【悬疑】Mirror（3）Abby
I hold Abby to my chest and play with her hair until she stops crying. This trick mom uses on my baby sister works like magic every time. Our heartbeat and breathing synchronize within minutes, and she soon drifts off.
I kiss her on the top of her head, and sniff. Because I can’t help it. Because she smells too good. No, I am not a creep. I just have a sweet tooth, and she smells sweet, like chocolate, candy, or the delicious cookies she makes. I want to...I wonder if she’d taste the same if I kiss her now.
Wow, now that sounds creepy. Wait, didn’t the prince kiss Sleeping Beauty in her sleep? Nobody calls him a pervert. Yeah, I should be okay.
Wait. No, Sleeping Beauty was only 16, an underaged minor. So that was either sexual assault or molestation.
Oh my gosh, I almost molested Abby!
Arghhh...
Why the hell do I even remember a Disney fairytale movie?
Okay, I need to get her to the bed before I lose my shit. Carefully, I scoop her up in my arms, push open the closet door with one foot, and walk over to her bed. I didn’t realize that all my muscles are aching from keeping in the same position until I drop her on to the mattress. she doesn’t even stir.
Tucking her in, I mentally give myself a pat on the shoulder for another job well done. To be honest, these past two weeks haven’t been easy. It’s like she’s trapped in a negative version of herself. She doesn’t mean to, I can tell from her exhaustion and misery. I just wish I can make them go away. Soon, I hope.
I allow myself one more glance on her peaceful face before leaving, when I notice a smudge of something brown at the corner of her mouth. Just as I lean in for a closer inspection, her damn phone rings at the foot of her bed, scaring the shit out of me. I turned it off without even checking who’s calling. Whoever wants to talk to her can wait.
Five seconds later, my ringtone blares from across the room, making me jump to my feet immediately and rush to the closet. On the hardwood floor lays my phone with Daniel’s name flashing for my attention. I grab it and hit the “accept” button like it was the big red “stop” button on a nuclear weapon.
“What’s up?” I answer in a hush as I shut the closet door.
“Hey, are you with Abby?” Daniel asks impatiently.
“Yup. Why?” I think for a second, “Did you just call her?”
“Yeah, she didn’t show up at the interview shooting at her parents’ bakery today. I called her, but she didn’t answer my call either.”
“That’s because she’s now dead to the world, you idiot.” He couldn’t have known that, but the close call really annoyed me.
“She’s still sleeping? It’s almost lunch time!” He barks on the other end of the line before letting out a knowing chuckle, “exactly how much ‘fun’ did you two have last night? Be gentle to my Snow White, man. She’s your girlfriend, not your sex slave. Now wake her up and tell her to get her pretty ass here ASAP. We can’t start without her.”
“Well, sorry but she’s not coming today. She’s not feeling well.” I should’ve corrected him about the “fun” part, but I don’t, because I am not sure if he’ll show me respect or pity had he known the number of times I backed off when Abby said “no”, or how many times we’ve actually done it.
Daniel grunts, “fine. But the submission is due in a week, so if she can’t come, you have to get your editing part done! Come pick up the hard drive at my studio, got it?”
A wise man (aka my dad) once told me, “a man has to say what he means, and does what he says.” Editing this experimental documentary was my idea of helping my best friend. Abby only volunteered to be the host as a favor for me. Although I seriously underestimated the amount of work involved, eating my words is just not my style. My shoulders slump in the full length mirror inside the closet. “Okay. I’ll be there in 30 minutes.”
As I disconnect the call and wriggle my way through the hangers and hooks sticking from all directions, something rustles under my feet. I look down expecting to see Puffy the evil cat, but find a pile of candy wrappers trailing to the farthest corner of the closet, where a huge plastic pumpkin bowl sits with some leftover Halloween treats.
Oh. No wonder she smells so sweet.
It seems odd though. Abby loves pastries and desserts for sure, and likes to make them even more, but she despises all factory-made candy bars and cookies. Why is she hiding here eating Halloween treats from months before?
Shaking my head in disbelief, I start picking up the wrappers printed with long gone expiration dates, until I discover a white envelope with a stash of hundred dollar bills at the bottom of the bowl. Inside the payment return envelope is an insanely high medical bill listing numerous hospital charges, a fresh reminder of our emergency room visit two weeks ago.
Oh. So this is her reason for stealing the money her parents gave her for tutoring class. They don’t have good health insurance, I can tell from the statement. Letting out an inaudible sigh, I fold the bill and slide it into my jeans pocket, leaving all the cash at the bottom of the candy bowl. She can be mad at me when she finds out, but fixing this problem for her outweighs any consequences.
30 minutes later, I arrive at Daniel’s house. His parents recently remodelled the in-law unit at the back of their built-in garage into a home film studio. A guy I don’t recognize answers the door. He eyes me up down from the half-open door before pointing inside with his chin like he owns the place.
I shoot him a dubious look. “Who are you?” I question with my arms crossed over my chest.
“J.” He replies.
Like that tells me anything.
“Jay who?” I try again.
“J, as in the letter J.” He elaborates as he opens the door a little wider. I can now see that he’s around my age, about the same height but stockier. Not to be judgy, but who still wears a baseball cap backwards like it looks cool?
“No. I mean, WHO ARE YOU exactly?” I press on, annunciating each word. He could’ve murdered Daniel and buried him in the yard for all I know.
“Oh.” He offers hesitantly, “I am Marcus’s brother.”
Now this makes more sense. I can actually see a vague resemblance in his features to Daniel’s latest boyfriend Marcus. Slightly more satisfied, I nod and follow him down the narrow hallway lined with posters of Daniel’s favorite movies.
The studio is dark as usual, illuminated only by a huge flat-screen TV. Daniel sits on a video game chair next to Marcus, furiously firing at the screen with a gun controller.
Now I am pissed. “I thought you said the submission was due next week. Aren’t you supposed to work on it or something?”
Sensing the spark in my voice, he lowers the controller and whines, “come on Chase. This is my first game since the shooting started. Now all there’s left is Abby’s interview and your editing.” He stretches his arm to fetch a 3.5 hard drive from a shelf and throws it to me. “Here, go make some magic!”
I catch the hard drive in the air and sink into the nearby couch. “All right, I’ll give you a break.” I gesture to Marcus for his gun controller, “my turn, man. Loser pays for pizza. By the way, what’s your brother doing here?”
Marcus passes the gun to me and rests his arm on Daniel’s shoulder. “He’s our new camera man.” Marcus introduces with a wave of his hand towards J, who nods at me in acknowledgement.
“And the proud owner of a Cannon VIXIA HF R500.” Daniel adds with a wide grin. “I am saving money for mine, but J’s camera does the job pretty well. You’ll see when you edit that baby.” He points to the hard drive proudly and asks, “when can Abby come finish her part?”
My finger on the trigger misses a beat at the sound of her name and I die in half a second. I curse underneath my breath and cut Daniel a dirty look as he blows away the invisible gun smoke in victory. “I told you she’s not feeling well. You’ll have to wait till she gets better.”
Daniel protests, “hey, what if she’s sick for weeks? It’s hard to stretch the film to meet the minimum length requirement without her part.”
I rub the back of my neck and wince as I find a sore spot. “I’ll see what I can do. She’s been acting funny these past two weeks and I don’t want to push her.”
Daniel’s ears perk up. “Like how?”
“She’d be crying all night for no reason or something stupid, like a stain on her shirt. Weird mood swings. Feels sad all the time. Forgets things a lot. Doesn’t want to get out of the house any more. She doesn’t even bake me cookies. Actually I just found her eating a whole bucket of Halloween candies in the closet. When Abby eats Snickers and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, that’s messed up.”
“Humm.” Daniel taps his fingers on his chin, his neatly trimmed brows knitted together as he ponders, “is it PMS?”
“Nope, it’s not.” I’ve already proven this theory wrong after checking her period tracker two days ago, but Daniel doesn’t have to know that.
“Wait, is she pregnant? Pregnancy hormones could do that to a girl.” He thinks for a moment and then, like a light bulb just goes off in his head, suddenly starts clapping excitedly, “hey, can I do a documentary on her abortion?”
“What the hell are you talking about? She’s not pregnant!” I snap.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I am fucking sure! Do you want me to show you her pregnancy test stick?”
“Okay okay, I believe you.” He raises his hands in surrender, “But you gotta admit, that’s award winning material. Wait, can you promise to let me film it if you knock her up someday?”
“Why are you so obsessed about killing my unborn child?” I run my fingers through my hair in frustration.
“Because I’ll never get to experience that in my life time.” Daniel sighs dramatically. “And why do you care? It’s not like you’d keep it.”
“How do you know I wouldn’t keep it?” I blurt out.
“Well, for starters, the kid may have her condition. And if you are willing to chance it, you’d have to marry Abby to raise this kid, which means you’d only get to fuck one person your whole life. And that’s just sad.” He shakes his head disapprovingly as he gauges my reaction.
My mouth goes dry at the realization that I’ve just entertained the idea of marrying my first girlfriend. It sounds wrong in so many levels, yet...shit! I don’t even know what to think at this point.
“My parents were each other’s first loves and they’ve been happily married for 25 years.” Marcus interjects with a shrug, “I don’t see why not.”
“Aww...that’s so sweet.” Daniel pats Marcus on the cheek tenderly before returning his attention to me. “Okay, I take it back. I wish you and Abby a lifetime of love and happiness and a dozen beautiful babies. So, can I film Abby’s childbirth instead?”
“Fuck off!” I push away his puppy dog face before I squeeze my eyes shut, the wheels in my head turning as I try to make sense of it all.
Something drops on my lap. My eyes snap open to see a bunch of colorful candies like I just wake up from the day after Halloween. I look up to see J peeling the wrapper on a hard candy before popping it in his mouth. “I think your girlfriend is just stressed. You said she loves sweet, right? Theses candies can help her relax.” He says with a mouthful.
I pick one up and frown as I read the label. “These are weed candies.” I cock my head in question, “dude, you want me to drug my girlfriend?”
“Well, if you don’t help her get the stress out of her head, sooner or later it would turn into depression.” He sticks his hands into his pockets and returns to his seat across from me. “Happened to my girlfriend.” I hear him say with a nonchalant shrug.
Depression. Why haven’t I thought about this before? The possibility makes me sweat even though the studio is situated in the coolest part of the house. I can’t think of any stress trigger other than the medical bill though. Anyhow, with their insurance and her stubonness, she’s not going to seek counseling. I stare at J, whose attention is now fixed on the still image on the TV screen. This creep’s suggestion is actually not half bad.
“Thanks. How much do I owe you?”
“I’ve got plenty. Just let me know if she likes it.”
“Okay.” I tear open a candy wrapper, before popping it into my mouth. My verdict? It can taste better.
【悬疑】 Mirror（5）Abby