How to Save A Life (Anthony Rizzo)

3- Preaching Kindness

Anthony

"Do you have her with you" Jon asks as I walk myself into the kitchen of my apartment. I watch as Clara walks around the living room just looking around, trying to familiarize herself with her new place.

"Yeah, she's here. She's safe" I say and he lets out a long sigh.

"Good. Her boyfriend is going around knocking on peoples doors looking for her" he explains and I shake my head.

"What I would do to punch that guy in the face" I sigh.

"Me too man, me too. But we need things to settle down and for Clara to be safe before we go around punching guys in the face" he insists.

"I guess" I agree. "Did you want to talk to her?"

"Not right now, get her comfortable first then Farrah and I will be over later to see her. She has some clothes for her to wear and some other things she might need for her time there" he explains.

"That sounds great, thank you" I nod.

"I'll see you later" he says and we hang up.

I stuff my phone in my back pocket of my jeans and go to be by Clara as she continues to look around.

"So I don't have the guest room cleaned up quite yet but I will have it cleaned up and a bed for you pretty soon. Until then you can take my bed" I explain.

"I couldn't possibly take your bed. I'm small and I slept on the couch many times in my life. I insist I sleep out here" she argues.

"There's no way I'm going to win this argument, am I" I ask and she laughs.

"Nope" she shakes her head and I nod.

"Okay. Then I guess you'll be staying out here. I have pillows and blankets and other things sitting around, you're welcome to use anything you would like. There's food in the fridge and towels in the hallway if you want to take a shower anytime soon. It's in my room but I don't mind if you go in there, I have nothing to hide. Farrah will be over later with some more things for you so you're more comfortable" I explain.

"Okay. Is there anything I can do for you to thank you? Or any rules I need to know" she wonders.

"Not really. There's nothing off limits and if you need anything just ask and I'll give it to you" I insist. And I meant anything.

"You don't have to worry about me taking things or asking you for anything. I can promise that it'll almost be like I'm not even here" she claims.

"I don't want that" I say and she smiles. She reaches for her head to run her fingers through her hair and notices the bandage was still there.

"I should probably get that off" she sighs.

"Let me help you" I say softly sitting her on the couch.

"You're defiantly helping me" she assures me.

I undo the sticky part of the end and undo the wrap that was around the top of her head. Eventually I get to the gauze that still had a little bit of blood on it, but nothing like it used to. You can see the staples holding her head together and it made my skin crawl.

"Is it bad" she asks softly.

"Not really. It isn't good, but not bad" I insist.

"Am I still pretty" she teases and I smile.

"Beautiful."

She looks up into my eyes as I let her head go. She runs her fingers through her hair so it covers the scar but I can still kind of see it.

"You're really sweet, Anthony" she says softly. "I don't know how I can ever repay you" she claims.

"Why don't you tell me about yourself. We should get to know each other so we're not strangers living together" I suggest and she nods.

"Okay, what do you want to know" she wonders.

"Everything" I admit and she giggles a little.

"Okay. I was born November 17th 1989 to my wonderful parents. I was an only child, my mom had a few miscarriages and finally decided to stop trying. She made sure I knew that I was a blessing to her and my dad every day she was with me. She did want more kids but was more than happy to be stuck with me for a while. My parents were my best friends for as long as I could remember.

But when I was in college my parents got in a car crash. I was at my dorm painting like I had almost every day since I was old enough to hold a paint brush. There was a knock on the door and the police took me into custody to go to the police station, once I got there they told me my parents were gone. I identified their bodies and they told me sorry before letting me go to figure out what to do by myself. I was just 19 years old, still a kid, and didn't have anyone else left besides the guy who worked at the police station that helped me through it. He just so happened to be the guy who put me in this incredibly difficult situation.

I had the same boyfriend at the time my parents passed, the same one I had up until a few days ago. He was the one who was with me through it all, since we were kids in high school. He was the only thing I had left to hold on to from my time with my parents. That's why I stayed so long. He wasn't always that bad at first, but he started to drinking and drinking reveals character, and I sure didn't like what I found. And I let him hurt me because he needed to release some anger. I wanted to feel the pain my parents left me in and he did a great job of showing it to me.

But through it all, I was able to express myself in art. A bunch of it is in a storage unit with the rest of my parents stuff. It's been almost 10 years since they passed but it still hurts, there's not a thing my boyfriend can do that would be more painful than losing my parents" she explains.

"I'm so sorry. You seem like such a sweet girl, I would have never guess this is what you've been going through" I admit.

"My mom always preaches kindness. No matter how rude life is to you, be kind to it. Every day is a blessing, no matter how hard it is. There's so many people who would kill to have one more bad day, but they can't. So I can sit here and complain but a bad life is sure as hell a lot better than no life at all. That's why I love art so much, I can capture these things that make life worth living, something that can last even after someone's gone. It's such a great feeling" she insists.

"You have such a beautiful soul. That's what makes what happened to you that much harder for me to accept" I admit.

"There's no pill harder to swallow than life's questions with no answers. That's why my mom always suggested chewing" she smirks and I laugh.

"You got a sense of humor in there huh" I tease.

"I know some things" she smiles.

After a while Jon and Farrah come over with the boys. Farrah puts some of her things in the spare while Clara played with the kiddos. I help Farrah put things away and she helps me design the room so it will be ready for Clara to sleep in here soon.

"Thank you so much for doing this" Farrah says as she puts the last of her clothes away.

"It's my pleasure" I insist.

"Do you mind if I bring the kids here when Clara baby sits? I really don't want her to be at our house when her ex decides to go looking for her again. I would never be able to live with myself if he found her there" she insists.

"Of course. I love you guys and the kids. You're more than welcome here" I assure her.

"God Anthony, you're a saint" she sighs.

"Is she... is she going to be okay" I question.

"Thanks to you she is" she insists and I smile. I smile so big that I can feel it in my cheeks. "Ohhhh do you like her" she whispers and I laugh.

"Yeah, I do" I admit.

"Give her some time, but I think you'll find she's just as good for you as you are for her" she claims.

"I don't doubt it."