on the other side

pt 1

It's midnight.

I'm crying.

I'm sitting in an obscure coffee shop.

One of those places where they're open 24/7 and barely have any customers but somehow are still in buisness.

The streets are abandoned.

It's not unusual for them to abandoned.

I don't live in a small town, but I don't live in a big city.

I live in a regular town with a couple of street lights.

Through a small radio in the corner I hear a faint sound.

The Weekend by Modern Baseball comes on as a dispirited boy, around my age, walks in and sits beside me.

"I like this song." He whispers. "Do you?"

"I guess."

"What's wrong with you?"

"Do you want a list?" I reply with a hint of anger in my voice.

"Geez. I was just trying to be friendly."

"Does it look like I want a friend?"

"Sorry. Guess I'm not the only having a shitty night."

"More like a shitty life."

"What's wrong. For real?"

"I'll tell you if you tell me yours after. You've probably had a worse night."

"Deal." He exclaims with a slight smile.

I tell myself to recall the horrid events of this night, for what? For a random stranger? Why though? I guess he just gives me a comforting feeling. I've known him for three minutes. What am I doing.

"Louise!" My mother shouts across our three bedroom apartment. "Colin! Anyone!"

"Can you." Colin, my twin, says rolling his eyes.

Colin was rude to my mother. So was Jen. I hated how my siblings treated my poor mother. She was struggling to find a job, struggling to even keep it together. My father, on the other hand, couldn't even get the remote for himself.

"What's up Dad, Mom." I say casually walking into their room. "Oh no."

"Who. Did. This!?!" He screams frantically as he tries to pick up the remains of his ashtray he got at a Bruins game.

"I'll go ask Jen." I leave the room and go onto our somewhat deck to find my thirteen year old sister smoking. "Did you break the ashtray?"

"Yeah. Maybe. What's it to ya?"

"Did you. Break. The. Ashtray?"

"Yeah okay?" She annoyingly says. I quickly snatch the cigarette out of her hand and put it out. "Hey!"

"MOM!" I shout back into the house. "IT WAS JEN!"

"Course,"  Colin mutters.

Suddenly my father comes out of his bedroom and throws a vase that I made for Mom at Jen.

Jen screams in response.  What had I done. I knew this was coming. Why did I tell him it was her. I was too afraid to do anything. He was hitting her and chucking her stuff out the window. It happens to all of us. We try to stay out of the house as much as possible. I couldn't do anything about what he was doing to her. Before he disappeared into his room he kicked Jen out of the house. That's when I left. I couldn't do it anymore. I was destroyed. I couldn't do anything about it, so I had to go.

"And then I packed my stuff up and left." I say wiping tears out of my eyes. "I haven't actually technically left yet though. I just threw my important belongings in my bag, wrote a letter for Colin and told him to contact me after he gets in the Navy. And now I'm here. Crying and talking to a stranger."

"I'm....so...sorry..." He looks down in sorrow.

"It's...um..fine. So, what's your story?" I try to say cheerfully.

"Well. It's a less.....abus- it's just terribly sad."

"Don't worry mom. It'll be fine." I whispered to my dying mother as I sit alongside her hospital bed. "It'll all be okay... I love you mom."

A flashing red light went off abruptly and a doctor came rushing in telling me I had to go.

"Is she okay?" "What's happening?" "Mom?" "ANSWER ME"

It felt like I was screaming and only I could hear myself. She was the only family I had left.

I waited in the waiting room for hours. Finally a nurse came out. I was optimistic and believed that she was coming out here to tell me the good news. Sadly, it was quite the opposite. She had passed away on the bed.

Today was the funeral.

"I cried for a week straight." He shakily spoke. "But I need to move on. Guess your not the only one leaving this shitty town?"

"Guess not." I crack a weak smile and he returns the favor. "I'm Louise."

"Sam."