HIS MEDICINE

One

"Rori!"

Shit why am I being yelled at already? I feel like I just fell asleep.

"Rori! Get your ass up! Your alarm has been going off for the past 15 minutes and I'm sick and fucking tired of hearing that goddamn noise!" My window rattles again in the cracked wooden pane as Sterling, my neighbor, bangs on the glass that connects our balconies.

I sit up abruptly and wave a hand absentmindedly toward him and the window. I hear him mumble something about me overworking myself before walking away.

When you live in a tiny shitty apartment in downtown New York, thin walls and close quarters are almost expected, so the fact he can hear my alarm from the apartment over is not unexpected.

Sterling lives next to me; you could say we are friends. We are more there for each other than anything. We can talk to each other because we understand each other. The hardships we both have gone through have bonded us in a way. We can be together in silence and enjoy it. If you live in a place like this, there is probably a lot of loneliness going on in your life, and it's nice to have Sterling around.

A soft groan leaves my lips as I face plant back into my mattress and cover my head back up. I can't do it. I don't want to get up. With a huff, I reach my arm out from under my thin quilt to find my phone, the noise of my alarm practically blocking all my other senses from functioning with the loud noise blaring in the background. My fingers close around the object, producing a repulsive noise, and I squint against the setting sun coming through my curtain-less window to hit snooze. I can't help but let it fall from my fingers onto the mattress next to my head as I try to wake myself up more. My fingers knead into my tired eyes as I sit up reluctantly. I'm tired. And that is an understatement. It feels like my head just hit the pillow, and I need to be up again.

I grab my phone to check the time and realize I'm late. Fuck I'm really late.

"Shit. Fucking hell." I mumble, scrambling to entangle myself from my blanket currently holding me captive so I can get ready for work. I work at this all-night club-type bar place. It's called Beats on 2nd. It has live music and is open literally all the time, 24hrs a day. It's pretty low-key, not a lot of people come in most nights, and when they do it's not very often. Only if there is an artist everyone loves is when it is busy. It's nice for me, but what's not nice is the owner when I'm late.

I'm lucky as it is to have this job, and being late all the time is not a characteristic I like. I stumble around my small room, still half asleep, throwing on some clothes and my shoes, putting on deodorant, grabbing my phone and my keys, sticking a piece of gum between my teeth, and turning off the lights (god knows I need to save the money) before literally running out the door and down the stairs to the road. I almost fall down the stairs as I weave around Ms. Gene's literal forest of plants and flowers on the stairs. Ms. Gene is our landlord, and she is something else. She is so small and spirited, as Sterling calls her. I just think she is fucking crazy. Like out of her mind. Her plants are everywhere. Her cat wanders into my apartment as if I am his owner. And her choice of music could not be worse. However, she is very forgetful and doesn't always remember that I need to pay rent, so I'll take crazy Ms. Gene if it means free rent every few months.

My sneakers pound the concrete as I skid down the stairs and across the road to round the corner to the bus stop.

"Wait!" I scream, holding my pocket where my phone is so it doesn't fall out. "I'm coming!"

I see the bus driver look at me and roll his eyes before opening the sliding door for me as I run up to the running vehicle.

"Thanks," I say through a fake smile as I try to control my breathing. Running is not my strong suit.