I Don't Want To Solve Your Problems, I Have My Own

For some reason, the blood boiled in my chest. I was tempted to bash this chick’s head against the wall, the way she walked in as if she owned Evgeni’s apartment. Her eyes, a cold, unwelcoming blue, took me in, and a smirk flickered across her face.

“Leave? I come to see friend. I not leave yet. I just come from Russia.” she said. Evgeni’s broken English was endearing, but I was tempted to shove a dictionary down her throat. She flipped a sheet of long, golden hair over her left shoulder, and eyed Evgeni up.

“Fania…you should go.” he sighed. Her mouth lurched open angrily, and I saw her hand tighten around the straps of her handbag.

“You tell me to leave when I come all this way?” she growled.

“I never invited you here.” Evgeni said. He seemed angry.

“You never return calls or emails.” she said quietly.

“Why would I?” he growled. I glanced at the two of them. They both had the look of wounded animals, like two wolves that were sizing each other up after a long fight.

“I not talk about this in front of her.” she snarled, jerking her head towards me. Evgeni suddenly took a step forward, and she almost shrunk as he towered over here.

“Get out.” he growled.

“What?” she asked in surprise. He snarled something in Russian, and she paled before scurrying from the apartment. I flinched as Evgeni slammed the door shut, and he began to go off in rapid fire Russian as he ran his hands through his hair.

“Are you okay?” I asked quietly. He nodded, and then shook his head, and then shrugged.

“She…I…long story.” he sighed. I placed a hand on his arm, and he flinched slightly.

“Sidney called and told me…you have a reason to be mad.” I said. Evgeni looked at me with disbelieving, saddened eyes.

“He not tell you whole story.” Evgeni muttered.

“He said you were going to propose, and that you found out she was just after your money so you broke up.” I said. He clenched his jaw and shook his head.

“Not whole story. Not close.” Evgeni muttered, beginning to pace back and forth.

“Do you want to tell me the whole story then?” I asked.

“No…I kind of need some alone time.” he croaked.

“Okay…” I said, feeling my heart sink. I gathered my stuff and walked out of the apartment quietly. Things had gone from great, to bad, to worse in a matter of days. As I reached the ground floor I felt a hand grab my arm. I spun around angrily and saw myself face to face with the girl who had shown up at Evgeni’s apartment…Fania I think her name was.

“You stay away from him.” she growled. I yanked my arm from her grasp and glared at her.

“Who do you think you are?” I asked angrily.

“He is too good for you.” she said coldly. I stared at her in disbelief for a moment.

“How do you know that? You don’t even know me!” I cried.

“I can tell just by your look. You are clumsy,” she pointed to my walking boot, “poor,” she said, glancing at my clothes, “and you have a lot of problems with life.” she finished, grabbing my arm and revealing the faint scars that remained there. I tore my arm out of her grasp and was about ready to punch her in the face. My heart thundered in my chest. How could she know all of that just by looking at me?! I turned on my heel and left quickly.

I paced back and forth for hours, and then I grabbed the phone and called Sidney.

“Hey man, what’s up?” Sidney asked.

“Come over. Please. Now.” I said quickly.

“Did something happen?” he asked as soon as he walked through the door. I had given him a spare key, so he tossed his keys onto the coffee table as he walked in.

“Yes. Fania showed up.” I said. Sidney’s eyes grew wide, and he lost what little color he had in his face.

“F…Fania? How the hell did she find you?” he gasped. I shrugged, and Sidney ran a hand through his hair.

“She knows I am still in Pittsburgh, not too hard.” I said.

“Geno…” Sidney started. I snapped and slammed my fist into the wall. I gritted my teeth as pain jolted up my arm, and Sidney placed a hand on my shoulder. I turned and looked at him helplessly, so he pulled me into a hug.

“Sid, I don’t know what to do. I was fine, then she comes back and I feel everything bad all over again.” I muttered. Sidney patted my shoulder and smiled sympathetically.

“Come on…we’ll get you a beer, and talk some.” he said. I nodded slowly and slipped my shoes on.

I stared at the text book sitting on my desk, and my head swam. The numbers and lines in front of me might as well have been in Japanese, because they made absolutely no sense to me. I groaned and reread the chapter for the fourth time that night. I felt tears well up in my eyes, and I slammed my hands against the desk in frustration. Things with Evgeni hadn’t gone well, and then that bitch threw off my flow, and now I had to figure out how to do this damn math homework before class in two days. I had gone to a tutor, but they didn’t make sense either. I ran my hands through my hair, and then checked my phone. It’s only 9:57…I’ve got time.

After a night out with Sidney, I felt much better. The next morning I called Ashley, but she didn’t answer. I frowned, but brushed it off, and decided to go for a run. After I returned I checked my phone again and there was no response from Ashley. Normally I would have let it go, but I felt sick to my stomach. Something just didn’t seem right. I glanced at Sidney, who had fallen asleep on my couch, and jabbed him in the side.

“Huh? Whuzzat?” he grunted, jolting awake.

“She never call back.” I said quietly. Sidney raised his eyebrows.

“Oh…well what time is it?” he asked. I checked.

“Twelve thirty.” I said.

“Maybe she’s a late sleeper?” he suggested. I shook my head.

“Not everyone sleep like you Sid.” I chuckled.

“Alright…well maybe she’s just a little shaken up by the whole Fania thing. I mean, it’s not every day you meet someone’s psychotic bitch ex girlfriend.” Sidney sighed. I frowned.

“That not help me much.” I said. In front of Sidney, I talked quickly. I didn’t care how broken my English was. It was different around other people. I thought before I spoke, making sure every sentence was as perfectly formed in my head as I could make it. Suddenly my phone started buzzing, and I answered it quickly.

“Hello?” I asked.

“You called?” Ashley asked. She sounded exhausted, and rather agitated. Oh crap, Sid was right! I’m going to look like an ass if I woke her up.

“Yeah…I was seeing how you are doing today.” I said.

“Horribly. I have a math exam tomorrow, and I’m nowhere near ready. If I fail this exam, I fail the class. If I fail the class I lose my scholarship. If I lose my scholarship…well, I’m stuck back at square one. Poor as dirt with no future in sight.” she sighed. I felt my eyes widen.

“You mean that math stuff that was on your desk?” I asked.

“Yeah…” she sighed.

“I can help you! I said I can help!” I cried happily.

“You can?” she asked skeptically.

“I’ll be over in twenty minutes.” I said before hanging up the phone quickly.