Close Your Eyes

If I had expected Eve to leave after finding out my name, I would have been dreadfully mistaken. Afterward, she asked my purpose for being there and I told her I was looking for Pepto Bismol. Her response was that she was going to help me find it, and as we are now strolling through the aisles I am still wonder how the hell she is able to help me if her eyes are closed. Finally, we entered an aisle and the horrid pink color came in sight. Disgusting, I’d have to swallow that shit… I thought as I continued sucking on the cherry lollipop to quell the urge to barf again from the excessive cheap beer.

“Did you find the Pepto?” Eve asked curiously from behind where I stood. I nodded before realizing that she couldn’t see.

“Yeah,” I mumbled, staring at the liquid version and the pill version. No matter what, I’d have to swallow something that was a grotesque pink. Joy.

She leaned on her right leg and played with her fingers. “Are you okay, Blake? Are you sick?” A snort came out my nose as I decided on the pill. With the Advil and Pepto Bismol in my hand, I headed toward the cash registers will Eve close at my heels.

“Does it matter?” I groaned, handing to medicine to a too happy cashier. When Eve didn’t answer, I groaned again and stated, “No, I’m not sick. Just a little hung over.” She appeared to be ruminating this as I handed the money to the cashier, who gave Eve a look of confusion. My mind contemplated how many times Eve must get looks like that, seeing as she must still be in school. She couldn’t be any older than sixteen. Her hand ruffled her blonde hair and a grin formed on her lips.

“You don’t sound like you’re old enough to be doing stuff like that,” she was still grinning but I could hear a different tone in her voice. A plastic bag was handed to me and I headed for the door without giving the woman another glance behind the counter. Eve’s light footsteps echoed behind me. Tap, tap, tap.

“I’m eighteen,” I grumbled. “I can do whatever I damn well please.” When I looked down at her, Eve was smiling. Why the hell was she smiling?! ‘Weirdo’ chanted in my mind as I glanced her way to see her calm face turned in my direction; so calm that one might suspect that she was sleep walking.

“Well,” she called jokingly. “At least now I don’t know you’re an ‘old shit’.” She made quotations in the air and my eyes narrowed. Had she actually being meditating whether of not I was an old man? Well… I thought, staring back at the sidewalk ahead.

I suppose if you can’t see, anything is possible.

~**~**~**~**~

When I reached my house, Eve was still following behind me. Neither of us were talking and once in awhile I’d begun to think that she wasn’t there anymore. However, every time I turned around, she was close on my tail with a calm smile on her face.

Somehow, I felt she knew everything about me even though she’s yet to see me. She could tell I was a drinker and smoker, she knew I lived in the garage, and she knew I was hung-over from last night. Yet, I realized I knew nothing about her but her name. There was no knowledge of her own life, why she kept her eyes closed, why she was just randomly lying in the front yard, nothing. She even knew how old I was and yet I knew not that! For all I knew, she could be way older than she looks, just a midget with a young face and attitude.

What the hell was I getting myself into? And how long would she keep following me?

“Where do you think you’re headed?” I interrogated coldly, sticking a finger in her face. Eve pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest; seeming to ponder this as if she didn’t already have an answer. And I knew she did. Damn Weirdo chick.

“Dunno yet,” she chirped. “Maybe I’ll go to the park, or go get an ice cream, maybe I’ll go lay on someone else’s yard per chance they’re a little nicer than my current friend.” A smug grin tugged at her lips and I scowled. She was joking of course, but it wasn’t what she said that made me annoyed. It was the fact she was stupid enough to consider me a friend, and yet I clearly don’t care for her presence. In sheer annoyance, I whipped a cigar out of my pocket, along with my Zippos lighter. If this wasn’t going to drive her away, I didn’t know what would.

“You mind?” But I didn’t wait for her response because I already lit it and took in a drag; allowing the smoke to burn my lungs before blowing it out in a stream near her face. Her calm countenance never faltered and that annoyed me even more. As a last resort, I snatched another cigarette from my back of Marlboro’s.

“You want one?” I asked, holding my own between my fingers and the new one in my other hand. She’d say no, there was no doubt. Of course, whether she said yes or no didn’t even matter really. It was more to prove something to myself, I guess. Of course, God wasn’t going to give me that pleasure.

“Okay!” The word she said, and the way she said it, caused me to freeze and drop the cancer stick. However, just as my hand let it go, Eve’s hand lashed out and caught it in her left hand.

This whole situation just got weirder.

“Well?” she asked, holding the white stick out to me blindly, waiting for me to light it. Maybe she was bluffing, I told myself, but at this point I knew I was making excuses. This girl – this weird, naïve, outgoing, intentionally blinded, and annoying girl – was beyond what I could comprehend. Whoever her parents are must have a difficult time taking care of her with all her complexities. And again, I’m being hypocritical.

I lit the white stick that was being held between her fingers and she instantly placed it to her lips and paused. When she removed it, she blew the smoke straight at my face and I couldn’t help my let out a string of coughs. With a smirk, she joked, “That’s for blowing it in my face!”

I covered my face with the back of my hand. However, it wasn’t only because of the smoke but for the sudden impulse to grin with her. If I were to do such a childish thing, I didn’t want anyone to see it. But then I realized who I was with; a girl who didn’t see. I could make a quick little smirk, or grin and she’d never know. My muscles relaxed and I felt the sides of my lip turn upward. It felt weird.

Suddenly, Eve burst out laughing. “You’re smiling!”

Holy Lord…

How is that even possible?!

“I am not!” I growled, burning her with my glares but she just continued to grin smugly. She took another drag of her cigarette before throwing it on the ground, stopping it out, and waving goodbye as she spun around; heading the way we’d just walked.

“Are too!” she called as she walked.

“I am not!” I shouted back. “Does it sound like I’m smiling?”

It was such a childish fight. And yet, for a millisecond, it was almost bearable to be a part of.