In This Life (Sequel to 'In Another Life')

101

We got out of the car, and walked slowly to meet the older woman who had fed me so many different types of cookies, and even let me sleep off the highs with Amber. She was a saint. "Hi, Mrs. Gail," I said quietly, as we reached the landing of the porch. "Terra baby, you look so good," she said, pulling me in for a hug. She squeezed me tightly, and I held her just as tightly. I felt the tears spring to my eyes, and squeezed them shut. I hadn't realized how much I had missed her. When she pulled back, she had tear streaks on her wrinkled cheeks, and her eyes were glassy. She wiped her face, and put on a smile. "And who is this handsome young man?" I took Colby's hand in mine, and smiled at him. "This is Colby, my boyfriend." "Well, it looks like you've done well for yourself Terra. You look so healthy, and you've got this fine young man on your arm. I'm so proud of you baby," she said, her voice cracking a little. The guilt rose up in me, and I felt like I wanted to vomit again. "Thank you," I whispered, trying to hold back the tears. "Well, let's get you two in out of this heat. It's like a steam bath out here, whoo," she said, fanning her self. And she wasn't wrong. California got hot, no doubt, but there was nothing like that feeling of walking through a damn sweat cloud in Georgia, or as the natives liked to say, 'hotter than a hoochie coochie' in honor of the famous country singer Alan Jackson. We walked inside Mrs. Gail's home, and I almost wept with relief when I felt the AC. I know that I had only been outside for all of five minutes, but my shirt was already sticking to me from sweat. "You kids have a seat and I'll get us something to drink," she said, waving us towards the flower print couch in the living room. "Let me help," I said, started to follow her. "No, I won't hear of it. Sit down with your young man, and I'll be right back with a class of homemade sweet iced tea," she said in a tone that let me know there was no room for discussion. I sighed, and sat down next to Colby on the couch. "She's sweet," he said, glancing at me. I nodded. "She's a saint. It's like nothing has changed here. I haven't been to this home in over three years, but this living room is exactly the same." The white crocheted doilies that were sitting on the coffee table, still had the same candy dish and remote controls sitting on them. The varnished wood book shelf up against the back wall, was lined with books of different genres. They ranged anywhere from romance to thriller, with horror thrown in the mix. The woman had always loved her Stephen King books. It caught Colby's eye and he stood up to see what all she had. "Wow, she has an impressive collection. There's even a few poetry books up here," he said, picking one out and flipping through it. "That one was the one that Terra always chose to read when she came over. She would beg me for pencil and paper just so she could try and write her own," Mrs. Gail said, a fond smile on her face. I blushed, remembering when I use to try and write my own poetry. "Really now?" Colby said, grinning at me. "No," I replied. "It sucked. Just a passing phase. I do love to read it though." "Why didn't I know this about you?" he asked. I shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't really thought about it or read anything in a long time." The funeral home would be bringing Amber's body over in a couple of hours, and Mrs. Gail needed help moving some furniture out of the way in Amber's old room. When we walked in, a wave of nostalgia hit me so hard, I thought I might cry again. "It hasn't changed at all," I whispered, running my fingers over the white wooden desk that she had backed against the side wall. Her grandmother looked at me and smiled, while she picked up a crocheted blanket off the foot of the bed, and refolded it. "No, she didn't change anything about it, and I didn't have the heart too after she left. I guess now is a good time," her smiled faltered for a moment, when she picked up a framed photo from the top of Amber's dresser. "She was such a beautiful girl, so full of life. She just wasn't strong enough to deal with everything that life threw at her." She sighed and passed me the photo. "Here sweetie. I'm sure she would want you to have this. I'm going to put up what I'd like to keep, then you can have whatever you want. I guess the rest will go to the Salvation Army or something." I took the picture and looked at it, pressing my fingers to my lips. Colby looked over my shoulder. "You guys look happy," he said quietly. I nodded, and wiped a tear from my eye. "We were, at this time. We had both agreed to live a sober life. This was four days after we had helped each other detox. The entire world seemed like it was within our grasp." I stroked my finger over Amber's face in the picture, wondering what happened to this girl. But I knew the answer. The drugs reclaimed her, just as they did me. "Then we went to a party at JJ's and it didn't matter anymore." I cleared my throat and set the photo down on the desk. "Don't let me forget it Mrs. Gail," I said, pointing at the photo. "I won't sweetie. Okay, let's get a move on. They'll be here soon." So we worked hard, pushing and pulling pieces of furniture into other rooms, and basically emptying the room of all the furniture, including the bed. When the hearse pulled up, the funeral home brought in a few metal chairs, covered them with a midnight blue cloth, and lined them up against the back wall of the room.