the front door. “I’ll be back,” he says. He pulls the door open, swings around it and dashes down the hallway. The door clicks closed. I close my eyes.
“This is all your fault, you know,” Stephanie says.
Derek
Catherine Lopes
Record Two: Night and Day Page 15