11 Days

GET YOURSELF A WIG

When I woke up on the morning of October 10, I felt different. After five years of running from a ghost, I finally felt different. I wanted to feel better about myself. It took me half an hour to decide whether or not to get out of bed, but I did and immediately reached for my burner phone and called my brother. He answered quickly - as always - with a surprised voice when he heard from me so early in the morning and two days in a row. "This is a miracle; the sky will fall into a thousand pieces." I could hear him chew sluggishly. Every morning, absolutely every morning, he poured himself a giant bowl of Lucky Charms with vanilla flavored almond milk; this morning was no exception. "What's up?"

“I want a wig.”

“Uh huh? Did your hair fall out already?”

“No, not yet. I though about it and I want a wig, and a phone and a computer and maybe a cat.”

“Really?” the astonishment was there, palpable through the distance of miles and miles apart between us, yet- he sounded genuinely happy to hear me say these things. “What brought this on?”

“I just though about it and I realized that you’ve always been right. I’ve been hiding far too long; I could use a change.”

“Good for you.”

“I need your help though.” At this I bit my lip. It’s not as if I didn’t want it; it was still difficult for me to reveal so much, even to him. He’d protected my privacy with all his might and today he’ll be the one to breech it. “Remember that bank account?”

“Oh? We’re going big instead of going home, huh?”

“Kind of- I need you to buy some stuff for me and have them shipped to a P.O Box. Can you do that?”

“Sure. Just tell me what exactly you need, and I’ll see to it.”

“Well… for starters, I need a laptop. I need a decent cellphone,” I heard him laugh a throaty laugh, “maybe a tablet and for you to sign me up to any video streaming service you could think of because there’s only so many movies I can watch on cable.”

He whistled at my not so little list. I knew it would cost me quite a bit, but I had saved more than enough and even if I decided to keep spending, I’d still have money. Tons of it. “I’ll send that care package right away. I’m surprised you own a TV, considering you’ve been living like hermit for so long.”

I let Matt know where to send my stuff and then we chatted some more. I told him a bit about my job this week, how I was going to enjoy fries all weekend and the new arrival in town. When we finished talking, I took a quick shower without wetting my hair and put on comfortable clothes. This morning I was volunteering at the shelter, it was one of my favorite things about being here. At the shelter there were basically dogs that Joey rescued from the road, they were rehabilitated and then he had Carla find a home for them outside of Quiet Gate - to prevent other people from coming here. My job at the shelter was to bathe and play with the dogs all day or until they got tired of me. Sometimes I would take them to the nearby lake and let the dogs roll in the mud and jump into the water while throwing balls at them. When I left the apartment, I remembered the donation made by Six with the money that I returned to him yesterday. I wonder if he's awake. I crossed the street and climbed four stone steps and entered the small lobby. I knew that only two people lived here, one was an angry widow and the other person was Six. Ironically, he lived in apartment number six. I knocked gently on the door and waited a few seconds. I heard footsteps behind it and suddenly the door was swung open. Six wore a pair of lounging pants that hung obscenely from his hips ... and nothing else. He smelled of soap and shampoo. He smelled clean and something else, something that made my mouth water. "Hello." And now that? I felt silly standing in front of him. "I thought I'd drop by to say hi before going to the shelter."

He moved aside and gestured with his hand to let me in.

“I can’t, sorry. I have to be there in ten and I don’t wanna be late but perhaps another time.” I said apologetically as I shrugged my shoulders. “Just stopping by to say good morning and leave. I thought it’s a neighborly thing to do.” Stop it Aviana, he’ll think you’re lame. But I just couldn’t shut up. “You should teach me some sign language so we can talk.”

His face lit up like fourth of July with fireworks in the night sky and nodded eagerly. Then he asked me to wait a few moments and disappeared. After a while he came back with a book about ASL and I beamed at him when he handed it over. "Can I borrow it for today? I'd like to practice and then show you what I learned." he shook his head, which made me feel a tad sad but then he pressed the book against my chest ever so lightly and he mouthed the words, for you. “Really?” another nod. “Thank you so much! Okay I have to get going now, I’ll see you later.”

As I rode the bike to the shelter with the book in the basket I smirked stupidly. I was happy. I was glad that the peace and monotony of my days had been broken for the better.