(Notice: mentions of drugs)
December 1994
I started to see the colors again. Life gained back its meaning and I was finally happier after meeting Maxwell. We went shopping and to ice cream shops and he became my best friend, the best I've ever had. I'd practically die for him. We watched the sunsets together every summer night and went to swim in the river, the one where we met the first time. I loved him so much until one day, at night, while I was listening to music, he knocked on my window. He seemed desperate as sweat was running down his forehead.
"Max what the hell!! Hey hey come on in. Wha- what happened ??"
I panicked. I've never seen him in such a state. My stomach dropped as I rushed to the window, grabbing his wrist and pulling him inside my apartment. I didn't care what he did or what happened, I knew him. He wouldn't get into gang fights or drugs.
So I rushed to the window and when he got in, I helped him up and sat him on a nearby chair. He was sweating from everywhere and couldn't breathe properly.
All of a sudden, he just fell back as I yelled.
"MAX !! HEY MAX WHAT IS GOING ON ?!"
No...this has to be some sort of nightmare...
"Max, please tell me what's going on. I don't want to lose you ! Can you talk? Does it hurt somewhere!?"
But nothing came out. He was trying to catch his breath and at the same time, he was trying to tell me something. My heart was beating so fast because I couldn't afford to live without him. I didn't want to lose my best friend and I was seeing the light in his eyes fade away.
I heard sirens outside and got up from the floor and screamed:
"Hang on there, I'm getting you help, I hear sirens outside and-"
I quickly got up as my legs shaked like they never did. I never had anyone treat me so special and make me feel right like he did. If something were to happen to him and I didn't do anything, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. I can't loose the only person who cares of me in this world, I JUST CAN'T, DAMN IT!! WHY DOES LIFE DO THIS TO ME ?! I LOST MY PARENTS, MY BOYFRIEND AND MY EX BEST-FRIEND, I CAN'T LET DESTINY TAKE AWAY MAX.
I laid his head in the floor softly before getting up and yelling
"AMBULANCE HEL-"
Suddenly, something grabbed my ankle. It was Max and he was trying to say something. A few sounds got out of his mouth but I was too panicked to listen.
I can't afford to lose him too. Not him.
"Maxwell, I hear an ambulance, I'll call it !", I said in between sobs as tears ran down my cheeks. I want sad, I was scared. Scared to loose the only person who cares if été in this world. I can lose my mother, it's fine. My father too, I don't care. They never cared. But him, I can't. So I'll do anything to get that stupid ambulance !
But Max didn't let go of my ankle. As he gained back his breath, bit by bit, he mumbled something. Confused, I got down to hear what he said, and now that I did, I'm glad I did, because what he said froze my blood as I realized the mistake I was about to make.
As he pulled up his shirt a bit, revealing a huge bruise, he said:
"The cops are after me...."
My blood froze and it sent chills down my spine.
"GOSH MAXWELL WHA-?! HOW?! DID THEY DO THAT TO YOU?!"
"Dienne, listen to me, don't go outside. Those sirens, those are them. They are after me and will do anything to catch me. They tried to use tasers already and if they catch me, I'll get sent far away from here. So stay inside, I don't want you to get hurt.."
"But how ?! Why are they after you?!"
Tears kept rolling down and I couldn't breathe anymore. It felt like my chest was being squeezed, keeping my heart from beating normally.
"Not him, not him" I kept thinking. I was so stressed and my hands became so sweaty from the fear.
After i asked him the question, he managed to painfully and slowly get up and say:
"It's my mother... she... um..."
He pauses for a moment, holding back sobs and trying to figure out a way to explain the situation to me. I could see the fear in his eyes. They were completely red. It wasn't the sweet look he always used to have. It was a stressed look. As if the world was ending. I've never seen him like that. He grabbed his shirt and grabbed it really tightly and looked around to find a way to escape.
His thinking lasted a few seconds before the noise of the sirens, searching carefully the streets for Max, started again, causing him to flinch and tear up.
Even if I was dead-scared, I held his hands and tried to force a smile under my tears. I don't care how, but I had to find a way to calm him down from the panick attack. The clock was ticking and I didn't have all the time in the world because unfortunately, police officers were searching homes and knocking on people's doors to find my best friend.
Max seemed to notice it too, because he kept on flinching at every "POLICE, OPEN UP".
"Max, it's alright. Hey hey, it's okay. I won't let anything bad happen to you. Come on, tell me what happened. It's okay. I'll figure something out. I won't let you go with them. Just... explain."
He seemed to calm down, looking deep in my eyes, as if what I said made him snap back to reality.
"My mother started again...", he said, in between sobs.
"She...what? I thought she quit a while ago.. I don't understand.."
"Dienne, she blamed it on me this time. Apparently, police are on her tracks and she made it seem as if the drugs in the house were mine. I don't know what to do, help me..."
No....
He made a pause to calm down a bit before telling me the rest of the story.
"Officers barged in Ouse, kicking down the door and running to catch me and that's how I got this big bruise. I'm sorry I got you involved in this mess but I don't know what to do and..."
As he said that last sentence, he grabbed my shoulders firmly and yet I could still feel his hands shaking. He was terrified...
Then I came to the conclusion that no matter how extreme or how crazy the methods I had to take to keep him here were, I had to take them. This wasn't a simple game of tag when we were kids, playing in the school yard. This was real life. Though, real life. And I knew if Max got caught, it would be the end and we would get separated forever
I hugged him tightly as I whispered to him that I'll never let him down. Not today, not tomorrow, never.
I really wanted to help him but I didn't know what to do in these kinds of situations and as I was lost in my thoughts, three hard knocks resounded in the front door.
The cops.
"Maxie, listen to me, I need you to stay hidden ok? I'll take them away, they won't get to you I promise."
Three hard knocks resounded again followed by an officer, yelling at me, irritated that I didn't open the door in the second.
It was now or never...
***
YOU ARE READING
Promise until the end
Teen FictionA young lady with depression struggles with her family situation. She feel lonely and abandoned and she doubts that better days will come. "This is probably it for me", she thinks, but she was wrong: life still had a lot for her, good and bad, inclu...
