Toxic holds out his 5th of whiskey as an olive branch but I don't take a sip. In a slurred speech he outlines all the ways in which I'm beautiful and apologizes for being such an asshole all the time.
I have two options- I can let him upstairs to my apartment where I at least know he's safe, or I can leave him on my doorstep, keys to his friend's car in hand with a high probability that he could hurt someone else. A cab has been ruled out as he refuses to go anywhere without me or the car.
Alright. My sympathy is draining but I'll take one for the team.
He staggers up my stairs using me as support. Three flights up, he attempts to slide down the banister in jest, only to fall. Drunkenly, he dangles over the railing laughing almost madly, while I use all my strength and the memory of my friend dying in a similar fashion to hoist him back over. His limp body hits the stairs, and both my neighbors below bang at their doors in protest.
I open the front door, quickly grabbing a blanket and pillow off my bed to bring it to the couch. He sways down the hallway to the kitchen to laugh in my roommates face. I am buzzed myself, but repulsed to a point of no comparison. I motion him to the living room, apologizing over the clatter of him knocking things over.
His eyes look right through me as I tell him to stay put. Once in sleep, I feel the weight shift on the other side of my bed. I ask him what he's doing and says he doesn't want to sleep alone.
Toxic promises he'll behave but I have to swat him off a few times before he finally falls asleep. I lay awake with the smell of vinegar, and the sound of his snore crackling over an otherwise quiet night.
When he wakes up, I am reading and slowly drinking my coffee. He rests his head on my shoulder, looks up at me sweetly and asks what he did last night.
I wanted to say, "Destroyed any compassion or assistance moving forward."
Instead I tell him that he has more people he should apologize to.
No comments:
Post a Comment