Almost Easy

“It's almost Christmas,” Brian tells Marina with a smile as the two of them sit by one of the windows in the rec room, looking out at the sad little garden.

“Yeah, you're right,” Marina says, examining the way the flowers all died. They'll be back next year.

“Is your brother going to visit you?”

All Marina can do is shrug. Jimmy never visited when she was healthy and not in a mental hospital, so why would he come now? She'd hope it wouldn't be out of guilt, even though it more then likely would be because he pities her. As long as he doesn't treat her like that, she's good to go.

Marina wouldn't mind seeing Jimmy on Christmas-it just feels like it'd be unfair to him. He has friends to be with. Maybe his-their-parents wanted him to come by for dinner and exchange gifts. Marina wouldn't want him wasting his valuable time on her when Jimmy could have other priorities. It wouldn't hurt her one bit to be alone on another Christmas.

“I don't see why he would,” she says finally, “We haven't spent a Christmas together since we were both teenagers. I haven't spent it with anybody since I turned 18.” She confesses.

“Really? No one?” Brian asks, looking at her in disbelief.

“Yeah, I mean... I was adopted and all and... I guess I just didn't want to live that lie anymore, so I left it.” Marina shrugs, crossing her arms.

“My parents said they'd try to come visit me, but I promised them it wasn't worth it. Mainly because every time they come, mom starts bawling and my dad tries to make jokes that he thinks are funny to try and calm the room down. It's painful. Plus, my sister is still pretty young so she lives at home with them. I made my parents promise to never bring her here and she'd want to come on Christmas.” Brian tells her, picking at his jeans the whole time.

Marina processes the man's words carefully, taking in who he is. Brian's in here for a suicide attempt after being depressed for years. He didn't care what anyone else thought or how they'd feel when he had tried, he just wanted it to finally be over. Now he's here, in front of Marina, telling her he's worried about how this place makes his parents feel and how it will affect his younger sister. If that isn't change for the better, Marina doesn't know what is.

“Brian, if you don't mind me asking, when do you think they'll let you go?” Marina asks softly, still not looking at him.

“Oh, man,” Brian says, running a hand through his hair, “When they think I'm good enough to leave, I guess. It's been eight months, Marina. I've stopped wondering that. How about you?”

“I have nine more months to be cleared. After that time frame, the court system deems me mentally ill and I'm put in a facility for the rest of my life.”

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Papers are scattered all around the room, the only light coming from a dim lamp perched on top of a wooden desk. The pattern in which papers were stuck to the wall seems random and the messy handwriting that litters the sheets doesn't do it any good. Pictures are taped in between those papers, though-pictures that tell a story beyond what's been written. A whole life is mapped out right before your very eyes, from the top of the eight foot wall all the way to the bottom. It's told from what's seeming to be Marina's point of view, but there's still something missing.

Jimmy stands back, sweat rolling down his forehead as he looks at it. It's taken him three days (including his visit to Brian that actually really helped his progress) to re-tell his sister's story. He made sure to dot every i and cross every t as best as he could, but there were still chunks missing. Fairly large sections of Marina's adult life were missing due to the rudeness of her boss, and he had to just write 'FIELD' in big letters to protect the secret of what is Marina-but other then that, he laid out a timeline from when she was born to her and Brian becoming friends. This, of course, is being told from her point of view.

Instead of it saying 'Marina' or 'her', it's personal. Jimmy wrote everything using personal pronouns and referring to himself as 'Jimmy'. If he wanted to capture his sister, he had to leave himself out of it. Honestly, though, he probably would have done fine if he left himself in. Jimmy and Marina do think alike, after all. She just tends to be a little more sensical while Jimmy has more book smarts.

Looking over what he could find and conclude about her life so far, Jimmy now sees why Marina is always alone. Between her work and trying to cope with her own mind, she really has no time to make friends or have a love life. The Boss keeps her out all night at least five days a week while she spends the rest of her time relaxing in the garden. Jimmy also sees why that's so important to Marina now. It helps her feel normal.

Sure, Jimmy probably would have picked having a friend over the garden, but that's one thing him and his sister don't share. Marina's ability almost makes her anti-social in a sense and her plants are the only things she can handle caring for. If she had a boyfriend (or girlfriend, Jimmy isn't sure if she's a lesbian yet) she'd probably drive them to leaving by having to be so secretive. Jimmy has yet to meet a guy who is completely O.K. with his girl never telling him why she leaves in the middle of the night.

Stroking his fingers along the very last pictures, Jimmy can't help but wonder. He ripped a picture of Brian and him in half to match a picture of Marina that he also ripped himself out of. If Brian and Marina were to become a thing, would she tell him everything? Telling the other person seems like the only rational explanation, but Brian is so fragile. Jimmy wouldn't know what the hell he was going to do if his crazy sister hurt his depressed best friend. That's an outcome no one is ready for.

Looking at it now, Jimmy thinks he's made a mistake. He should have told Brian to stay as far away from his sister as he can. Marina has killed people before. Maybe most of it wasn't on purpose and none of it was for fun, but she's so burdened that Brian would have a mini panic attack just hearing it. This may sound cold, but Jimmy cares more for Brian's mental health then he does Marina's. That woman is just plain screwed, who knows if she could ever go back.

What would happen if Brian fell in love with Marina? She's beautiful, witty, a fire cracker-but she's also bad. Jimmy knows she never wanted to be bad, it's just something in her brain. Marina couldn't help that she started to manipulate people out of nowhere and because of it, she can do it without realizing. She's lived with it active for at least ten years now. There's no going back on that, either.