Into The Current

This is a short story by a friend of mine, Tianna Lee.  After submitting it to me for review and editing, I decided I enjoyed it so much, that I asked to debut it for you here.  I figure, this site isn’t just about the novel itself, but a celebration of writing in general, that has brought me to getting my first book together.  I’ve featured a couple little things before, and decided to go ahead and make this a regular habit.

So, I introduce to you “Into The Current,” by Tianna Lee.

I told him not to do it.  I told him to let her go.  I warned him that bad things would happen if he tried to keep her in his life, if he did not move on.  But he did not listen to me, and he paid for it.  Was I surprised?  No, everyone ended up the way he did—broken, trampled, in pieces, and dead to the world.  It had happened so many times, and I always tried to warn them.  But nobody ever listened to me.

* * * * *

The Tuesday morning sun blinded me as I woke from a dream that I can no longer recall.  A gentle breeze rustled my hair as I stared out the window, which I left open the night before.  Answering the loud meowing, I turned to my left expecting to see Nickels.  I found her paw instead.  She was playing with my hair, but I knew it was the wind the first time.

“Go, Nickels,” I grumbled.  Nickels swatted at my bangs in response.  I tried to roll over, get out of the bright morning shining in through my gaping window, but she prevented much movement on my part.  She swatted again.  Her tail tickled my shoulder as she swatted a third time.  My arms flew up and grabbed her, flipping her on her back as I rubbed her belly playfully.  It was nothing short of bliss as I sat in bed, still groggy but bent over her, laughing while she purred.

“Oh, Cam.  Finally awake, huh?” I spun around to find Joey leaning against the door.  His weight was grinding the doorknob into the wall again because of the lack of doorjambs in our apartment.  He had a habit of leaning on the door instead of the frames like most people would.  I always kind of liked the bronze scuff marks on my wall.

“Yeah,” I said, “sorry we can’t all be early birds like you.” I rolled my eyes at him.  His soft chuckle filled my room.  Nickels immediately jumped down from the bed, rushing to him and stretching out at his feet.  Nickels had always liked me, but she liked Joey more.  Everyone liked Joey more. 

Especially me.  They say that most people you know before college won’t be around for long, but it has been five years.  It was just how we were.  We were dependent on the other, making our lives as one.  At least, that was how I felt about him.  I built my life around him; I needed him like no one else did.

“So, how’s the weather?”  Joey asked.  He always asked questions that did not need answering.  He did not do it to be annoying; it was how he started conversations, and after five years, I learned how to do things his way.

I flipped my hair out of my face, turning dramatically toward the beautiful view out my window and back to him before saying, “Looks awful.” 

He smiled.  “I thought we could spend the day in town.”

I nodded.  He was smiling, but Joey always smiled.  He was having problems with his girlfriend.  I could see his pain beyond his stupid grin.  Not that he was trying to cover it up; he just liked smiling.

It took no time to get ready to leave; our life was simple like that.  I grabbed my denim jacket, Joey grabbed his wallet, and we headed to the door.  Nickels followed at our heels like she always did.  Joey ran a hand across her back as he grabbed his shoes.  She purred and rubbed against his leg.  Then, we left.

It would be the last time that Joey saw her, our cat that he loved so much.  Nickels always missed him when he was gone.

* * * * *

We ended up at a corner café, big enough that it always had at least a few customers in, but small enough to maintain its relaxed atmosphere. Joey liked to go there once in while. We’d been there a couple of times before, on days off and some weekends. He only ever took me to that café, though, and that’s what made it special.

It was always pretty quiet inside, no matter how many families or businessmen were seated, and it was easy to hear everything that anybody said.  But mostly, everyone kept to themselves.  There were some tables outside, but Joey preferred to stay indoors, even on nice days; he liked to watch the little TV they had in the kitchen that was always tuned in to the news channel.  I never liked TV much, except for what Joey watched.

We ordered something to drink and took a table in the back corner near the kitchen, the same as every other time.  I drank warm milk, rich and smooth and lightly sweet on its own; Joey had lemonade.  He was already staring at the small screen past the counter.  A police car and a group of people were shown crowding a ditch in front of a house the next county over, and the reporter said something about a young woman’s body being found earlier that morning, an apparent murder.  Shots of friends and family mourning her unfortunate end took up the newscast.  I shrugged it off.  Just one less demon for the world to deal with, if you ask me.

I looked back to Joey.  He removed the cheap plastic lid from his cup and took a sip.  “It’s kind of pointless, isn’t it? I don’t believe in angels because of things like that.”

“I used to think that I was an angel, and that’s why I was misunderstood.  Too much of a failure to belong to Heaven, too good to be human like the rest.  I thought that if I was here, I must have a purpose.  I must have the power to do something for other people, something to make the world a better place.”

“But what, then you realized that there’s no hope for the world? You saw how ugly of a place it is down here and gave up, huh?” Joey was looking in my direction, but not looking at me.  He always seemed to look through me, or stare off at the horizon, like he knew something that I kept passing over. 

“Something like that,” I replied.  He always knew how to end a conversation, even when he did not mean to.  But that was okay, because the silence usually held more than the words did anyway. 

We spent the day walking through the streets of the city and the local parks, things that brought peace to our lives.  We had grown up in that city, and it always held a special place in Joey’s heart.  But even when we traveled, he never seemed unhappy; it was just his nature.  He always had an air about him, as if he did not have a care in the world.  But I knew better.  Joey was in constant pain, for everyday, he had to watch the world sink deeper into the filth it was becoming.  But he kept on believing until the end.  He was the seeker of the last light on earth, but too late.  The souls of humanity had already grown dark, and there was no flame of virtue left for him to rejoice in.

That night, he found out that his last girlfriend had been no better.  She was just as deceptive, just as sinful as all the rest.  Joey was a romantic who never got angry.  To cry was his only release from the agony of repeated disappointment.  He slumped down his chair as he detailed her treachery, but I had not listened to his words.  I knew that story all too well, so it did not matter what exactly she had done.  The question was how soon he would stumble across another potential tyrant of his will who would further crush his purpose.

That was why he should never have trusted any of them.  Joey saw the world as a terrible place, and because of his philosophy, he would think he had finally found some good in the world.  He would always let them into his life, then he would come home like that one night.  Every time.  Yet every time, he would meet somebody new, and the cycle would eat him up again.  I was his release; as long as I was the only one in his life, he was free from those hideous chains.  I wish he would have realized that and saved himself from such undeserved anguish.

Tears fell down his flushed cheeks, leaving dark spots on his cotton tee.  I rested my hand gently on his trembling shoulder, unsure of what words could fill the emptiness that his hope had drained from his heart.  It is okay, Joey, I thought, I’ll end your pain.  He would not have to deal with the hate and betrayal of the rest of humanity anymore.

He drew in a quick breath and his body jerked backward against the chair.  His expression was blank for a moment, frozen between surprise and disorientation.  My knuckles were already hot from how tightly I gripped the knife in my hand. 

“I love you, Joey,” I cooed, caressing his cheek as I stared into his gold-tinted eyes.  “I love you more than anyone.  I only want the best for you.” I plunged the blade deeper, his blood leaking out onto my fingers.  His warmth, his passion, and his life: all I ever wanted flowed into my hands.  I wanted him to know that it was going to be all right; I wanted his final thoughts to be of the escaping of this pitiful world that had nothing left for him.  I leaned in close to him and whispered, “You can finally reach the heaven you deserve.”

His voice was as calm as it always was when he spoke his words.  “Silly Cam… The only heaven and hell is the one we’re living right now.” Joey smiled, closed his eyes, and let out a long sigh, choking on his final breaths.  “If only I could have been enough to make you understand…” he coughed, and his body went limp in my arms.

My world lay motionless at my feet.  I had done everything I could to better his life.  I even got rid of the scum that polluted it.  Now I had ended it by my own hands, but nobody could know.  They would not understand if they found us like that.  Joey and I had to go on one final trip together. 

I brought out the large suitcase that we purchased a few months back and folded him into it.  My jacket concealed the blood on my clothes well enough in the darkness.  I wheeled him to the door and slipped my sneakers on.  Nickels’ meow echoed in the room behind me; I figured it would be fitting for her to come along.  She would not get to see Joey anymore after our trip was over.  I opened the door to the car, but changed my mind.  Joey had always loved this town; it was only fitting to respect him by walking to his final resting-place. 

The three of us made our way to the bridge in the middle of town.  Nobody went out at five in the morning.  I had always found that strange because dawn is when the town looks the most beautiful.  I threw my legs over the railing and set Joey on top of it, next to me.  Nickels pawed at my leg, so I smiled at her.  I waited until the orange rays on the horizon lit the town with a patient glow, just like Joey.  Then, I clutched the suitcase to my chest.

And together we flew into the current below.