Thorsten took a deep breath as he walked the promenade of one of San Paro's many malls. The heat of the late afternoon and the dark rain-heavy clouds made the air muggy and dense, but to Thorsten it was full of a variety of tastes and smells he hadn't known he missed. Walking this much was hard for him; he'd lost his endurance in the six months he'd spent in the psychiatric facility. On the streets six months was a lifetime. People changed, some moved away, some were in jail and others died. Allegiances and relationships bloomed and died in six months, especially relationships. After six months in limbo, Thorsten's world was different.
Gravel crunched under his sneakers as he found his way down the service alley behind the mall. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. The heavy clouds gave the heat nowhere to escape and it enveloped the city like a heavy invisible shroud. His heart raced as he set his foot on the first rung of the steel ladder that would take him to the roof of the food court. The rails were slick with a drizzle so fine he hadn't noticed it. He hadn't seen Kathy in six months. She hadn't visited him when he was on the ward, but she had been at his arraignment. The look they shared at the judgment needed no words. He didn't want her to see him in a cage, and she would respect that no matter how it broke her heart.
Not a moment passed when he hadn't thought of her. He knew she would be here. She hadn't picked up his calls or returned his messages. Their mutual friends treated him like a stranger. They were tight-lipped when he asked about her, until one of the girls told him how many nights she spent on the mall roof, and that she might even be there now. Thorsten knew it wasn't an idle comment; it was a command of the heart.
He thought of her as he climbed the ladder. Everything they shared rushed back to him. In the rapidly shifting currents of San Paro's youth scene, he and Kathy were like a rock. They had been together for two years, and in that time they had only each other. There were no in-between lovers, no stormy breakups and reunions, no casual fun on the side. She was his girl, his lover, his soulmate, and he was her pillar of strength. On this roof, her feminine softness stilled the violence in his soul many summer nights as she rested warm and perfect in his arms.
His hand shook as he found footing on the roof and left the ladder. The thrumming of the heavy air conditioners drowned out even the constant din of the traffic. He walked through their concrete casements until he reached the service platform where the maintenance crews would set their equipment when they worked on the mall's giant illuminated marquee. The evening breeze had already kicked up, coming in from the sea. It caressed his skin, giving him respite from the day's heat, and made Kathy's long braids sway as she looked out over cityscape from her vantage above the marquee.
Kathy stood just as he remembered her, just as she always did when she waited for him, but this time she held her arms around herself as if the breeze had brought a chill. Her white lacy skirt ruffled in the wind and her black lacquered fingernails stood out against the pale skin of her shoulders where she held herself. The black lycra of her halter top clung to the slim curve of her body. Her patent leather spike heels made her look as if she were standing on her tiptoes as she looked out over the mall parking lot and the boulevard beyond, watching the tiny figures below rush about their business.
He watched her for a moment, every detail of his memory now before him in the flesh, the dream made real. Slowly she became aware of him, though he made no sound. She gave no sign of acknowledging his presence but for an imperceptible tilt of her face and a flicker of her eye. Slowly he went to her; as his hands found her hips she turned, at first refusing to meet his gaze. Her hands slid from her shoulders and she looked up at him through her bangs, her lip trembling.
He reached to hold her, but she stiffened and drew away. Shocked incomprehension robbed him of words.
“Is it true?” Her voice shook as she managed to get the words out. Distant thunder boomed in the heavy clouds.
Thorsten could only stare at her in confusion. He began to find his voice but she cut him off. Her hands balled into little fists.
“Is it true? Did you screw her?!?”
Thorsten gaped in disbelief. “Who... what are you talking about?! What the hell are you talking about?!” Again he reached for her, but she batted his hands away.
She stared a him for an incredulous moment as tears began to roll down her cheeks. “Chelsea!”, she screamed. “Chelsea!”
Again Thorsten's consciousness was subsumed in a flash of memory. The long walk after his release. An offer of a ride, the friendly catching up on old times. The new tattoos above Chelsea's satin corset. The black lipstick on her full pouty lips. Her hand squeezing his when she dropped him off at the old hangout and the long slow kiss she planted on his lips as she pressed herself against him outside the car. The mischievous glint in her eye as she waved to all the friends who had watched them arrive then got back in the car.
“Chelsea...! I never screwed her! She just gave me a ride! I never screwed that bitch!”
Lightning cracked in the heavy clouds and a cold sea rain began to fall.
“Oh, I'm sure she gave you a ride! That's why she's in Planned Parenthood getting cleaned out!”
Thorsten's brow furrowed. He'd only been out a week and he knew damn well it took longer than that for a girl to know she needed an abortion, he having been the cause of a few. Then it struck him: Kathy didn't know how long he'd been out.
“Kathy, look, I never screwed that bitch! She just gave me a ride-”
Kathy's eyeshadow ran in streaks with her tears and the rain. “Yeah, she just gave you a ride, that's all! And then what, huh?! Then what?! Everyone saw you!” She smacked Thorsten, then again. “Dammit, Thorsten... I love you! How could you! Damn you! Damn you!”
Kathy smacked him again and again. He tried to grab her wrists but she twisted away. As she did, the heel of her patent leather pump caught in a seam in the concrete. It snapped like a plastic chopstick, pitching her backward. She hung suspended in space for an indescribable terrifying moment. She thrust out her hands to Thorsten, her eyes pleading. Thorsten lunged for her, his fingers finding her slim wrists, but the rain had made her skin slick, and she slipped from his grasp. They shared a last look, her eyes wide with terror, before she fell. Thorsten could only watch with his arms outstretched as she tumbled through the air, her scream cut short by the pavement. He could only watch as shoppers gathered around her, and a teenager with a green mohawk and a skateboard took a picture with his phone.
Within moments, the small crowd was pointing up at him and a garishly painted enforcer interceptor screeched to a halt in the parking lot. A muscular enforcer with a mane of bleached hair jumped out of the car and yelled something unintelligible over his car's PA system. Thorsten didn't hear him. His awareness was entirely filled with the sight of Kathy's blood pooling around her lifeless body. The rain made it flow to the gutter as though it were stealing her away. At the edge of his senses thunder boomed again, and a chunk of concrete was torn loose by the heavy magnum bullet fired by the enforcer.
“Thorsten.” Kathy's voice whispered to him from behind the air conditioners.
“Kathy...?” Thorsten looked back to the concrete air conditioner casements but saw nothing. His glance returned to her body on the pavement below. The enforcer's gun boomed again.
“Thorsten!”
He heard her voice again, filled with an unmistakable urgency. In that moment he knew that she no longer lived in the broken body on the ground, that she was with him, she loved him, and she wanted him to live. He turned and ran for the ladder.
Gravel crunched under his sneakers as he found his way down the service alley behind the mall. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. The heavy clouds gave the heat nowhere to escape and it enveloped the city like a heavy invisible shroud. His heart raced as he set his foot on the first rung of the steel ladder that would take him to the roof of the food court. The rails were slick with a drizzle so fine he hadn't noticed it. He hadn't seen Kathy in six months. She hadn't visited him when he was on the ward, but she had been at his arraignment. The look they shared at the judgment needed no words. He didn't want her to see him in a cage, and she would respect that no matter how it broke her heart.
Not a moment passed when he hadn't thought of her. He knew she would be here. She hadn't picked up his calls or returned his messages. Their mutual friends treated him like a stranger. They were tight-lipped when he asked about her, until one of the girls told him how many nights she spent on the mall roof, and that she might even be there now. Thorsten knew it wasn't an idle comment; it was a command of the heart.
He thought of her as he climbed the ladder. Everything they shared rushed back to him. In the rapidly shifting currents of San Paro's youth scene, he and Kathy were like a rock. They had been together for two years, and in that time they had only each other. There were no in-between lovers, no stormy breakups and reunions, no casual fun on the side. She was his girl, his lover, his soulmate, and he was her pillar of strength. On this roof, her feminine softness stilled the violence in his soul many summer nights as she rested warm and perfect in his arms.
His hand shook as he found footing on the roof and left the ladder. The thrumming of the heavy air conditioners drowned out even the constant din of the traffic. He walked through their concrete casements until he reached the service platform where the maintenance crews would set their equipment when they worked on the mall's giant illuminated marquee. The evening breeze had already kicked up, coming in from the sea. It caressed his skin, giving him respite from the day's heat, and made Kathy's long braids sway as she looked out over cityscape from her vantage above the marquee.
Kathy stood just as he remembered her, just as she always did when she waited for him, but this time she held her arms around herself as if the breeze had brought a chill. Her white lacy skirt ruffled in the wind and her black lacquered fingernails stood out against the pale skin of her shoulders where she held herself. The black lycra of her halter top clung to the slim curve of her body. Her patent leather spike heels made her look as if she were standing on her tiptoes as she looked out over the mall parking lot and the boulevard beyond, watching the tiny figures below rush about their business.
He watched her for a moment, every detail of his memory now before him in the flesh, the dream made real. Slowly she became aware of him, though he made no sound. She gave no sign of acknowledging his presence but for an imperceptible tilt of her face and a flicker of her eye. Slowly he went to her; as his hands found her hips she turned, at first refusing to meet his gaze. Her hands slid from her shoulders and she looked up at him through her bangs, her lip trembling.
He reached to hold her, but she stiffened and drew away. Shocked incomprehension robbed him of words.
“Is it true?” Her voice shook as she managed to get the words out. Distant thunder boomed in the heavy clouds.
Thorsten could only stare at her in confusion. He began to find his voice but she cut him off. Her hands balled into little fists.
“Is it true? Did you screw her?!?”
Thorsten gaped in disbelief. “Who... what are you talking about?! What the hell are you talking about?!” Again he reached for her, but she batted his hands away.
She stared a him for an incredulous moment as tears began to roll down her cheeks. “Chelsea!”, she screamed. “Chelsea!”
Again Thorsten's consciousness was subsumed in a flash of memory. The long walk after his release. An offer of a ride, the friendly catching up on old times. The new tattoos above Chelsea's satin corset. The black lipstick on her full pouty lips. Her hand squeezing his when she dropped him off at the old hangout and the long slow kiss she planted on his lips as she pressed herself against him outside the car. The mischievous glint in her eye as she waved to all the friends who had watched them arrive then got back in the car.
“Chelsea...! I never screwed her! She just gave me a ride! I never screwed that bitch!”
Lightning cracked in the heavy clouds and a cold sea rain began to fall.
“Oh, I'm sure she gave you a ride! That's why she's in Planned Parenthood getting cleaned out!”
Thorsten's brow furrowed. He'd only been out a week and he knew damn well it took longer than that for a girl to know she needed an abortion, he having been the cause of a few. Then it struck him: Kathy didn't know how long he'd been out.
“Kathy, look, I never screwed that bitch! She just gave me a ride-”
Kathy's eyeshadow ran in streaks with her tears and the rain. “Yeah, she just gave you a ride, that's all! And then what, huh?! Then what?! Everyone saw you!” She smacked Thorsten, then again. “Dammit, Thorsten... I love you! How could you! Damn you! Damn you!”
Kathy smacked him again and again. He tried to grab her wrists but she twisted away. As she did, the heel of her patent leather pump caught in a seam in the concrete. It snapped like a plastic chopstick, pitching her backward. She hung suspended in space for an indescribable terrifying moment. She thrust out her hands to Thorsten, her eyes pleading. Thorsten lunged for her, his fingers finding her slim wrists, but the rain had made her skin slick, and she slipped from his grasp. They shared a last look, her eyes wide with terror, before she fell. Thorsten could only watch with his arms outstretched as she tumbled through the air, her scream cut short by the pavement. He could only watch as shoppers gathered around her, and a teenager with a green mohawk and a skateboard took a picture with his phone.
Within moments, the small crowd was pointing up at him and a garishly painted enforcer interceptor screeched to a halt in the parking lot. A muscular enforcer with a mane of bleached hair jumped out of the car and yelled something unintelligible over his car's PA system. Thorsten didn't hear him. His awareness was entirely filled with the sight of Kathy's blood pooling around her lifeless body. The rain made it flow to the gutter as though it were stealing her away. At the edge of his senses thunder boomed again, and a chunk of concrete was torn loose by the heavy magnum bullet fired by the enforcer.
“Thorsten.” Kathy's voice whispered to him from behind the air conditioners.
“Kathy...?” Thorsten looked back to the concrete air conditioner casements but saw nothing. His glance returned to her body on the pavement below. The enforcer's gun boomed again.
“Thorsten!”
He heard her voice again, filled with an unmistakable urgency. In that moment he knew that she no longer lived in the broken body on the ground, that she was with him, she loved him, and she wanted him to live. He turned and ran for the ladder.
