Things Not Said

Chapter 3: Andrew

Andrew

My ringing phone is what wakes me up the next morning.

“Hello?” I ask groggily.

“Hey, pal!” the reply comes.

“Would you quiet down, it’s only ten in the morning,” I yawn, willing my eyes to stay open.

“Dude, I heard you were in town!” Shane yells.

“I said quiet down.” Throwing the covers off of myself, I drag my feet to the window and peek through the curtains. The blinding light makes me squint and I quickly shut off the outside world.

“Alright, bossy,” Shane grunts, “All I wanted to say was we gotta meet up. Three years is along time bro. We got a lot of catching up to do.”

I collapse onto the bed and hold my head in my hands, the phone to my ear.

“I’m listening.”

“How about Mama’s Diner in 15 minutes?”

“I could use a breakfast away from this place. Albert’s already at work; not that he’d miss me anyway.”

“Cool, bro. See you there!”

I hear the line go dead and throw my phone on the bed next to me. Dragging my feet to the bathroom, I turn on the shower and take off my clothes before hopping in. The cold water makes my body tense and I jump out of the freezing jet onto the icy tiles of the bathroom floor.

“Man I hate this place.”

In Oakland it woudl've taken only a few seconds to get hot water. Here, it takes almost ten minutes, and even though Mama’s diner is right at the end of my block, I arrive there 20 minutes late; Albert had never given me the keys to the apartment so I had to go to the neighbor’s to get the spare one.

“Hello, Mrs. Greer?” I knock louder on her door. She probably just can’t hear me: I’m pretty sure my hearing won’t be top notch when I’m eighty.

“Oh, dear,” I hear from inside. She doesn’t have good hearing but boy does she have a loud voice.

“Mrs. Greer?”

The door yanks open and I find a petite old woman with grey hair wearing a nightgown. Her eyes are blue, a light blue, lighter than the sea and I find myself looking into their depth. She must’ve been beautiful when she was young.

“Can I help you my dearie? Oh look at you out in the freezing cold. Come in,  sit down” she chants.

“Oh no, see I have to meet my friend and I’m already ten minutes late…”

“Nonsense, come in Andrew.”

I feel myself pulled inside into a boiling apartment. She probably spends most of her money on heating. I peel off layers as she sits me down at a large oak table in her dining room.

“Want to play some cards, dear?”

“Mrs. Greer, I really have to go, I just came here to get-”

“Come on son. Won’t you play a nice game of Go Fish with an old woman like me? I’m really in need of some company. I can’t leave the house with this foot.”

She points to the cast on her leg and I sigh. Who could say no to an old, injured lady? So there I was, playing cards with her for ten minutes straight before I grabbed a pair of spare keys and went, but not before she convinced me to go out and buy her groceries everyday. And old lady slipping around the icy roads: obviously not a very good idea.