Nameless

Running

I stalk out of my house. My mother is screaming at me in French, Spanish, and bits of English as I go."Arinda Marie! Get your arse back in here!"She shrieks. A wine bottle shatters against the concrete by my car. Its contents splatter red on my piece of crap, junker of a ride that I got for two hundred bucks. Its faded blue and smells faintly of an old woman's perfume.

I get in and start the car. She screams again, running out and beating the hood with her fists."You whore! You disgusting piece of..."she hollers, spinning a web of colorful profanity. I pull out, leaving her screaming in the driveway. I drive around town for a bit, and then stop for a coffee at McChucks. Basically, its a rip-off from McDonalds. But, seeing as we like our sleepy town secluded...mostly...we try to keep the lawsuits away, if possible.

Because even a sleepy town has its secrets, its night owls. The teens mainly, but also the older ones, men being the usual suspects. The underground strip clubs in the church basements, pleasing their god with whores and strippers.

I drive to the local Pharmacy and buy flowers. Roses with baby's breath and some sort of tiny purple flower. My next trip is to the Dollar store. I purchase tiny metal army figurines. I get back in my car. I drive to a grave. It's miniature; not four feet in length. The fresh dirt has long darkened and grass has flourished on it. I kneel by the headstone, placing the toys on the ledge of the stone. Next, I remove the flowers from their plastic sheeting and unwind the rubber band. I remove the dead flowers from the vase thats mounted on his grave. Then the fresh flowers go in. I adjust one of the soldiers; pick up a toy horse from an earlier visit.

I stare at the grave, rereading the head stone I already memorized.

Here Lies Jason "Jace" Greg

February 14, 1998-December 29, 2008

"His Soul May Be Gone, But His Body And Memory Remain"

I go home, not wishing to, but having nowhere else to go. All of my friends moved away to go to college, so I can't crash at any of their places. I want to drive to Mississippi to my BFF's Merlyn's house, but that's three hours away and my crap car won't go that far. I walk in the house to see mommy dearest KO on the couch. Typical Mother.

I grab a coke and bag of salt and vinegar chips (yum).I tiptoe past the couch, then go in my room and lock the door. The place is trashed. My laptop's screen and keyboard were totally separated. It looked like she had taken an ax to my bed. The lamp was smashed, and my throw pillows ripped. I stood gaping at the wreckage for a minute, then cleared my thoughts. First thing I did was text Merlyn and tell her I was coming to her house. I pack my huge duffle bag with clothes, my down pillow, my IPod, my charger for my IPod and phone, and toiletries. I see my brother's old toy bear. I pause, deciding. It goes in the bag.

In my haste, I knock over a vile of colored sand. I froze as it shattered. I hear my mother wake with a shout. She swears. I hear her fumbling for my door handle. I open my window and shove my bag through as she manages to unlock the door. It  slams into the wall, making a loud bang that makes me flinch. That hesitation is all she needs.

She flies on me, beating every square inch on me. She lands a good blow to my head, making the room spin. I fall to the ground. I feel very drunk. I gasp as her foot finds my gut, as her hands pull my hair. At one point, I see her face. There is no mercy in her eyes. I pretend to pass out, because it's worked in the past. She buys it, and I hear her start her car, a white Caddie. She's probably going to a bar.

I stand up and the room makes an alarming shift. I sway, then vomit on my bed. I stagger to my window, and jump to the ground. But my knees can't stand the impact, so I find myself face-first on the cool, night grass. I manage to get my phone out of my jeans. I send a text to Merph.

Hey. My mom beat the hell out me, im coming soon.im not coming back.

At least, that's what I meant to send. I probably had tons of typos. I make it to the train stop, buy a ticket, and slump on the seat. By now, the spinning has stopped, but my head hurts like hell and I'm pretty sure I have an ugly bruise on my abdomen.

When the train pulls out, I realize I'm the only one. Good. I check my phone. Well, no wonder! It's almost midnight. Which makes me wonder how long I really spent under my window.

It's almost two in the morning when the train arrives. I blink myself into awareness when the whistle blows. I must have slept a little. My headache is less painful, but I really wished for some aspirin.I take my bag and hail a cab. I give him Merlyn's address and pull my hood over my face and lean on my hand, dozing off again.

I jolt awake when the cabbie slams on his breaks, swearing. A frightened dog runs across the road. I look around. I recognize some of the buildings from my last visit. I stretch my arms. My hand is numb from sleeping on it and my phone reads TWO MISSED CALLS. Its Mummy and she's screaming, wondering where I am. And I better get home soon and bring her lotto tickets and more cigarettes because she smoked her entire pack in a couple hours. I delete them.

The cab driver looks at me when we hit a red light."Hey kid, are you in any trouble? Like, legally?"

I give him a dirty look. I can see Merph's house from here.

I toss the fee over the seat and jog to her door. The bruise throbs painfully. I switch to walking. I nervously walk under her porch light. I raise my hand to knock, but before I even touch the door, it flies open to reveal a pretty girl with raven black hair and cinnamon colored skin. Next thing I knew, I couldn't breathe because she was hugging me so hard.

"Arin! Holy crap! Oh, my god, you scared me so bad, I almost called the cops on your mom! Holy crap, woman! I wa-is that blood?!"

I touched my hair. It came away sticky and red.

Crap.