Silent Spring
two.
“Jack, can you do me a favor?”
My fingers froze, poised over the keys as my eyes shot up to meet Eli’s. He looked blank, a grey beanie covering his hair minus a few dusty blond locks peaking out around his ears. He had just stretched his ears up another size that morning, the thin skin of his earlobe red and irritated from having to stretch out to accommodate his new plugs. He always told me he would stop once he could stick his thumb through his ear, which always made me cringe.
“Can you stop?” He finished, motioning down to the piece of thin tracing paper in front of him on the bar. I could hear the bar stool swivel under his weight as he propped his head up on his hand, his elbow on the granite countertop on top of the bar. “I’m trying to concentrate.”
“Oh….sure.” I looked down at the casio keyboard below me, my hands finally dropping to my sides once I realized what he was asking. Since we had moved from Fall River, Massachusetts to Boston, we had to drastically downgrade in size of apartments. While in Fall River, I could easily play piano all I wanted while Eli could just close the door and sketch in silence in our converted second bedroom/study. Now though, our apartment in Boston was basically one big room, with a rickety wooden staircase in the corner that allowed us to access our loft bedroom. One of the things we liked so much about the apartment was that from our ‘second story’ bedroom, we could look over the balcony and down into the living room and out the floor length windows on the far wall, giving us a view of the Boston skyline. Once we realized that this view meant that we technically only had 3 walls around our bedroom instead of 4, the view of the city didn’t look as amazing.
He just stared at me for a second before returning back to his drawings, his brow furrowing in concentration once again.
I knew I had immediately lost the battle, as always. I sighed as I got up from the couch, reminding myself that it’s not like I ever put up a fight anyways. Fernando meowed next to me, obviously displeased that I had shifted the balance of weight on the couch. Shrugging him off, I flipped the lock open on the window, and put one foot on the fire escape, my other on the couch.
“What are you doing now?” Eli sighed, dropping his pencil dramatically and rolling his eyes at me.
“I wanted to sit on the fire escape.” I responded meekly, my voice lacking any kind of conviction or power. It was always easier just letting Eli win.
Eli just stared at me, searching for something to say as his eyes seemed to contain all the frustration and annoyance in the world. “The sun is going to create a glare on the other windows if you leave it open.”
“I’ll close it once Fernando comes.” I explained, lifting my body out and onto the fire escape completely, my hand resting on the metal frame. “Is that alright?”
He didn’t respond, just let out an exasperated sigh and went back to his work, the pencil scratching softly against the delicate paper.
I just watched him draw for a second, his fingers gripping the pencil firmly as he dragged it across the paper, before turning and facing the Boston skyline. It was only 10 in the morning, so the sun was just reaching its apex in the sky, beating its warm rays on the exposed skin on my forearms and legs. While we were only on the second floor, our apartment building was on a steep hill, which granted us our spectacular views.
Fernando took his time joining me, which led Eli to give an overdramatic scoff as I closed the window, his drawing space unaffected by offensive glares once again, as if I never existed.
I sat down on the edge of the fire escape, Fernando instantly following. “It’s alright, Fernando,” I whispered, his body brushing up against my side, his deep purr rumbling from deep inside his chest. “Eli just has a short temper.” I let my legs dangle over the side, moving along with the wind nonchalantly. From below me, I could see the lady on the first floor watering her collection of house plants on her fire escape, completely oblivious to my presence. She could conveniently go through with her day, watering her plants, playing her classical music, living her life all with me watching her silently. Everyone could go through their days, be it the businessmen in the office buildings on the horizon or the little old ladies in the run down apartment buildings, and not be affected by me at all. Sometimes people are just meant to be small, inconspicuous, not creating a ripple in the lake. I was one of those kinds of people, sitting here on my fire escape, minding my own boring, mediocre business.
That was, until someone on the sidewalk to the left of me started yelling, hia obvious English accent laced within his amplified words.
“Excuse me? Excuse me? Hey, excuse-“ He yelled until I finally turned my head, my eyes fixing down at him. He was incredibly skinny, with long legs and arms, and a shaggy, wind tussled haircut. Most distinguishing though, was the ridiculous amount of tattoos he had all over his body, snaking all the way down his arms and onto his hands, and reaching back up under his shirt and spilling out onto his neck.
“Yeah?” I called back, Fernando staring lazily down at the stranger.
“You live on the second floor, right?” He pointed to the apartment building, as if I didn’t know what he was referring to.
“Yeah…” I responded, standing up and smoothing out my shirt. “Why?”
“Well,” the guy smiled, his pearly whites instantly reflecting in the sunlight. “I have an appointment there.”
My brow furrowed and I bit my bottom lip, trying to remember what exactly this random guy on the street could be referring to. “Oh!” I finally exclaimed, letting my lip go from between my teeth. “You’re getting a tattoo from Eli?”
He nodded, rocking back and forth on his heels as he stood in the middle of the sidewalk, looking up at me. “Do you think you can let me in?”
“Oh, yeah. Sure just ring the bell at the door.” I said, opening the window as my eyes stayed locked on him. “I’ll send you up.”
“Thanks, love.” He called back, giving me a slight nod of the head before walking towards the front door of the apartment building. As soon as I opened the window wide enough for me to step back into the loft, Eli looked up and sneered at me, throwing his pencil down on the counter.
“Some guy’s here to see you, Eli.” I whispered, half running across the apartment to the front door. Just as Eli was about to respond, the intercom rang, signaling the guy on the sidewalk had found his way successfully to the door.
My fingers froze, poised over the keys as my eyes shot up to meet Eli’s. He looked blank, a grey beanie covering his hair minus a few dusty blond locks peaking out around his ears. He had just stretched his ears up another size that morning, the thin skin of his earlobe red and irritated from having to stretch out to accommodate his new plugs. He always told me he would stop once he could stick his thumb through his ear, which always made me cringe.
“Can you stop?” He finished, motioning down to the piece of thin tracing paper in front of him on the bar. I could hear the bar stool swivel under his weight as he propped his head up on his hand, his elbow on the granite countertop on top of the bar. “I’m trying to concentrate.”
“Oh….sure.” I looked down at the casio keyboard below me, my hands finally dropping to my sides once I realized what he was asking. Since we had moved from Fall River, Massachusetts to Boston, we had to drastically downgrade in size of apartments. While in Fall River, I could easily play piano all I wanted while Eli could just close the door and sketch in silence in our converted second bedroom/study. Now though, our apartment in Boston was basically one big room, with a rickety wooden staircase in the corner that allowed us to access our loft bedroom. One of the things we liked so much about the apartment was that from our ‘second story’ bedroom, we could look over the balcony and down into the living room and out the floor length windows on the far wall, giving us a view of the Boston skyline. Once we realized that this view meant that we technically only had 3 walls around our bedroom instead of 4, the view of the city didn’t look as amazing.
He just stared at me for a second before returning back to his drawings, his brow furrowing in concentration once again.
I knew I had immediately lost the battle, as always. I sighed as I got up from the couch, reminding myself that it’s not like I ever put up a fight anyways. Fernando meowed next to me, obviously displeased that I had shifted the balance of weight on the couch. Shrugging him off, I flipped the lock open on the window, and put one foot on the fire escape, my other on the couch.
“What are you doing now?” Eli sighed, dropping his pencil dramatically and rolling his eyes at me.
“I wanted to sit on the fire escape.” I responded meekly, my voice lacking any kind of conviction or power. It was always easier just letting Eli win.
Eli just stared at me, searching for something to say as his eyes seemed to contain all the frustration and annoyance in the world. “The sun is going to create a glare on the other windows if you leave it open.”
“I’ll close it once Fernando comes.” I explained, lifting my body out and onto the fire escape completely, my hand resting on the metal frame. “Is that alright?”
He didn’t respond, just let out an exasperated sigh and went back to his work, the pencil scratching softly against the delicate paper.
I just watched him draw for a second, his fingers gripping the pencil firmly as he dragged it across the paper, before turning and facing the Boston skyline. It was only 10 in the morning, so the sun was just reaching its apex in the sky, beating its warm rays on the exposed skin on my forearms and legs. While we were only on the second floor, our apartment building was on a steep hill, which granted us our spectacular views.
Fernando took his time joining me, which led Eli to give an overdramatic scoff as I closed the window, his drawing space unaffected by offensive glares once again, as if I never existed.
I sat down on the edge of the fire escape, Fernando instantly following. “It’s alright, Fernando,” I whispered, his body brushing up against my side, his deep purr rumbling from deep inside his chest. “Eli just has a short temper.” I let my legs dangle over the side, moving along with the wind nonchalantly. From below me, I could see the lady on the first floor watering her collection of house plants on her fire escape, completely oblivious to my presence. She could conveniently go through with her day, watering her plants, playing her classical music, living her life all with me watching her silently. Everyone could go through their days, be it the businessmen in the office buildings on the horizon or the little old ladies in the run down apartment buildings, and not be affected by me at all. Sometimes people are just meant to be small, inconspicuous, not creating a ripple in the lake. I was one of those kinds of people, sitting here on my fire escape, minding my own boring, mediocre business.
That was, until someone on the sidewalk to the left of me started yelling, hia obvious English accent laced within his amplified words.
“Excuse me? Excuse me? Hey, excuse-“ He yelled until I finally turned my head, my eyes fixing down at him. He was incredibly skinny, with long legs and arms, and a shaggy, wind tussled haircut. Most distinguishing though, was the ridiculous amount of tattoos he had all over his body, snaking all the way down his arms and onto his hands, and reaching back up under his shirt and spilling out onto his neck.
“Yeah?” I called back, Fernando staring lazily down at the stranger.
“You live on the second floor, right?” He pointed to the apartment building, as if I didn’t know what he was referring to.
“Yeah…” I responded, standing up and smoothing out my shirt. “Why?”
“Well,” the guy smiled, his pearly whites instantly reflecting in the sunlight. “I have an appointment there.”
My brow furrowed and I bit my bottom lip, trying to remember what exactly this random guy on the street could be referring to. “Oh!” I finally exclaimed, letting my lip go from between my teeth. “You’re getting a tattoo from Eli?”
He nodded, rocking back and forth on his heels as he stood in the middle of the sidewalk, looking up at me. “Do you think you can let me in?”
“Oh, yeah. Sure just ring the bell at the door.” I said, opening the window as my eyes stayed locked on him. “I’ll send you up.”
“Thanks, love.” He called back, giving me a slight nod of the head before walking towards the front door of the apartment building. As soon as I opened the window wide enough for me to step back into the loft, Eli looked up and sneered at me, throwing his pencil down on the counter.
“Some guy’s here to see you, Eli.” I whispered, half running across the apartment to the front door. Just as Eli was about to respond, the intercom rang, signaling the guy on the sidewalk had found his way successfully to the door.
♠ ♠ ♠
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