Unhinged √

26.

     When I first met Ingrid, it was raining like someone was trying to quench the fire in hell. I had an appointment I needed to get to at the gym but the rain was causing traffic and I was already considering waiting it out somewhere when I saw her. She had on cargo pants and a grey T-shirt with her hair in cornrows and she was just walking on the streets, no umbrella, no raincoat.

At first o thought she had just been surprised by the rain and had somewhere to be but her stance was nonchalant, like she couldn't care about her wet boots or the homeless on the streets glaring at her. I stopped my car without really thinking on it, all I knew was she looked like she needed help and I was going to offer.

Zayn says it's a curse, my attraction to broken people, I think it just means I'm a nice person and the world could use at least one.

    I didn't have an umbrella either, so I was soaked before I got to her and felt stupid standing there.

"Do you need a ride?" I asked and she just stared through me. Her eyes empty, lips trembling.

"Look, I know there are some creeps out here. Did you hear about the guy harvesting people's right kidneys? You probably have and I can assure you that I am not him. Wait, I can't because you have no reason to trust me and I know I have a threatening build, my bestfriend call me the big guy but I guess what I am trying to say is, it's fucking cold out here and I hate to drink coffee alone".

"Okay". She mumbled after a few seconds that I spent wondering how I had not drowned from the rain that found its way into my mouth during that senseless rant.

"Okay. If you'd just come with me to my car, I know  a place hereby".

She wordlessly followed me to my car and as soon as we got in, I turned on the heater which proves to be less effective when you are soaked to the bone. She didn't seem to mind the cold at all, of course her body was reacting to it but her mind just wasn't there.

      I drove us to a tiny cafe by the corner and no one seemed to be offended by our wet clothes, in fact in a few minutes we got handed two light blankets. I didn't know it yet but this sweet little place with premium hospitality was about to become our spot.

It didn't take much for her to open up to me, as soon as I asked what the problem was, she spilled her guts.

She just got back to the states after spending three years in Zanzibar working for a charity organization focused on improving the lives of young single mothers. It was a dream of hers and her family hadn't held back their support, they wanted her to find herself and be happy and she was very happy.

Her NGO decided on an expansion which meant she got to see more of the world but she wasn't going anywhere else without first seeing her family. Her younger brother was the only one at the airport to welcome her and once they got home, he told her why.

Her parents had been dead for six months, he had been the one replying all her mails, he didn't want her to put her life on hold. She was simply digesting that information and the realization that her baby brother was no longer a baby, at all.

     I hadn't known what to say to that so I told her about football and she talked to me about raccoons and when the rain stopped, I took her back to her home. We didn't talk much and she didn't seem to be getting better but when we did, I could tell she forgot for a moment and she liked that. She said she was talking to a professional bit she honestly just needed those rare unhinged moments were she could just let lose. I shouldn't have encouraged it, I should not have done it with her.

      I don't know how many bench presses I have managed to pull off, I shouldn't be doing it at all with no one to sport me but this is the best way I know to think. Once upon a time, working out used to be a chore, a means to an end. I wanted to make varsity football league and the only way to do that was to be undeniable.