'That girl' just stood there, her body separate from her mind, her bones filled with concrete, her eyes filled with smoke and her lungs filled with the acrid remains of her entire life burning before her.
'That girl' just stood there, her mouth clamped tight and silent, her heart constricted as it screamed silently into her chest.
'Turn away!
Yes, that is what she should do, she would turn away. Any second now her head would turn.
Any second now.
"This is a dream." she heard her own voice but couldn't feel her lips move, swore she heard relief in the chuckle that followed. "Just a bad dream, pinch yourself, you'll wake up."
So that girl stood there in the middle of the street pinching herself, waiting to wake up, her eyes wide unblinking, her tears making streaks through the soot on her face.
That's when she heard it.
"Mimi!" over and over the voice yelled, getting louder and closer.
Mimi was 'that girl's' name and she recognized it.
Oh god, now it was shaking her!
"She's in shock!" it was a different voice
"Oh my God!" the first one cried. "HELP!"
"We need a doctor!" the 3rd voice screamed.
WAIT! She knew those voices, that was Luci and Lyndsy her closest friends, and Marz, Luci's fiancée. She scanned her memory to make sure.
Lyndsy was a 6-ft mahogany-skinned model who paid top dollar for the hottest couture; she imported her shoes from Italy and her hair from India, she had her fingernails manicured with diamond dust and was hands down the classiest woman Mimi knew.
Luci had vivid red hair she was constantly 'punking' out. She was full of humor mixed with a genius that only an airhead could achieve. Japanese street fashion was her life, the bolder the better. She had a heart of gold and was the first to console when trouble arose.
Marz was a tall brother with a deep chocolate tone and a head full of dreads he kept pulled back, he was a male version of Luci, quick to laugh, full of sarcasm but had a mischievous nature that at 26, he still couldn't shake. They had been through it all with her; had been loyal friends when her father died, then her immediate family when her mother passed. They were all she had left.
They watched her abruptly snap out of it, her eyes finally focused on them.
"Mimi!" Luci cried, hugging her.
Reality hit her like lightning; she turned to see Lyndsy and Marz staring at her. Than she looked up high and saw the massive fire. She looked back towards Lyndsy and asked "Can I stay with you tonight?" before she fainted.
Luci and Lyndsy stood over the bed looking down at Mimi. "It's been 3 days," Lyndsy said almost out of her mind with worry "It's shock, when you lose your family restaurant, your home and everything you've ever owned, you go into shock," Luci said, fresh tears starting in her eyes. "I don't care if it's shock, she hasn't woke up in 3 days! We're taking her to the emergency room!"
"If she isn't up by tonight we'll take her."
She laid there in that bed, her eyes closed but she couldn't sleep, her brain was working triple time, but she had no coherent thoughts. She was lost in a lucid dream she didn't want to leave. She had gone back to the beginning, the only 'once upon a time' that she could remember: the short-lived happiness of her family.
There had been two people who were desperately in love; one was a great man, a scholar, with an intelligence that went beyond his years. He had a passion for life and the all American dream of riches he worked hard to achieve. He had struggled through a life of poverty at a time when the world was not catering to his African American roots, so he used his knowledge and cunning to make himself a success. The second was the most wonderful mother in the world, a blonde-haired blue-eyed angel who spread dreams like pixie dust, wishing and dreaming, seeing the impossible and conquering it. She had been a modern-day muse with a penchant for cooking. No one could resist the incomparable aroma of one of her newest creations. It was love at first sight, marriage by second sight and baby by third. They struggled against racism; their own families did not approve of them.
Despite the odds, the family had lived a happy fulfilling life with their whirlwind, never dying romance and their perfect baby girl.
Until that unfortunate day.
The father had been killed in a serious car wreck. It was a devastating blow and the mother never recovered. She became a veritable recluse hiding deep in the kitchen of the restaurant she and her husband built together. She lived a lonely and pitiful existence for 5 long years until one day she went into her room and never came out. The doctor had said she had a heart attack but the daughter, only 18 at the time, knew that her heart had actually broken and had been slowly dying for years. It was at her funeral that she vowed to keep love out of her system and never fall victim to it. No matter how good it might feel, the consequences were horrendous, life altering and deadly. So at 22 she was a virgin who had never been in a relationship or experienced 'true love', but she was running and cooking for a thriving restaurant and called herself happy.
Well, she used to.
"You have to get up, please get up." she heard the voice crying from far away.
She didn't want to get up. Why? What was there to get up to? She had lost everything! The fire had swept through the entire building, everything was ash. She could feel the tears choking her, her chest tight and she found it difficult to breath, even her beloved 'Punjab', he was her mother's cat for God's sake. She sat up abruptly and took the deepest breath she had taken in a long time. The fresh air burned her clenched lungs.
'Don't think about it!' her mind cried, she had to be strong or she would sink, she knew. She had sunk low once before and she had never been the same, her parents deaths still plagued her. That was a horrible time and she would not allow herself to ever go there again in her life. She stood up on shaky legs, her heart racing; she put her right foot forward and leaned on it for stability. "If my foot works, than my hand works, my brain works." she stood as straight as she could, her chin up a little, "I will force my heart to work."
"1st things 1st, I need a job and a place to live." she said as she entered the living room. Lyndsy had dropped the cookie she was eating out of her perfectly manicured fingers, her half full mouth opened wide in shock. Mimi grinned, seeing cookie particles fall from her mouth to her expensive dress; normally she would have been pissed and worried about a stain. Luci ran into the room hearing her voice.
"Oh thank God!" she said going in for a hug but Mimi put her hands up to stop her, "No, I need to go look for a job," she said. All 3 girls knowing that she was holding on by a thread but fighting hard and Mimi knew that hug would be her undoing, she wasn't ready for that yet.
***
He was jaded; there was no question about it. He hated what he had become. He was sick of everything, every aspect of his fake life, the fake friends, the phony people, the girls that secretly hated him for being an arrogant asshole, but adored him because his name was in lights and being seen with him could further their careers. A man could only take so much, and he was past his point. He was leaving his life, his career, all the shallow relationships and artificial love. He was leaving tinsel town once and for all. Sure, he should be grateful, he was 28 and in the prime of his career, handsome as sin; his last film raked in 20 million. It was a ridiculous amount of money, he was almost ashamed now, with the poverty level so high, and people were fucking starving, while he dined on ultra expensive meals that tasted like shit. The world was going to hell, and he refused to be a part of it any longer. He took pocket money, credit card, bank card, grabbed a few important things he couldn't live with out and jumped into his Range Rover than hit the open street, never looking back. He was searching for something 'real', a true emotion or something genuine in his life, and he would just keep going until he found it.
***
She had applied for the cook position at a 'Mel's Bar-B-Q' and had gotten hired immediately for the waitress position. She didn't care, it was a job and right now she had a whole life to rebuild. She had actually been lucky on the apartment; she had literally stumbled across the 'for rent' sign on her way back from getting her job, stubbing her toe. The woman who owned it was there showing it to a couple who were not interested because of the rough exterior.
She actually liked it, its appeal was not instantly visible, but on second look, one could see the character and history the huge old house had. She wrote a check for the woman on the spot.
***
He had been driving for days and was having the time of his life. He was alone for the 1st time in along time, his mother used to say it was important to take time for yourself every now and than. He drove with the windows down; stereo blasting as loud as it would go, singing as loud as he could. He felt free; there was no pressure, no demands. He didn't even care when he dropped nacho cheese on his custom made imported Italian leather seats, a week ago he would have freaked out. How the hell had a vehicle become the most important thing in his life? He was sick of his own standards, his carefully scheduled routine, and his freakish neatness. He used to be messy once, along time ago. His mother always said a little dirt was necessary for a truly clean mind.
***
Despite Lyndsy and Luci begging her to wait another night, she went to stay at her new apartment. She had to get it over with. So she sat there, in her bare, wall-to-wall whitewashed apartment. The night sky cast a grey shadow over the vacant room. She wished she had her things, her mother's things from New Orleans. She leaned back against the living room wall, her mind racing with at least three million thoughts at once. She had a migraine by sunrise, but was happy to see the sun. It had been a horrible, sleepless night, one of the longest of her life, and she was thankful it was finally over.
When Luci got the call it was the perfect excuse to go see Mimi. They had agreed to give her a little space, since she swore she needed it, but they were her friends and knew what was best for her.
"The diner called they want you to come in tonight." Luci said as they were both scoping the place out.
"I think you need to take a little time off before you jump into this job," Lyndsy said.
