Their Tainted Fingers

hole in the wall

"Damn amnesia."

The "Behind the cupboard," note clawed on her brain. The headache formed from knitting her eyebrows infested her head, making it hard to think.

"Think, Rory. Think. Think. Think. Think. What was behind the cupboard."

Could she just let it go? No. Maybe? No. She couldn't let it go. Writing it on fluorescent yellow paper indicated that it was important. It had to be solved. "Come on, Rory. You solved many mysteries on your own. Come on." Waiting for the idea to pop into her head would just make her go crazy. She had to find what was behind the cupboard.

Crash!

She slammed the journal in her hand onto the floor with rage. Sweat made her t-shirt no longer fresh, and the splitting headache cracked her head open. Kicking things around the room, Rory couldn't make herself care what the neighbors would think. Was she crazy? Was she this person with an infuriating hot temper? Was she the person who can't accept herself the way she was?

Her foot crashed onto the wall behind the cupboard. The noise the wall made when it was kicked wasn't the same. It sounded hollow. Was it actually hollow? She kicked it once again. This time, the wall had a dent. It wasn't completely secure. The paint hid the bad repair job. She kicked it again. Was the wall's quality actually this bad? "It is an old school and a really old building." She reassured herself. She kicked the wall one last time.

"Splitting headache? Or hangover?"

Monroe stood at the door, the odd-colored cigarette still in her hand. She was dripping with yellow paint. On her bare feet, her overalls, her hands, her face, and her hair. Did Rory forget to close the door again? Sighing in frustration, she looked up from the dented wall. "Terrible headache. Hey, Monroe?"

"Yeah?"
"Is the wall in your room this fragile?"
"I'll give it a try."

She disappeared from the doorway for a few seconds. A loud bang sounded from next door, followed by the sound of plastic breaking in half.

"Yeah. It sure is." Monroe's voice echoed through the wall, "It is really fragile. Did the repairman ever do his job?"

Monroe appeared again at the door. Leaning on the door frame, smudges of yellow gouache were leftover. She didn't seem to care. Rory glanced at Monroe. Monroe's eyebrows went up once in a cocky manner, and her face nodded in a cocky manner as her lips formed a crooked smile.

"Kick it."
"I did. It didn't break open."
"I have a solution."
"Oh, thank god." Rory's mood lit up.
"It involves fire." Monroe held out a yellow lighter. Also stained with gouache.
"If you are trying to burn the building down, I quit."

Monroe was actually serious about burning down the building. She lit the lighter, stared at Rory and cocked her head to the left. Rory's eyes widened, "Are you insane? Don't even—."

"Rory Schafer! Are you rooted in the nature of quitting? From the twelve months I've known you, I have never seen you quit once. Why should you quit in kicking a wall?"
"It's considered breaking the rules. And in my defense, I am quitting because you're trying to burn down the building!"
"Whatever. Since when do you follow the rules."
"Since I was born?"
"Oh no, referring to all the years I've known you, you didn't follow a single rule."

Bang!

Rory's foot collided with the fragile wall once more. This time, a dented wall didn't look back at her. She was faced with an enormous black hole in the wall in front of her. Due to her rule-following attitude, her eyes widened, and her breath hitched.

"What did I do?"
"You didn't give up. And you broke the wall."
"You made me do it."
"Nuh-uh. I don't have telepathic powers. Or do I?" She scratched her chin.