The Fall Of Edith

Chapter 5

I arrive in Birmingham on a rainy and bitter day, my mom drives me up from Coventry in her boyfriend's Audi. There's not much to talk about, so we just sit in silence, some minor interruptions occur only when I turn on the radio and unsuccessfully try to find a station that doesn't talk about the news.

My university and accommodation all got arranged with a minimal input from my side. I had a phone call with my dad, talking about all the finances. "So you'll mostly be in the Humanities building, we should look at areas close, don't you think?"

"hmm"

"I found some nice apartments there, I think one room will be enough for now, right?"

"hmmm"

"hold on, I called my bank, I'll be increasing your pocket money to 400 pounds a month, it should be there starting from next Monday, so don't forget to check your statements, Edith"

"alright" At that time I was sitting uncomfortably in the empty bathtub at home. My body folded in the middle, my feet dangling from one side and my head from the other, I was staring at the cracks in the ceiling.

"I found two suitable apartments, do you prefer 1st floor or slanted ceiling?"

"uhhu"

"edith!"

"oh, yea, whatever you prefer" In the end my dad chose the slanted ceiling because I might be robbed and assaulted on the 1st floor.

So now my mom and I arrive in a small and winding street in front of a three-storey, red brick building with black chimneys. The street looks abandoned, there are no people around and not many buildings either. It doesn't look much different from Coventry here. For some reason I expected sky scrapers, traffic jams and people queuing on the streets. My brain must've confused it with New York. There are a lot of trees here, I immediately get the feeling of being in a lonely forest. I get my suitcases out of the trunk and walk up to the building. My mom follows behind with one of the boxes. We stacked up the whole car with as many as we could fit, the rest was left behind. My mom offered to keep them in her boyfriends place and then get them to my apartment later, but I told her I'd rather get rid of the things. It was mostly old textbooks and notes from high school, unused clothes and children's books. Piles and piles of memories, spreading their heartache like an especially aggressive type of mould. According to the panel of bells in the entrance there are eight apartments, two of which seem to be empty, since the name tag next to the bell is blank. Mine is in the upper floor and I'll have to write my surname into the white space next to my bell.

My apartment has one big room with two windows, there's a tiny built-in kitchen on one side, the rest is empty except for two pieces of furniture. A bed and a desk. According to my dad the landlord said all necessities are provided and it's ready to be lived in. Judging from my mom's face, she expected a little bit more, but I honestly don't mind. All the ceilings are slanted anyways, which makes most of the walls completely unusable.

"call me, if you need anything, okay?"

And after a while she adds. "really do call me"

I look at her "I will, don't worry"

I can see that she does worry, but she lets it be for now and turns to walk out the door. I watch her drive away from my window. Then I turn around to face my room and slide down the wall, sitting on the floor with my head on my knees I close my eyes and try to focus on the task at hand. Breathing.

In the evening, telling Mauricio about my sorrows he's not much if a comfort.

"I'm scared of uni. I don't know anybody there"