One More Time Left to Say Your Goodbyes

I jolted up in bed when I heard Casey squealing. I looked towards the clock on the night stand, realizing that it was about ten in the morning. I slid out of the bed and grabbed some clothes before I went out to the living room. Charlie was being held down by Ronnie, his arms tight across her chest, a slight grin on both of their face. I shook my head in disgust. They were worse now than when we were fucking teenagers. They acted like this was some kind of fucking reunion and they needed to declare their love to one another once and for all just in case they never saw each other again.

I made an audible scoff and walked into the kitchen, grabbing my cigarettes off the counter. I jammed one in between my lips and walked outside, lighting it as the door slammed shut behind me. I wasn’t sure exactly what triggered the anger in me whenever I saw Ronnie and Charlie together, but fuck did it make me mad. I don’t even think that it was so much jealously. It was just the fact that I was the one who helped Charlie, I was the one that helped her get away from her abusive dad, and now it’s me she’s mad at? What, because I made a few derogatory comments towards her when I first saw her and because she knows I cheated on her best friend? I mean, fuck, everyone knows I cheat on Casey. Even Casey knows it, she’s just too weak to go find herself someone who might actually care about her.

I jumped slightly as I heard the door next to me open up. A guy about my age stepped out. He had short hair, cropped just to his jawline. Big gauges hung from his ears and he was wearing a pair of jeans and a Metallica t shirt, with no shoes. I gave him the dude nod and he returned it, then walked away. As I was about to finish up my cigarette, he came walking back up the walkway with a handful of mail. Just as I put the butt on the ground, he spoke to me in a low tone.

“You’re Max, right? Casey’s boyfriend?”

“Yeah?” I asked, “Why?”

“Is Charlie staying with you guys?”

Suddenly, I found myself getting a little defensive. Who the fuck was this guy and why was it any of his fucking business where Charlie was staying?

“Who are you?”

“I’m Alex, her boyfriend… Well ex boyfriend?”

“Oh,” I nodded, a mocking grin coming to my face. “You’re the guy that dumped her over text yesterday while we were all at lunch, huh?”

“How’d you know?”

“I figured something like that happened. She all looks down at her phone and gets this dumb ass look on her face like, ‘Oh my god, I hate my life’ and then she runs outside and Ronnie goes out there with her. Then she comes back and she’s all crying and shit. Just doing her best to get some attention, you know.”

He nodded at me just slightly. “Who’s Ronnie?”

“Oh.” I paused, “Charlie never told you about Ronnie?”

He looked at me skeptically, almost like he was ready to knock me across the face, but instead he replied, “No, should she have?”

I shrugged stupidly. “I don’t know.”

Suddenly, he got extremely angry and swung his fist against the wall, cracking the cheap siding. “Fucking bitch!”

I jumped back slightly and looked at the guy. He was breathing hard now, seething because he was so god damn angry. And then it dawned on me. This was that guy that had hit Charlie. The guy who’d landed his hands on her. I sighed loudly, realizing what I’d just done. How the fuck could I be such an idiot? I just wanted to fuck with this guy, maybe get him a little pissed off at Charlie, and now he wanted to beat the shit out of her.

“Listen, man.” I laughed nervously. “I’m just fucking with you. Ronnie’s just this guy we’ve all been friends with for years.”

“Well if that fucking cunt has known him for so long, how come she never said anything to me about him?” He snapped. “Probably ‘cause she was fucking around with him behind my back.”

I shook my head. “No, we were all friends in high school and then she moved. Ronnie and I haven’t talked to her for years. Nothing to worry about dude.”

“Always knew that bitch was fucking around. She fuck you too?” He asked.

“Nope.” I said, popping my mouth at the end of the word. Because that was true. We hadn’t.

“So, she’s living with you guys right now?” He asked after a few minutes.

“No.” I shook my head. “I think she’s renting a room in a hotel right now.”

“What hotel?”

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t fucking lie to me.”

I stepped backwards, grabbing the knob to Casey’s door. “Trust me, if I knew, I’d tell you. But I don’t. I gotta get back to my chic. See ya.”

I quickly turned the knob, making the smallest slit in the door possible and sliding through it, locking it after me. I looked around the living room to see Casey sitting next to Ronnie and Charlie who were still cuddled up on the couch. Casey was the only one that turned to look at me and I nodded my head towards the bedroom, trying to get her to follow me. Once she understood, she got up off the couch and came with me.

“What?” She asked, closing the door softly behind her.

“Hey, that guy Alex that Charlie was dating? You know, the one that you told me knocked her a few good ones?”

She nodded. “What about him?”

“Does he live next door?”

“Yes, Max. Why?”

“Because I was just talking to him and I didn’t realize it was that guy and so I was just being a dick and fucking around with him, talking about Ronnie and Charlie and he freaked the fuck out, Case.” I paused. “I told him that she was staying in some hotel but I don’t know which one.”

“What’s your point?”

“He was fucking pissed Case! Got all bat shit angry and hit the siding on the wall. If he sees Charlie and Ronnie together, he’s going to kick someone’s ass.”

She looked at me weird for a minute. “You don’t make any sense.”

“What the fuck do you mean I don’t make any sense?” I snapped at her. “Do you want me to explain it to you again?”

“No, I mean that makes sense. But the other day you weren’t getting along with Charlie because you said she was too quiet and that made her annoying. Then just yesterday you were bitching about how she was trying to get attention because she was upset about her and Alex breaking up. And like the first night both of you were here, I woke up to the two of you screaming at each other.” She paused, “And now you’re like trying to rescue her from Alex or something. Like you care about her, it’s fucking weird Max.”

I looked away from her and then looked back, placing my hands on her upper arms. “You know how I am, babe. It doesn’t matter to me how much someone annoys me, I wouldn’t want them to get hurt. Especially a girl that’s one of your best friends.”

She nodded. “Well what the hell are we supposed to do about it?”

“I don’t know. I mean, Ronnie can’t camp out here forever. Maybe they can go rent a place together.”

“Max, they hardly know each other.” She said.

“They’ve known each other forev—“ I stopped myself. “I meant they act like they’ve known each other forever. I don’t think they’d have a problem with it.”

“I don’t know, Max.”

“Well neither do I. I just thought I would let you know.” I kissed her forehead. “I’m gonna go take a shower, okay?”

“All right. I’m gonna go make some breakfast.”

“Okay.”

I watched as she walked out of the door and I sighed loudly as she closed it. I sat down on the edge of the bed and put my head in my hands. What the fuck was I thinking? It was so hard to not want to protect Charlie, I couldn’t just let her be hit by that guy again. And I know that Ronnie would protect her, mainly because he was hopelessly in love with her, he always had been and probably always will be. Ronnie would cut off his left nut with a pair of safety scissors if it meant that Charlie would be safe.

And it was so hard hiding all that shit from Casey. All that shit from when we were teenagers. I mean, sure I think about how me and Charlie used to make out all the time and that night she snuck out to meet me or the day that we made out on the roof of the hospital. But honestly, the more I think about it, I just think that it’s old news. I think that Charlie needed me because I was someone new. Yeah, she liked me slightly. But she was probably sexually frustrated. The only person she hung out with was Ronnie and she couldn’t get anywhere with him because she was afraid she’d lose him as a friend, so when I came along she didn’t hesitate.

Back then, I guess I cared about Charlie a little more than the next girl. But now, she didn’t really mean shit to me. She was just another girl that was hanging around with Ronnie and me. Like I said, it was Ronnie that was so infatuated with her. I don’t get attached easily. I didn’t then and I still don’t. I have enough trouble keeping Casey happy, there’s no way in fuck I am going to attempt to keep Charlie happy again. She has way too many emotional struggles and insecurities to be dealt with by me. I don’t have the patience for that shit.

Best to leave it to Ronnie, someone who will put up with her whiny shit and actually deal with her properly.