Poisonous

“Let’s go,” Sophie told her two drunk friends with hesitation. If it had just been Ville she wouldn’t have minded so much. She expected it to be just him. With a sigh she les them out of the back and to her car.

“You know, I have a lambo,” Bam slurred.

“I know,” she replied curtly. Sophie unlocked the car and helped Ville in the front seat but let Bam throw himself into the back. After Ville was firmly secured, his head drooped to the side, eyes closed, and his breathing was quick and short. She looked back to Bam, who was lying across her back seat, staring at her with a blank face. It left her uneasy as she walked around to the driver’s side. As soon as she sat in the car, Bam sat up and leaned his head against the back of Ville's seat, still able to see her.

“I’m such a prick,” he slurred, as Sophie started the car. She said nothing as she buckled her seatbelt. Sh
e began driving down the road and Bam kept staring at her. “I don’t know why I am though iss like I can’t help it or somethin'…” Sophie glanced in the rearview mirror. Bam was laying his forehead against the seat, shielding his face. She knew a drunk man’s words were a sober man’s thoughts, but she didn’t want to listen to any of this. This apologetic, nicer side of Bam wasn’t sitting well with her and it made her uncomfortable.

“I want to leave Jenn,” he continued. “She’s fuckin' psycho. All she does is spend my money and cling to me and she doesn’t trust me. She makes me so angry and I take it out on you because you’re a female I guess, I just don’t know. I don’t know why I’m really such a dick-“

“Bam, just shut up. You’re drunk, I don’t want to hear it.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. Sophie took on a deep breath. She knew he never apologized about anything. Something like this was unheard of. “I know you hate me but-“

“Shut up! I know you’re only acting like this because you’re drunk and because the way I look right now appeases you. The second I go back to looking how I always do and you’re sober is the second you’re gonna start treating me like shit again. So I don’t want to hear it Bam. I don’t wanna hear that you’re sorry or whatever you’re trying to do. I just want to be treated like a fucking human being even though I don’t look the part of your perfect female. You are a joke you fucking prick because you didn’t give two fucking shits about me until you saw me wearing makeup tonight. So no, fuck you.”
Bam wasn’t able to say anything. He knew she was right. All he could do was shut up and lay back in the seat. Sophie pulled into the driveway of Bam's home and stopped at the front. She helped Ville out while Bam let himself into the house. After helping put Ville on a couch, Sophie left without saying anything. He watched her walk out and his heart broke for her. Only in his drunk thought was he able to understand his impact on her. This hadn’t sat right with him. Bam walked into the kitchen to look for a bottle of vodka, and upon finding it, took a deep drink straight from the bottle. After the third straight drink he stumbled to his room, and turned the light on. Jenn stirred, and looked to Bam with slited eyes.

“What the fuck?” she asked, “Bam, you’re so drunk, how did you get home?” Bam didn’t say anything, he just started undressing down to his boxers. Afterward, he slipped under the covers. “You forgot the fucking light asshole,” Jenn said, getting up to flip the switch. “I know you’re fucking drunk but for fucks sake use your fucking head! You come in here, wake me up and don’t even give a shit about waking me up!”

As soon aa Jenn laid back in bed, Bam wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. His lips found her neck while his other hand eventually found her breast. “You’re lucky I like you,” she said with a light moan.

“Shut the fuck up,” he growled. Unbeknownst to Jenn, Bam was thinking of Sophie the whole time.

Monday, June 14th, 2004

Sophie's phone rang, the light chirpy ringtone waking her up. She didn’t even look to see who it was,she just flipped open the phone. “Do you have any idea what fucking time it is?” she asked, fumbling around for a pack of cigarettes.

“It’s like three in the afternoon,” Sophie's younger sister, Nessie, answered with a laugh.

With a click of the lighter and a breath in, Sophie replied, “ Hey kid. What’s up?”

“You'll never guess who just called me.”

“No I won’t because I’m too tired so you might as well just tell me.”

“Bam!”

Sophie’s brows furrowed as she sat up, aiming for the bathroom. “Bam? What the fuck would that dickwad have to call you about?”

“He wanted to know how to impress you.”

Sophie tried to hold back a chuckle. “What would he want with that information?”

“I don’t know but it also came with ‘What things does she like' and ‘How do I get her to like me even though I’ve been a prick since we were kids'. I don’t know what he has planned but I think he’s into you.”

Sophie rolled her eyes as she began relieving herself. “What did you tell him?”

“I told him he needed to talk to you about it. Not me.”

“Good girl.”

Nessi laughed. “Thanks. So… why do you think he’s asking this stuff? Don’t you two hate each other?”

“Supposedly but the other night I guess he got some revelation or whatever. He was apologizing and he said my ass looked good and blah blah blah. But he was drunk so… whatever.”

Sophie flushed the toilet and walked to the kitchen, scratching her ass. “You know what Dad says, right?” Nessi asked.

“Yes but Bam… is Bam…”

“I know… he is complicated. But I just thought you should know. Who knows what he’s gonna do.”

“Thanks. I’ll talk to him about it. You’re right. I’ll find out what he’s up to.”

“Alright,” Nessi answered with a sigh. “I just thought you would want to know that he is being a creep.”

Sophie laughed and nodded while pushing bread into a toaster. “Yeah, I don’t know what is up with this sudden mood change. It’s a bit creepy though.”

Sophie found herself at Bam's front door a few hours later, regrettably. She was waiting after ringing the doorbell, wondering why she couldn’t have made a phone call. She didn’t change her appearance from normal, she wasn’t looking to impress. She wore rounded black sunglasses and a messy hairdo, still unbrushed from this morning. She had changed into some shorts and a black spaghetti strap tank top to help with the heat, however bit of makeup was found on her face other than the remnants from a couple nights ago, still stuck to her eyes. Bam opened the door and just stood there surprised.

“Uh… Hey?” he asked. The fact that he said something other than ‘What the fuck are you doing here' took Sophie by surprise.

“I got a call from my little sister this morning. You wanna explain why you talked to her?” Bam stood there in silence, something very unusual for the man. He was usually very confident and something as simple as liking a girl wasn’t usually his kryptonite. He was always smooth and he could always work his feelings out.

It was something about the realization to Bam that he was way deeper into Sophie than he thought possible that was turning him into a giggly teenage girl. And although he couldn’t help it he didn’t like it much. He turned to what he was used to, something that made sense.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” he all but shouted.

“Finally something that makes sense!” Sophie said, raising her voice. “Ness called me, saying you were asking questions about me.”

“You might want to tell her to stop making shit up.”

“Nessie doesn’t make shit up, even if it sounds as ridiculous as the questions you were asking her about me. She doesn’t do that kind of shit.”

Bam sighed and scratched the back of his head. “What do you want?”

Sophie crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one leg. “I want to know what is going on! You got drunk, said I had a nice ass, apologized and now you’re asking my sister stuff like ‘What things does Sophie like' and ‘How do I get her to like me?’ You’ve spent years hating me what is going on?”

Bam couldn’t say anything. He was frozen. He clasped his hands together in front of him and leaned against the door jam. He didn't know how to respond and for once he was at a loss for words.

“Do you have time to come in and talk?” he asked.