Reflected Image - Short Story

          She stared at herself in the bathroom mirror chanting the words, “Just a little bit longer.” The mirror had a big crack in it, which distorted the face that stared back at her. She was grateful for that. The years hadn’t been good to her 27-year-old structure. Her eyes were blood shot red from lack of sleep and had big black circles beneath them. Her almond brown skin lacked the healthy beautiful glow, and her hair was a tangled mess. She combed her fingers through it in an attempt to make it look a little better. She smiled at herself and instantly closed her mouth again. The tooth was still gone. The front bottom one. Her smile used to be so beautiful especially after her mom spent over 4100 dollars for braces. She looked at her eyes through the cracks of the mirror. Who was that person that stared back at her?

          She turned from the mirror to her bedroom, slash living room, slash dining room, slash kitchen. The entire apartment complex had the same floor plan as her apartment because it used to be a motel complex. The brown shaggy carpet was filled with dirt, grime, cigarette ashes, and anything else that would cling to it. The walls were stained with dirt, old blood from her many nose bleeds, and cigarette smoke. Dirty clothes lay in the corner next to a lamp with a lampshade that had an inch of dust on it.

She scratched her head as she climbed into her hide-a-bed, covering only her legs with the blanket. She wore a man’s tank top and boxers. She had no plans to go anywhere so why dress up. She was 5’8” and weighed 117 pounds. She knew she was a little bit too skinny, but she couldn’t keep weight on her if she tried.

          “Just a little bit longer,” she stated again to herself as she rocked a little in the bed. She grabbed the remote sitting next to her and turned on the television. A static noise filled the room before the picture adjusted itself for view of the local news. She flipped through the channels before she deemed a show viewable and laid her back against the rest. It didn’t matter what was on television because she wasn’t paying attention. She turned to the ticking clock on the wall. 9:03 AM. She turned off the television and got out of the bed to head to the bathroom where she leaned against the porcelain bathroom sink and stared at herself in the mirror. “Just a little bit longer,” she repeated.

          This time it wasn’t quiet. This time she heard the ticking of the clock. Each second seemed to be as loud as the last. “STOP IT,” she yelled, but still the clock continued to tick. She grabbed a hammer that lay on top of the window ledge and with fury raced towards the clock on the wall. In one motion she knocked it from the nail on the wall and smashed the batteries out of it. There. It was silent and she was satisfied. She dropped the hammer a couple of inches from the broken clock and got back in the hide-a-bed. Once again she grabbed the remote and turned on the television. After a minute of not really paying attention to what was on the screen, she turned to the place on the wall where the clock used to hang and at that moment she realized what she had done. A smack echoed the room as both of her hands hit her face in a simultaneous motion. She scrambled out of the bed not caring where the blankets went, grabbing the batteries and placing them back in the damaged clock. She flipped it over waiting for the second hand to regain motion but it didn’t. She gave the clock a little shake and waited for movement but there was none. “Come on,” she pleaded as she shook the clock a little harder this time. “Come on, baby, work please.” She was losing her patience. “Work!” she said as she hurled the clock across the room shattering it against the wall. “Great!” she yelled and groaned.

          She got up in a huff as she made her way to the bathroom mirror. Anxiety began to grow along with her frustration with waiting. She was sick of waiting. “How am I going to know how much longer now?” She huffed and fussed at the mirror. She banged her fist against it causing a piece to fall into the sink. She grabbed the piece and left the bathroom, tossing the broken mirror piece on the table. She got in the bed, leaving the television on as she got under the covers and closed her eyes. Maybe when I wake up it’ll be better, she thought.

          She forced herself to keep her eyes closed. She wanted to go to sleep. She didn’t want to do anything else at this moment but sleep. Many thoughts ran through her head keeping her from finding the tranquility of sleep. Just a little bit longer. Just a little bit longer, she constantly repeated in her head. Finally she was successful. She was asleep. She was calm. She was peaceful.

          She felt a nudge on her shoulder but she remained asleep and then she was violently shaken awake. “Get yo butt up, you know you ain’t sleep,” said a man. She groaned a little before her eyes adjusted to the figure in front of her. “What took you so long?” she said.

“I had to wait just like you had to wait,” he said. “Here.”

          He handed her a rolled up dollar bill that was tightly wrapped by clear tape. Without a second thought she got out of bed and walked over to her patiently awaited reward. She bowed her head inhaling deeply as the white particles made their way up the makeshift shaft and into her nose. She tilted her head back feeling the burning sensation that she had been yearning for. When she looked back down she noticed that the white particles were sitting on the broken piece of glass. She looked at herself as much as possible and like the many times before, she wasn’t happy with what stared back. Oh God, please help me she prayed.

Sneek Peak: In the Presence of Karma

She walked into her home seeing Jami’s shoes on the shoe rack. A frown came across her face because if he was here, then that meant he wasn’t out looking for a job as he’d promised he would. She was getting sick of supporting him especially since he’s always promised to take care of her. On top of that, their lease was due in a month. She had no plans to renew it and if Jami didn’t get a job by then, when she moved, he would not move with her. She put her keys on the dining table in a huff ready to have the same conversation that she has been having with this grown man for over a year now.

He lost his job as a metro transit driver because they tried to have him drop a UA but he refuse to take it. He knew it was coming because he had been at the job for six months, and they told him that at your six-month evaluation, we will do a drug test. Therefore, for six months he knew that he was going to have to take the test, but for six month he smoked weed every day and every night. The day of the drop, he walked out. Karma was pissed. With him out of work, this meant that she would have to dig into her savings and pay his portion of everything. She was also mad because this put getting her car on hold and the car he had was unreliable.

She worked as hard as she could as a stylist and put in overtime helping some of the fashion editors and writers. When the executive fashion editor position became available, she applied, and worked even harder to prove she deserved it. Before she knew it, her boss called her into her office and offered her the position with a hefty raise to match. Because they were short staffed, she kept the stylist position on her title. Karma didn’t mind. She loved being able to go to all the fashion shows and help the designers. After a few months she was finally able to get her car.

As she walked towards the bedroom, she heard the television on and the shower running. She decided to put the fight on hold and maybe the two of them could go to the lake and walk around the trail or sit by the water. She was tired of arguing and it had been a while since the two of them hung out like they did before they moved in together.

When Karma opened the door to her room, a brunette haired woman was lying on her bed. Karma was confused. The woman was naked, lying on top of the covers, and her hair was a mess. Karma then became disgusted as she realized the truth. This same woman took her to work, grocery shopping, and anywhere else she needed, all at the request of Jami. This was the same woman that he’d been spending countless hours at her house fixing this or fixing that. This was the same woman. This was the other woman.

“What the hell are you doing in my house, in my bedroom, without any clothes on?” Karma yelled.
The brunette haired woman didn’t say anything as she covered herself in shame while looking around for her clothes. Karma made her way to the master bathroom sliding back the shower curtain where she found Jami cleaning off the sex.

“Whoa, hey Baby.” Jami said uneasy looking around Karma’s head into the bedroom for his lover.

“Yeah right. You’re caught. Get the hell out of my shower.” Karma said shutting off his water.

She walked back out into the bedroom where the brunette haired woman was standing near the door, biting her lower lip, and avoiding eye contact. She was shorter than Karma by more than a few inches and she was also wider. Her clothes were distorted from her throwing them on so quickly and she looked nervous.

Jami came out moments later with a towel wrapped around his waist. He stood an inch taller than Karma even with her 3½ inch heels on. His waist was a little wider than hers and his chest was hairless. The best thing about his body was his chiseled six-pack that stood out for all to see. His freshly cut fade made him as handsome as he was and his honey gold skin was marked with a few tattoos.

“So what do you have to say Leslie? Exactly how long have you been screwing my man? Actually, you know what, I don’t want to know. I’m not the type of person who cares for excuses, because no matter what the excuse is, you’re still wrong.”

“Damn, Karma, why you tripping? You forever jump to conclusions. I’m not doing her. I love you, you know that,” Jami said moving closer to Karma with his arms stretched out ready to give her a hug.

“That’s bull Jami.” Karma said pushing him with tremendous force that did not faze him.

“Oh you love her, huh? And you aren’t screwing me? But I’m pregnant with your baby,” Leslie said in her wannabe-black tone of voice.

“What did you say?” Karma said losing her breath in Leslie’s words.

“I’m pregnant with Jami’s baby. We’ve been messing around since January.”

Karma sat down on the edge of the bed feeling her legs become weak. Jami didn’t say anything while Leslie ran her mouth about all the details of what’s been going on between them. Karma didn’t hear any of it. She was still stuck on her being pregnant. She and Jami had been trying to get pregnant ever since she miscarried a couple months ago. Karma was hurt.

She started getting hot as blood rushed to her head and her ears began to ring. Her hands began shaking and out of nowhere, she threw a right punch to Jami’s jaw.