Materialize

Sun shine lined the black curtain that covered my window. I didn’t like sun much. It reminded me of warmth, warmth I hadn’t had since I was a small child. My mother’s warmth. I missed her. I grabbed the phone off the arm of my chair and dialed her number. I heard the ring four times. Five times. Six times. And then her sweet voice came to me. But not directly. No, through a voice mail message telling me that she’d call back later.

“Hey, Ma. It’s Eli. I guess you’re out, or something. Anyways, um call me. Okay? I love you. Tell dad I said hi.” I clicked the ‘Off’ button and sat the phone back down. I sighed, wondering what I should do. I pondered all the different things I could do. But not really wanting to do any of them.

A loud thump sound came from the ceiling, probably someone upstairs. And then a thud on my floor. I looked at the floor and saw a light bulb rolling toward me. Must’ve been loose. I watched the bulb float into the air as if someone had picked it up. And then I saw an arm.

“Ugh, Eli get out of that chair. No woman wants to date a boy who’s so lazy he sits in a chair his whole life.” Her voice was like one thousand knives piercing into me. I stood up out of the chair and walked to the kitchen.

“What women? You’re the only woman I’ve seen or talked to in three months. And boy? I’m a man, Sharona.” I reached for the vodka, pouring it into a glass. I mixed it with a bit of Pepsi and drank it in one gulp before mixing another.

“Don’t do that.” She rolled her eyes.

“Do what?”

“Drink yourself to death! Go outside and socialize with people. Real people.” Disgust danced within
her words.

“Go away you downer.” I waved her off as I walked into the living room and placed a CD into the stereo. I sat in my chair, with my bottle of Pepsi in one hand and Vodka in the other, listening to The Beatles and tuning out Sharona until she faded away and I fell asleep again.