*****
The rain had made the walkway wet and a few patches of leftover snow never shoveled had turned to slush. Katelyn took small steps in order to not slip and to delay whatever was coming next. If Tim was back on meth, she had to try stop him. He promised Katelyn he was done. Her jaw was still clenched and sore from a day’s worth of growing anger. But, who else would try stop him? Who else loved him? Who else did he really love? He’d snap out of it for her, she thought.
Katelyn dug into her jacket and toyed with the circle pendant at her neck. Her fingers were cold against the flesh-warmed silver. She shivered. She reached the outer glass door that led into the building’s entryway. A cheap light fixture lit the landing and stairs. Katelyn looked back to the street where the exhaust from Angel’s car made temporary clouds against the falling snow. Katelyn opened the building’s door and stepped in.
Sounds of TV’s and music escaped both of the first floor apartments. Katelyn took a step closer to the one on the left that Mona supposedly rented. Incense wafted up from a stick someone had jammed into a crack in the floorboard around the entryway. Remnants of spent incense sticks made a small pile on the floor underneath it. Katelyn took a deeper inhale and found the weed smell it was intended to cover up. I can handle weed, she thought.
At the door, she paused. She could hear the booming base from a high definition TV system past the door. A car’s revving and screeching sound effects followed. Katelyn heard a male voice make a comment and then Tim’s laugh in response. No other voices or words followed for what felt like a few minutes.
She knocked and stood back. Katelyn twisted her tongue piercing as she waited. Nothing happened.
Katelyn stepped forward and knocked harder. She thought she heard a murmur in the male voice and then felt the light vibration of feet walking toward the door. She imagined someone looking out of the peephole. Katelyn looked away from the door. In another moment, she heard the deadbolt and then the door lock click. The door opened minimally. A skinny guy, probably around 20 years old, looked out at her. His head stuck out the door a little. He looked like that scary creature in the Lord of the Rings movie, the pale one with big eyes always after the ring. His skin was dark under his eyes and he had some red bumps over his lip. Katelyn tried not to stare or show her disgust.
“Yeah?” the guy said, annoyed and suspicious.
“I’m looking for Tim.” She tried to sound bossy, tried to add an element of tough to her voice, “Tim Felske?” She didn’t mean for it to come out as a question.
The guy obviously didn’t find her much of a threat because he loosened his grip on the door and it opened more. He slid his head around on his neck a little, “Who wants ta know?” He turned his attention back into the apartment. “Tim? Is this your delivery?” It was clear they were expecting someone to show up. Skinny Guy looked back at her, but still threw his voice to inside the apartment. “You didn’t tell me she was stacked.”
Katelyn felt her face burned with embarrassment and anger.
“Get your ass in here,” Tim’s voice playfully came from inside the room. Skinny Guy moved away and went back in.
Katelyn only hesitated a moment before she followed. She stopped just inside the door, which she left open. Her eyes found Tim slouched in an old recliner, the footstool extended and his head leaned far back. Tim flinched forward as he saw her, slamming the footrest into the chair as he sprang forward. “Damn.” He stopped himself before he fully sprang to his feet. Instead he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and bent his head into his fists. If he were in church, he would look like a tormented sinner asking for penance.
“Tim,” Katelyn said.
Skinny Guy seemed to figure out Katelyn was not who Tim had expected to show up. He stood back and clear of Tim and seemed to watch him carefully to see what he’d do next.
“Tim,” Katelyn repeated. “Tim—“
“What the fuck are you doing here?” His voice was even and forceful. Tim lifted his head to look at her after he finished.
“Tim, I want to talk to you. I have to talk to you.”
He sat frozen, his eyes somewhat concealed by the dark room. The movie had been put on pause and the chase scene froze on Angelina Joli with her hair whipping through the air.
Tim stood up and walked around a coffee table in paced steps. He stopped just in front of her. “How’d you get here?” The voice wasn’t quite as strong, but held anger and panic.
Katelyn searched Tim’s eyes. She cringed and braced for anger, violence, or a greater fear that he really didn’t want her anymore. She refused to believe any of it. His dark hair was ruffled, and she longed to run her hand through it to smooth it out. She tried to say everything with her eyes.
“Tim, I want to talk to you. I have to talk to you.” While she talked, his face softened. She grew in her resolve. “Come with me. Let’s get out of here right now. Angel’s—“
Behind her, she heard the building’s outer door open. A girl’s voice quickly moved from the entry way to the apartment as she pushed the door open all the way. A draft of cold air followed her in. “Who the hell left my door . . .What the fuck? Who the fuck are you?”
Mona, Katelyn guessed. She was tall, a head taller than Katelyn and her dark hair pointed out around her shoulders in thousands of angry spikes. Her wide face was out of proportion to her narrow, tall legs wrapped tightly in ripped fashion denim. Her eyes were etched in layers of black eyeliner and mascara.
No one spoke. Mona looked between Tim and Katelyn and repeated the motion. Her hand planted itself on one hip as she figured out Katelyn’s identity. “What the fuck are you doing in my place? Who do you think you are coming over here?” Mona had moved a step closer, but stopped and reached one hand to the bottom of her black handbag that she took from off her shoulder. She brought her hand back out and let the bag drop to the ground. Katelyn’s eyes quickly focused in on the switch blade Mona now held. Mona whipped it around with a turn of her wrist and now a blade pointed at Katelyn. She backed up as Mona walked toward her.
“You don’t listen so good.” Mona’s voice had a snarl under the words. Her eyes didn’t leave Katelyn’s.
Katelyn stepped back again and again, the door getting farther away, until she ran into a chair behind her. She put it in front of her quickly, but had no more room to back up. Katelyn stood as tall as she could against the wall. She had been holding her breath and now could only take short gasps. Katelyn dared to look away from Mona toward Tim. She pleaded with fear. “Help me.” Katelyn could barely get the words out. Tim seemed to be an audience to the event. He simply looked at Mona to see what she would do.
“You don’t get it, do you, Bitch? Shit, I don’t blame Tim for wanting something better. And now he’s got it. Do you need some help getting that into your fat fucking mind, Bitch?” Mona curved the knife in front of Katelyn’s face. “Huh? You think he wants to help out a whore like you?”
Katelyn couldn’t respond.
Angel’s calm voice startled everyone. “Hey, people,” Angel stood just inside the door and acted amused, “this looks like a bad fuckin’ trip.” Mona changed position so she could see the new intruder. Mona still held the knife pointed at Katelyn. “Whoa! Shit.” Angel held out her arms in surrender. She lowered them as she stepped in closer to Mona and Katelyn. “Hey, Tim,” she said in a casual tone. Tim looked at her in puzzlement but didn’t respond.
“Hey,” Angel said to Mona as she came closer. “So, I thought maybe I could use your bathroom since Kate was takin’ so long giving Tim his money and shit. But, hey, you all might want to chill out so you don’t make a really bad Law and Order episode.”
At the mention of money, Mona’s eyebrows raised slightly and glanced at Tim. �
�He still stood back watching the drama, but his face didn’t give away Angel’s lie. In fact, Tim looked down as he put one hand in his pocket. Mona lowered the knife to her side and backed off a step. Angel grabbed the chair Katelyn held and traded places with it to put herself in between Katelyn and Mona. “So, hey, sorry to crash your party. I think I’ll hold it till I get home.” Angel crossed her legs in humor and turned to Katelyn. “You ready?”
Katelyn had already taken slow steps to the side, rounding her way toward the door. She took bigger steps now as Angel followed her. Angel tried to divert their attention as they passed and pointed to the screen. “Gone In 60 Seconds. Great movie! Damn, I wish I had cars like those.”
Katelyn was at the door now and took one last look at Tim. He looked away when she looked at his face. Katelyn looked at all of him then. He looked thinner. Why hadn’t she noticed earlier. Tim wore a black, baggy t-shirt, so he easily looked pale, but his cheeks bones stood out more. Her eyes traveled down his arms, which were slightly bent. In the bent shadow of his arm, she saw the darkness of bruises.
“Okay, see ya all later.” Angel pushed her out the door and shut it behind her. Katelyn didn’t waste any more time.
Pick-me-up Page 45