the life of a goldfish seemed like a matter of honor back then. After some brief deliberation, we decided that at the end of the day, all sewage pipes must lead out into the ocean; sooner or later Flippy would be home. Yes, we were wrong. Who hasn’t made mistakes? What can I do about it now?” It was done, and we dreaded Sabrina finding out.
Then Grandpa came to our rescue and said he had released the fish into the river because the fish tank had been to small a home for it. Sabrina believed Grandpa and, after a while, stopped mourning and scolding us. Poor Flippy was forgotten.
And as a thank you to grandpa, Eric and I had behaved like the most diligent and obedient kids in the world for two whole days.
“Hey!” I exclaimed as Sabrina gave me a hefty slap on the back of my head.
“God, why are you so furious?!”
Seemingly offended by my words and the “truth” she had heard, she turned away with a look of indignation on her beautiful face, a righteous woman in grief.
I parked the car in front of old Venters’ house, cursing silently and vividly imagining how I would be giving Eric a proper walloping.
“Jack, I won’t just let this go,” Sabrina persisted.
“And what will you do? Torture me?” I asked angrily, as this conversation was really getting on my nerves now.
“That’s an idea,” Sabrina squinted. “They say sticking sharpened bamboo sticks under the fingernails is a very painful process,” she hissed, getting out of the car and slamming the door shut.
I rolled my eyes and buried my nose in the steering wheel. What am I going to do about her? She won’t just let it go, that’s a fact. No use denying it. Pulling up by the house, I feverishly recalled all the mischiefs Eric and I had done in hopes of bringing Sabrina to tears. All that mischief went straight to her heart. Poor Flippy came to my mind again. Damn it, Eric. I’ll kill him and not regret it, damn it!
I got out of the car and trudged towards the entrance door, feeling Sabrina’s gaze burning a huge hole in my back a few feet behind. Slowly, trying my best to keep myself in check, I turned to her and waved my hand in a stopping gesture. She was not to go in.
“What’s up?” I noticed her looks have significantly improved since this morning.
Miracles do happen, don’t they?
“I just wanted to say this is my favorite coat, so maybe you’ll switch your anger for mercy and stop staring at me so intensely with your loving eyes? You’ll burn a hole in my coat.” I tried to be charming and even made a charming grimace.
“Maybe I’ll treat you to something inside? Coffee? Poison? Rope?” Sabrina murmured.
“I wouldn’t…”
“Eric’s in his room,” she snapped and pushed past me into the house.
“I guess I shouldn’t count on coffee then?”
“And were you?” Sabrina raised her eyebrows in surprise before disappearing behind the door leading to her bedroom.
Well, it seems Sabrina may have been won over. Now it’s time to deal with Eric.
Chapter 5
Compromise
I stopped by the door, proudly bearing an old road sign “Stop”. Behind it, loud snoring could be heard, occasionally interrupted by agonizing groans. Well, at least he got some sleep. I hesitantly grabbed the handle and took a step into the unknown…The room was dimly lit. I looked around and grimaced. The curtains were drawn, the windows securely locked, preventing any fresh air from entering the room. There was little evidence of the madness Eric had wrought the previous night. Apparently, Sabrina had made an effort to tidy up. I noticed there was a photograph missing on the desk, the one with old man Alex, Eric, and myself. On closer inspection I noticed that the computer monitor was half shattered, and there was practically nothing left of the keyboard.
Eric lay sprawled across the bed, arms spread wide, snoring loudly. His half-naked, long, thin body tossed from side to side intermittently. Now and again he would grab his head, occasionally interrupting the snoring with a prolonged groan.
The scene made me boil on the inside, and I was hoping he was having nightmares at the very least.
“Eric,” I called out. Silence followed. Eric rolled over to one side and sighed loudly. I cursed under my breath and tried again.
“Eric!” Again, silence. Well, at least he stopped snoring.
I counted to ten, then leaned over and pulled Eric’s hair.
“What the hell?” came a muffled voice somewhere from the depths of the pillow.
“Sabi, is that you?” Eric asked, not even attempting to lift his head.
“No, not Sabi,” I snapped and froze, waiting for some response. For a couple of minutes, Eric showed no signs of life at all and remained completely motionless, trying to understand who had disturbed his sleep.
“Who?” he mumbled in astonishment.
I couldn’t hold back any longer. The anger that I had carefully contained within me finally burst out. I could most hear the deafening tolling of bells inside my
head. A little more and I would have lunged at Eric with my fists, just to remind him of my existence.
“Damn it! Eric! You don’t even recognize my voice anymore?! Come on, get yourself up and try to remember my name!”
Eric stiffened and slowly lifted his head. There was so much astonishment in his large blue eyes that I involuntarily wondered if my friend was suffering from a split personality disorder. Although, most likely, it was just an effect of prolonged drinking. He sat up on the bed and rubbed his eyes. Clearly, he couldn’t remember who I was. And the sight Eric presented was hardly aesthetically pleasing: dark, thick, overgrown hair sticking out in different directions, a foggy gaze, a split lip, and, apparently, his nose had recently been quite badly bruised. “Goblin-like”
didn’t even begin to cover the shaggy monster standing before me.
“What are you doing here?” Eric whispered hoarsely.
“What am I doing here? You’re asking WHAT I’m doing here? I want to know why the hell you told your sister all that nonsense yesterday?!” I yelled, pacing back and forth.
“Oh…” was all the drunk youngster squeeze out and stared at me expectantly.
“Eric, I didn’t think you were such an idiot and… your lip is split!”
“Back off, Jack,” Eric mumbled and flopped back onto the bed. “But since you’re here, bring me some water.”
Instead of heading straight to the kitchen to help my friend with his hangover, I grabbed his hair again and turned his face towards me. Eric’s eyes showed confusion and bewilderment.
“Jack! Are you out of your mind? That hurts!,” he freed his hair from my grip and, fully back to his senses now, sat up on the bed.
“What do you want?”
