Color My World Short Story #2

Raze and I found ourselves wandering about the back sidewalks of the area we were in. It had been quite a few hours since I'd stormed out of the Charm household. There were a thousand and one text messages from family and friends by now, I was sure, but I still hadn't turned my phone back on yet. Partly because I didn't want to, but mostly because I'd forgotten about the device and everyone else. Raze and I were enjoying ourselves. We'd finished up several intense rounds of laser tag and were wasting time for half an hour in order to catch the next showing of the movie we wanted to see.

With there being a break in our conversation, I got myself swept up in my thoughts. So much so that I didn't realize Raze was not following my footsteps quite as closely as believed. She had actually stopped moving entirely, and I frowned while turning my head after hearing a loud, creaking squeak.

     "Really?" I questioned in disbelief.

     "Hey, it is absolutely crazy what people throw away. I was going through the dumpsters in this really posh area once. Someone had junked a brand new microwave because there was a slight bump on the metal edge on the back. I was able to sell it to some guy on the internet for a really good price."

     "And what are you hoping to find now?"

     "Not anything specific, that's for sure. Given the stores on this side of the road though, it's more than worth it to take a look." Raze replied back with a merry, impish grin in my direction.

Curious, but too grossed out to get overly close, I returned back to my companion as near as my nose would allow. Raze digging her hands into the bags of garbage, some of which were broken and oozed unidentifiable liquids, without hesitation instantly made me make a mental note to force her to wash her hands the second we got to the theater. There would be no sharing popcorn or candy otherwise.

     "Oh, maybe..." Raze trailed off excitedly.

Having apparently spotted something she thought interesting, she hoisted herself up on the edge and reached towards the back. A pipe clutched in her hand seconds later pulled out easily, yet the expression on Raze's face showed her it wasn't what she wanted.

     "Bah." she scoffed, tossing it back and shoving her hand in again.

It was that moment in which I was about to stop paying attention and shuffle towards the tree lined walkway behind us for a more fresh scented view when I was glad I took one more look back. The lid of the dumpster suddenly dropped from the cocked open position Raze placed it as she half jumped back down to the ground. Her head narrowly missed a bludgeoning slam from the heavy metal that cracked to its typical closed state with an echoing boom as I wrenched her back by her shoulders.

My heart rate increased more than desired at the barely avoided potential trip to the hospital. Raze, however, merely looked at the closed lid and me with a curious, unalarmed stare.

     "Thanks, buddy. You really are good to have around. You've got some fucking fast reflexes." she praised, patting me on the shoulder.

     "Perhaps...try to be a little more careful? I'd rather my reflexes not be necessary." I requested.

     "It's fun having a savior though." she joked with her usual smirking grin.

     "Being a savior is a stressful job." I teased back, as Raze was able to get me in that bantering mood with ease.

     "Well, I'll do what I can," Raze attempted to promise, "You already have things hard enough, you poor cinnamon roll."

     "Don't call me that?" I phrased uncertainly, confused myself if I actually cared whether or not she called me that.

Raze simply laughed and ruffled my hair.

     "That I can do."

She continued to laugh for a moment more, but seriousness found its way into her gaze in a moment I didn't expect.

     "I do still owe you a hell of a ton of karma points after you helped me out that evening. My mom's still so grateful she keeps bragging about you every chance she gets like you're her own son."
     "She's very kind," I said, rubbing the back of my neck in light embarrassment, "I'm glad it seems like you two are getting along better as well. When I first met you, it didn't look like there was much of a connection."
     "There really wasn't anything at all, at least on my part," Raze admitted without hesitation, "I didn't treat her the best, and it took that guy going after me for me to realize the dangerous kind of lifestyle I thought was so fascinating wasn't exactly what I imagined. My eyes were opened, and mom and I had a good long talk afterwards that opened my eyes further. She told me a lot of stuff I didn't know."
     "Yeah? Such as?" I prompted.
     "Most of it revolved around my dad and her relationship with him."

I nodded in interest. Raze had told me about her father way back when on that first night we met. She'd never met the guy, and that was because he'd been in jail her whole life.

     "One of the things I never doubted my mom on was how horrible of a person my dad was. Mom did reluctantly take me to meet him once after I begged and begged her back when I was a kid. The jerk had no desire to come out and see me. So I forgot about him in retaliation. I never prompted mom for more answers about the two of them, and she clearly had no intention to bring them up herself. All these years I operated under the assumption she accidentally got pregnant with me, they broke up, and dad got caught doing whatever he did was so bad."
     "But that wasn't the truth." I caught on instantly.

Raze nodded now, and her expression grew solemn in a way I hadn't ever really seen it.

     "There hadn't been a relationship between mom and dad. What mom admitted to me...dad was basically to her what that guy that one night was to me. She'd just been walking back to her apartment, and he followed her home from some bar after he caught her walking past the window. It was later at night, no one was around, he was strong, and she was weak. Mom, the ridiculous ray of sunshine she is, told me she eventually decided she didn't mind what happened. She was given me, and him hurting her allowed him to be caught. He was properly punished for all the crimes he'd been hiding from, and he's been unable to hurt anyone since."

I forgot about the scent of the dumpster next to us as I digested the heavy truth Raze placed before me. I felt like I should have expected there to be some unfortunate event like that given the signals I'd previously gotten from Raze and her family and what I knew about them, but I still found myself appropriately shocked and speechless.

     "Mom didn't tell me because she didn't want me to feel at fault for anything. She didn't want me to feel as if she might resent me no matter what or that I was unwanted or anything like that. She did also give me a super stern lecture though about my choice of activities and naivety that nothing bad would ever happen simply because nothing bad had ever happened yet," Raze continued, manipulating the mood like the expert she was by speaking brighter and giving me a genuine smile now, "I'm a troublesome kid by nature, that's not going to go away, but I have made a lot of changes. I've been trying, I do respect mom so much more, we actually do have a good relationship now, and she'd been so fucking happy about it that it's extremely adorable."
     "I'm glad," I grinned, "Well, I'm sorry that bad things happened, but I'm glad everything's working out in the end."
     "If you want to make things better, feel free to drop by more often. Mom is also super ecstatic that her attempt at getting me some normal friends has worked in a roundabout way. You're the good influence that's being successful."

Chuckling, I nodded a second time.

     "You're not so bad yourself now that I'm getting used to your style," I teased, "It's nice knowing someone who is seriously honest about like everything and says things exactly how they are."
     "Hey, well, if things continue to be shaky with your kinda-girlfriend, I might be interested for a while." Raze took the chance to joke.
     "Only for a while?" I questioned back in mock hurt.
     "Unfortunately, you're too safe to keep me coming back for long. Besides, I'm fickle as hell. What I'm into changes every couple months. Boys, girls, everything in between- it's amazing the opportunities and amazing friends to make people miss out on."
     "Everyone has their tastes," I shrugged, "And it does sound like I'm not overly compatible with yours, but I'll keep the interest in mind."

Raze beamed at the sarcastic smirk I sent her.

     "Sweet. Good that we got that squared away. Want to start walking back to the theater then?"
     "Sure, but only if you finish telling me that story your mother started about you and her at that amusement park she took you to when you were eight. That sounded like an adventure."
     "You want me to talk more about myself? No problem, friend. Let me tell you a grand tale."

A few more chuckles escaped my lips. Raze indeed dove into the story as if it was a great epic, and we walked along leaving the smelly dumpster, aches of old pains long in the past, and frustrations with hurts in the present far behind.