Survival of the Toughest

Eva, The Caretaker

"Rick?" A voice said. "Rick?!"

What happened?

"RICKY!"

I shot up. Choking for words.

"Oh my god." Eva was kneeling beside me. "I thought you died there."

"What are you doing here?" I slowly started to stand up. "What time is it?"

"I came over to check on you." She said. "I passed by Kerry on my way to Sloan Street. Said Dustin was at Jen's and you weren't answering your phone or the door. So I thought I'd come over and, well, showed myself in and there you were on the floor."

"I'm fine. Everything just came flooding back to me."

"What do you mean?"

I grabbed a soda from the fridge and sat down at the table.

"Ricky?" She had a concerned look on her face. "What's going on?"

"Ev- Eve-"

I was stuck between saying "Eva" and "Everything"

Eva sat down beside me and put her hand on my cast.

"Everything." I choked out. "Including my mom."

I stared at the table. I couldn't look at her.

"Oh, buddy." She said. "I'm sorry."

I couldn't find it in myself to cry. I somewhat resented the fact. I cried at a lot of things. When Kix, Bif's dog, had to be put down. When Mr. Bonfiglio called me a waste of space. When Granddad had to leave and help Dad's brother. But I couldn't cry at the fact my mom was gone and I couldn't even remember what she sounded like.

"Ricky." Eva embraced me. "I know it might not help but do you want to go out for a while tonight? We can go for Chinese or Mackie's if you want."

"Yeah." I looked over at her. "Let me get my jacket and we'll go to China Buffet or Peking."

It felt nice. Despite the depressive episode I just had, I felt like everything might just be alright. Eva and I walked down to the end of Homer and turned onto Raymond. Harrisburg seemed more quiet than usual. From my house to Peking usually had noise involved. Noise such as a dog, a person, or even a gun, anything loud enough to where I couldn't hear myself think. I thought about silence and how I could use more of it in my life. How much better the world would be if Dad wasn't stumbling in drunk and knocking things over, if Lowrider would keep his Doberman in check, if that 6th grader- Emily- wouldn't heckle me in P.E., if Smithpeters would shut up, if rich snobs like the Dean brothers would keep their snotty noses in their overpriced coffee. If maybe- just maybe- this cursed town had some peace of mind, the world would be so much better for us.

"You look lost." Eva spoke up. "Are you still on Earth, Rick?"

"Oh-" I came to. "Yeah. Just thinking."

"Hopefully you're thinking about the food cause Peking is right around the corner."

We had made it to Parker Plaza. The home of Peking Palace and right besides 45, the worst place to drive in the entire state, with the exception of Interstate 57.

Peking was a nice Chinese restaurant. It had been in town for a while and it was loved by the community. I was a common patron there since Jimmy was related to the owners and I was a big fan of the crab rangoons. The folks there treated me nice and always gave me a reason to come back.

Eva and I went inside and instantly got seated by the hostess working. We stared out of the front window, across the highway. We watched the last bit of dusk fade to night with Eva humming and me tapping my fingers on the table.