Personal Possessions (2 page)

There were kids over at
the table that was set up with juice and cookies for the parents,
but by the time they would get to them, they’d be gone. Suddenly my
eyes focused on the corner of the room; right next to the cubbies
that held the goldfish and the pet gerbil was, Elleny Barker.
Standing there in the prettiest red sundress she was whisperin’ to
my cousin, Rachel. Elleny’s dress was sleeveless, but there were
strings that tied up on her shoulders, the skirt hit her at the
knees and she was wearing block high-heeled sandals with pantyhose.
Her brown hair was pulled up in a high ponytail with a bow that
matched her tress tied at the top of it. When she smiled, her eyes
lit up as though they were made of diamonds. She was the most
beautiful girl I had ever seen. She looked like an
angel.

“
Rachel sho’ is lookin’
good this year aint she, Treva,
”
Bear said softly as he snuck up beside
me.

“
Ewwwhhh, that’s gross
Bear, that’s my cousin!” I said as I walked off to find my
desk.

Coming to a stop in front
of the desk that had a yellow school bus name tag with
‘Trevor McHale’
taped to
it, I closed my eyes for a moment and said a little prayer. I
wanted her beside me. Opening my eyes and looking in front of me I
searched her out... No Elleny in front. I looked behind me… again,
not her. I looked to my left and didn’t see anyone’s name on that
desk, so I looked to my right and there it was. In big black
letters, the name that I knew would change the rest of my
life.

I knew that she was the
one.

I heard his words, but
they weren’t sinking in. I wouldn’t allow them to. “Don’t talk to
my wife!” Bear yelled as he began stomping towards me.

“This is a fucking joke,
right?” My head went back and forth between Elle and Bear. “What
the fuck did I miss, because I’ve only been gone, what, two weeks?”
Everything was falling apart right in front of my eyes. Not only
that, but my whole world just crashed around me not even two hours
ago.

“Go home, Trevor.” She
whispered quietly. My head was pulsating. I could hear my heart
beating so loud, I couldn’t even hear her talking. I had to squint
to hear her tell me to leave.

“Fuck that! You married
him?” I kept thinking this was a huge goddamn practical joke. That
at any moment Rach, Lilly and Curt would pop up from behind the
bushes and start laughing. Turning back to look at Max and Mona,
they were just standing there, not saying a word. They had said
enough in the house when they showed me what had been sent to
them.

Staring at the two of them
I asked, “You knew about this, didn’t’cha?”

An evil laugh escaped my
lips, I was going to spontaneously combust I was so pissed. “You
let me sit inside your home, knowing she was coming home a married
lady? I told you, over, and over again that those pictures aren’t
what they look like. You couldn’t at least give me a heads up?”
Their eyes never left their feet. I looked back over at her, she
could see the pain in my eyes; a sorrow that I would experience
only one other time in my life.

Bear demanded “You heard
her, TJ. Go home!!”

Noticing she had to pass
me if she wanted to get to the house, she started moving slowly
towards me as Bear began to approach me from behind her. I wasn’t
fighting him, he’d already won. He took the prize, and there was
nothing for me to fight for left. I could see the tearstained lines
running down her face, she wouldn’t look at me long, but it was
long enough for me to see that she didn’t want any of
this.

As she went to pass me, I
ran my hand up her arm, whispering her name softly.

“Don’t you fucking touch
her, Cocksucker!”

Turning towards Bear’s
voice, I realized fast it was too late. He was already on top of me
knocking me to the ground. The pain from the first couple of
punches was excruciating, but after that, I just went numb. I could
taste the blood that filled my mouth instantaneously but I didn’t
even raise my hands to defend myself.

Her screaming pierced my
senses, as she begged Max and Mona to let her go as they attempted
to drag her off. Bear never let up. “That fucking ride was mine,
you piece of shit! Do you think a brother takes what belongs to
another brother? You ain’t no brother of mine!” Each word
punctuated with another blow to the head, so I had no choice but to
hear every word he had to say to me.

“Four fucking years at
UGA, that scholarship had my name on it, I worked for that! All you
did was ride my coat tails. I was supposed to get out of this
fucking town to be somethin’! You might’ve been big in high school
but you aint shit now... are ya? Gettin your ass whooped like the
pussy you are!”

I heard my nose crack from
where Skeeter Davis had broken it the first time in seventh grade.
Closing my eyes, I listened above the noise of cracking bones. “You
think cuz you got money, you’re owed somethin’, well I’m about to
prove to you… and to her that ya’ll aint shit!” I was just about to
close my eyes and pass out when I saw a blur of pink rush into Bear
and knock him off of me. Someone screamed her name. Who, I had no
idea. I needed to pass out.

1998

“Trevor, Trevor!” I felt
something lying on my face. I opened my eyes but couldn’t see, my
eyes were covered with something white and lacy.

“What the
hell?”

“Wake the fuck up, bro!
It’s graduation day!” the rich Boston accent called to me as I
slowly pulled the panties off my face, and threw them back on the
floor. “Holy shit, can your head just break off like glass? I
should’ve never done those shots last night,” I mumbled to
Greg.

“Yeah, and was that Mindy
or Megan that snuck out dis mornin while I was sittin' on the
shit’ah. Thanks for the heads up, buddy. Next time I go to take a
shit, I’d like ta make sure I shut the door so I don’t have a
female walk in on me.”

“Who knows… don’t really
give a shit what’er name is.” I replied as I turned back over,
exposing my naked ass from out of the sheets.

“Nice Trev… real nice.”
Greg laughed as he threw whatever-her-name’s panties back on top of
me. “I’m makin’ coffee, get up and get fuckin ready! I’ve waited
four years for this day; I’m enjoying it since next week we have to
be grownups and attend meetings that I lined up with those
investors.”

It was spring, but still
cold as hell in Massachusetts. I was graduating with honors from
the postgraduate program at Harvard. I had finally accomplished
what my piece of shit father only wished he had; an MBA from a
prestigious university.

Banging on the door echoed
throughout my head as I looked at my clock. “Jesus, Greg… it’s only
8:30!” I yelled gripping the pillow over my eyes. “Graduation isn’t
until four.” I didn’t catch a response from Greg, but I did hear
stomping on the wood floor as though a herd of elephants were
passing through our apartment.

“Oh, there they are.” I
heard as the stomping stopped, but it wasn’t Greg’s voice, it was a
female’s. Just as I pulled the pillow off my face, the panties were
snatched off my chest. There stood a petite blonde…the one from
last night. She couldn’t have been more than five-six without the
heels on. Maybe weighing in around ninety pounds soaking wet, her
blue eyes staring lasers into me. She was perfect and what made her
perfect was she was the total opposite of
her
.

“Hey Megan, you forget
something?” I asked in what I thought was a decent and halfway
caring voice.

“First off, it’s Mindy!”
she screeched letting out a huff, and asking for strength from a
higher power, as she contorted her body into what she thought was a
power stance. I thought it looked fucking painful. Bending down,
she threw her panties back on my face. “It’s not Megan and it sure
as shit ain’t Elle either!”

I sat up quicker than I
thought possible, even for a sober person let alone a still
half-drunk asshole like myself.

“What did you just say?” I
growled in a deep I’m-not-fucking-with-you-tone.

Her eyes came up to mine,
but she didn’t say a word. I put my feet on the floor sitting up as
straight as I could.

“I asked you,
what
did you say to me,
and where did you hear that name from?” Turning away from me to
scan outside of the bedroom, probably to either see if she could
make it to the front door, or if Greg was there just in case she
needed assistance.

Facing me again she
whispered “You called me it last night… when you had me…” she
looked back again, I had a feeling she was looking to see if Greg
was listening in this time. She leaned in closer, quietly saying
“…up against the wall… outside the bar?” I know the look on my face
had to make her feel like shit, I didn’t even remember her leaving
this morning not to mention last night’s fuckfest. “You mean to
tell me you don’t remember… any of last night?”

Her hand now came up on
her hip that was turned in a way that literally made me feel pain
in my own body. Raising my eyebrow, I looked at her shoes to see if
the heel was spiky. Just wanted to know what to expect when she
rapped me across the head with it.

Scooping my boxers off the
floor, I slipped them on while making my way to the bathroom.
“Look… Mindy…” I had to think of her name again. “…I’m sorry I
called you… that name, and I’m sorry about last night. I’m sure it
was good, but I’ve got shit to do today and right now… I’ve got to
go.” Stepping into the bathroom, I turned the knob to lock the
handle.

“Fine… be a dick! Don’t
bother callin' me next time you need another freckle
examined!”
She screamed through the door.
Flashes of last night replayed in my mind; a group of nurses
graduating yesterday, celebrating, buying round after round of
shots.

“Holy shit, is that the
line I used on you?” I busted out laughing. I could hear Greg
laughing his ass off in the kitchen, while banging pots and pans
together so that it sounded like he wasn’t paying attention to our
conversation.

“And you fell for that
shit, Megan?”

I closed my eyes and laid
my head against the back of the door, I knew when I said it I
fucked up. I heard and felt her kick the door, my headache had just
become an extreme migraine thanks to her. I could hear the squeak
of the knob as she attempted to twist it at the same time. If I
didn’t lock it, she would’ve come in and gone stalker all over my
ass.

“It’s Mindy!!” She
screeched.

I could hear her three
inch heals clicking on the floor, I know Mr. Flannery from
downstairs was going to be pissed with this little occurrence.
Finally, I heard the front door slam as she stormed out of the
apartment.

“Dayum cuz, that was
harsh,” Greg laughed from the kitchen. I opened the bathroom door
stark naked as I rubbed the goose egg that had now formed in the
middle of my forehead. I’m sure that was going to look fuckin’
awesome at graduation.

“
That right there is the
reason why I don’t do relationships!”

Chapter 2

2001

I didn’t sleep well last
night, I knew what today was. April twenty-first would always be
embedded in my mind, it was a day that I would never forget. There
were two days a year where I would make a phone call, today was one
of those days. Christmas, and her birthday.

I started this ritual the
year after we stopped talking. I couldn’t come to say her name, or
even talk to her, but I felt peace whenever I heard her voice. So,
at 7:43 every Christmas and birthday, I would dial her dad’s
number. I just sat there, she did the rest. She would never say
aloud it was me, but I could tell by her voice that she
knew.

I loved hearing about
every second of her life, which I was missing out on. From taking
her kids to school, to what she was cooking for dinner that night.
I would close my eyes and imagine that I was a part of that
routine, part of that life. What I wouldn’t give to have her tell
me that she couldn’t wait until I got home, so that I could sit
down with
my family,
and eat fucking meatloaf. It wasn’t even about the meatloaf,
it was about the family.

That was supposed to be my
family, not his. That bastard didn’t deserve what was waiting for
him at home.

Her dad, and stepmom were
well. In fact, she and Mona had been getting along now for a while.
Lilly and Rachel were in town, spending the day shopping and
gossiping about everyone they all knew.

Her beautiful melodic
laugh rang though the phone. I fucking missed hearing that sound. A
crystal clear memory came to me of her eyes coming to mine as I
said something funny, and her trying to hold back her laughter
because she said it sounded like a walrus. That was such bullshit,
her laughter brought me composure. Made me worth something in
someone’s eyes.

After hearing her go on
for minutes that to me, were always too short, her voice would
lower and the cheery, good-humored girl that I used to know better
than myself would be gone.

She would always end the
phone call the same way. She’d say she was ok, but that she missed
someone terribly, before including a “Thank you” to the stranger
that never said a word.