Scars

Conversations of 11:59 PM

I knocked on the apartment door three times before I heard the handle turn. Nick greeted me with a smirk. I opened my mouth to speak, but he held a finger to his lips. He then let me, confused, inside.

He gestured to the only room in the apartment which I guessed was his bedroom. I peeked inside to see Ren curled up on the bed, asleep. Her pink bear was locked in the grip of her arms. I turned to Nick again and I couldn’t help but smile. To be honest, I didn’t think he would be able to handle it. Ren was a tough one.

Ren hates going to bed. She absolutely loves to stay up as long as possible. I was immensely impressed that Nick was able to get her to sleep. He really was a good father.

Nick whispered, “Uh, so I put her to bed around nine, and I did feed her non-dumpster food. We actually had easy-mac which is 100% edible and garbage free.” Nick smirked again. “How was your night?”

“Oh. It was okay” I whispered back. “Kind of tired actually” I said gesturing towards my poor feet that ached from walking four flights of steep stairs to get to his floor. Nick laughed through his nose and gestured for me to sit down. I did without hesitation.

“So you go back to school in a month, don’t you?” Nick said after a moment of silence. I nodded. “So maybe I can watch Ren for you” he offered hopefully.

I thought about it for a moment, “Yeah. That would be amazing actually because my mom just started going back to work.”

Nick’s eyebrows raised. “Oh yeah, how is your mom? I haven’t heard much about her or Sydney.” Nick came across the room and sat at the table across from me.

“Oh she’s been okay. As for Sydney, if it’s even possible, is more annoying than usual.” Nick smiled at that. “What about your parents? Have you talked to them in a while?” I tried to keep the conversation going for once. I was completely invested in what he was about to say. I wasn’t sure exactly why but I had this strange feeling in the back of my head that he was a safe place for me and I could talk to him about anything, despite the fact that he had my youth and virginity in the very palm of his hand. But all I knew in that moment was that I was calm, happy almost.

Nick’s eyes looked down at his fingers and his smile faded slightly. “Yeah well my mom called me about a week after I moved in to make sure I wasn’t dead, but I’ve heard nothing from them since. I guess they want to keep my soiled reputation away from the family. If they found out Ren existed they would probably murder me.” Nick laughed before his smile faded again.

I realized then that he’s had it almost as bad as me. I suddenly felt awful for the way I had treated him. “What about Jesse?” I suddenly remembered his older brother, Jesse. Nick had mentioned him once or twice a while back.

Nick looked up at me, “Oh Jesse. Yeah he visits at least once or twice a month, but I haven’t told him about Ren yet. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just afraid he’ll tell my parents or something and they’ll come beating down my door.” Nick gave a half smile, his eyes somewhere faraway. “Speaking of parents, does your mom need you back soon?”

I looked at the time. My phone said 11:59. Crap. “Yeah.” I said standing up, “Thanks for watching her, Nick.” Nick gave a small smile as he stood up and followed me to where Ren was sleeping. I carefully lifted her into my arms and turned to leave.

Nick opened the door for me. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Definitely.”