The Evening Street : RADIODUST

9: Human sweat - Hot

 ⌛

June 25th
In the apartment, the T.V. played crime documentary re-runs. The lighting was dim and the coffee table was crowded with a few plastic plates. Blitzo sat on the couch fiddling with an unopen can of beer.

Knock

Blitzo barely heard the sound over the noisy tv but whatever it was violent and forceful.

Knock

The sound was hesitant, quieter. Blitzo blinks out from his dazed state. He puts down his beer, sitting up.

Knock

Blitzo stands up and walks to the door. He peered through the eye-hole and without thinking twice, he opened the door wide open.

Underneath the light of the hallway, his daughter, Loona stood. Her head was held high and determined. Silver strands in disarray, she took a hopeful step forward.

"Dad?" Loona's voice cracked. His baby girl looked awful: bags under her tired eyes; cheek, neck, and arm bruised an ugly purple; and her fingers caked a reddish-brown dust.

"Looney?" Blitzo whispered. He rushed forward and enveloped Loona in a big great hug. Loona's hair draped over Blitzo's shoulders and Blitzo could smell the sweat, blood and perfume. The pair stayed a few seconds like that, infront of the door, hugging eachother.

"Can I go to sleep? I'm so tired dad. I'm so tired." Loona mumbled.

"Yes. Yes you can...Do you not want to talk about it?"

Loona's hands squeezed Blitzo's back. Something felt wrong, but Blitzo did not say a word. He missed Loona so much. He was so worried, so stressed. Now, she was finally here, finally back home.

Blitzo felt her here, right beside him. He tried to focus his attention on her warmth, on her existence. He tried his best to ignore the metallic smell or the way how Loona's ribs and spine felt defined underneath Blitzo's hands.

Loona was so cold... but not cold as a corpse. If she was dead, Blitzo wouldn't know what he would do.

Thank the fucking heavens Blitzo could hear her heart beat.

"Later... Can I please sleep first," Loona whispered. By the way she spoke, Blitzo was so afraid she would break.

"Yes," Blitzo said. He let Loona go. She took off her black boots. The soles were smeared with reddish dust. Loona dragged herself through the hall and into her room. Each step looked difficult, so Blitzo grabbed Loona and carried her to her room.

If Loona was in her normal cynical teenager state, she would have been annoyed by this action. She would have told Blitzo something like, "I'm not a baby dad," or "I'm fine. I can walk."

Instead of Loona talking back, she simply closed her eyes, exhausted.

Blitzo gently laid Loona down on her bed. The girl, nearly an adult, curled to her side, unbothered by her dirty clothes. Black sheets, skull pillows, little mythical animal plushies surrounded her. Blitzo pulled out an white sheet from Loona's drawers and laid it on top of Loona.

"Let me know if you need anything, Looney," Blitzo said. The teen barely nodded, eyes shut and tired.

Blitzo turned off the light in Loona's room. The room was dark except for the glow in the dark galaxy glued onto the ceiling. Before leaving Loona's room completely alone, he left the door open by an inch, just in case.

Blitzo took a few steps away from the door and halted. His foggy brain tried to recall the sudden events that just happened, but it felt all wrong.

Shit. Is Loona even here? Fucking sleep deprivation.