Read What Following Brings Online
Authors: S. E. Campbell
What Following Brings (7 page)
She frowned at him. So Yuri was cocky too.
“
I wasn
'
t planning on going anywhere,
”
she
said.
“
Yes, you were,
”
Yuri said, narrowing his eyes at her.
“
Now sit down at the table and I am going to explain the way things are going to
be
now
that
I
'
m here.
”
Eden
gazed
down at the counter with a wooden chair next to it. The idea of sitting down while Yuri loomed over her was frightening, but she backed up and sat on the chair anyway.
He
eyeballed her, as if the fact she was actually obeying his instructions meant she was up to no good.
As
he
glared at her, she stared back at him without blinking. Just as Yuri opened his mouth to speak, the sound of yelling carried down the corridor. Eden stood up and stared at the door. The person yelling was the same man who had visited her room in the dead of the night.
“
Don,
”
Eden said.
“
I
'
m out,
”
Don said.
“
Come out of your examination room and come get me, why don
'
t you?
”
Yuri glared at her as if this was her fault.
“
A friend of yours? I know what
'
s going on, and I
'
m not going anywhere.
”
Eden stared at him. It was a good thing Yuri knew what was going on, because she didn
'
t. Yuri began to pace in front of her, making her even more nervous than when she had been sitting down and he had loomed over her.
“
So you thought you could have one of your friends distract me and you
'
d be able to escape your fate, am I right?
”
Yuri asked.
“
Why
else would he be on this floor
n
ow
?
”
Her mouth dropped open.
“
I don
'
t know what you
'
re talking about. That man has nothing to do with me.
”
“
I thought someone working for God would be less
prone to
lying,
”
Yuri said.
“
I guess I was wrong.
A prisoner is a prisoner.
Come here
.
”
Yuri reached forward, seized her arm in a painfully
hard
grip, and suddenly everything spun away from her.
****
The next thing Eden knew, she was in a world of darkness going down a giant slide toward a
discus
of light at the end of it. If Eden hadn
'
t had this happen to her twice already, then she would have been alarmed. She was
going into Yuri
'
s world. As Eden sped ever faster toward the discus of light, she thought,
But why Yuri? Why is he one of my five?
When Eden recovered from her fall she stood in a locker room, staring forward with bleary eyes. Her conscious mingled with Yuri
'
s, and she was no longer herself. She was him.
Someone came up behind him and patted his shoulder,
knocking him
out of his stupor. The man was African American with a bald head and glistening brown eyes. He
was also
muscular.
“
Ken, you scared me,
”
Yuri said, frowning.
“
You should get home and get some rest,
”
Ken said.
“
Did you go home last night at all?
”
He shook his head.
“
No. I worked the graveyard shift at the bank last night.
”
“
So you work nights as a security guard, early mornings as a personal trainer, and evenings as a waiter?
”
Ken whistled.
“
I
'
ve been to your apartment, and it isn
'
t too great. What are you doing with all of the money you
'
re making?
”
Anxiety filled him.
Yuri
quickly slammed his locker door shut.
I
'
ve got to get out of here
now. I don
'
t want him
sniffing
around in my life. I don
'
t know what he
'
ll do if he finds out about my mom
'
s medical debts.
He ground his teeth.
“
I have got to go,
”
he said.
“
Okay,
”
Ken said, eyes wide with concerned.
“
Take care of yourself, man. Get some sleep and something to eat. You look like you need it.
”
Yuri nodded, turned, and walked out of the locker room.
He entered the parking lot.
As he walked toward his car, the world spun again. Pausing, he gripped his head, wondering what had just happened. He shook his head, recovered, and
kept walking to his
car. He
unlocked the door,
climbed inside
,
and sat down, staring straight ahead blankly for a moment.
I
'
m so tired. So, so tired.
He
put his key
in
the ignition, started the car,
pushed his foot to the
pedal
,
and began to drive. He
pulled
onto Main Street, took a left and then a right, and he came to an apartment complex
which
was rundown and tagged with gang insignia. A woman in a short dress smoked a cigarette outside of her car, and when Yuri pulled in, an appreciative grin crossed her face. Yuri opened the door and climbed out of his car.
“
Hey, Yuri, baby,
”
the woman said.
“
Hello, Daisy,
”
Yuri said, grimacing.
Yuri
whirled around
to head towa
rd the stairs but then Daisy grabbed him
and caught him mid-step. She dropped her cigarette on the ground.
“
What do you say to coming upstairs with me?
”
Daisy asked.
“
No,
”
Yuri said,
his voice firm
.
“
Like I
'
ve said a thousand times.
”
And to what feels like a thousand different women.
“
Suit yourself,
”
Daisy said, shrugging.
“
One of these days, though, you
'
ll be looking my way, and I
'
ll
give
you what you need. A man can
'
t stay celibate for forever.
”
Shrugging his shoulders, he
walked
tiredly into the apartment building and took the stairs. He climbed up them and made it to the
second
floor. He walked down the hallway and went to room 315
. After taking out his keys, he
unlocked the door. When he
went
inside, he
gazed
around.
The apartment was furnished with eclectic yard sale furniture like lawn chairs. There were stains on the floor and, somehow, on the
plain
white walls. When Yuri
turned
and went into the kitchen he spotted a cracked pan
,
still filled with dollar noodles
crusted over,
lying
on the stove
.
Swearing, he picked up the pot, dumped the cold food into the sink and then rinsed it out. He threw his keys on the counter and swore again.
“
Mom, where
are you?
”
Yuri asked.
“
I
'
m home
and making food. Do you want any?
”
He paused.
Where is she? Not again.
He
left the kitchen and began to walk down the hall. He glanced do
wn at the table and saw there were bottles of anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, and anti-anxiety pills on the kitchen counter. He picked them up and weighed them with his hands. Still full.
Panic filled him
“
Mom?
”
he said.
He
headed
to the
room at the end of the hallway
and
opened the door. W
hen he saw a near empty room with a television
showing
white static in the middle of it
, he muttered in anger
. Yuri stormed over to the mattress lying on the floor, the only piece of furniture in the room, and yanked at the stained blankets. After he threw all the blankets on the floor, he groaned and ran his hand through his hair.
I know where she is. If she hasn
'
t taken her pills, then she
'
s in the middle of a psychotic spell. She
'
s probably gone back to McKinley
'
s again.
He kicked the wall by the bed and left a dent. There were two other similar dents there.
She was doing so well in her rehab classes. I
'
ve been paying for what? For her to stop taking her pills and have her get sick again?
Anger bubbled beneath the su
rface.
“
If Dad was still alive, I don
'
t even want to know what he
'
d do,
”
Yuri muttered,
turned
, and
then
storm
ed
into the hall.
“
I
'
m not going to put up with this.
”
He re-entered the kitchen, grabbed his car keys, and then
walked out of the apartment
, slam
ming the door shut behind him. He locked up and sprinted down the hall as fast as his legs could carry him.
Maybe, if I go fast enough, I can drag
Mom
home and force feed her the pills. After that, I
'
ll call her doctor. That way, I won
'
t have to watch her start all over again.
As he ran, he thought,
This time, Dr. Ward might put her in St. Anne
'
s psychiatric hospital.
He shivered.
When he made it back to the parking lot, Daisy was still there, smoking
another cigarette.
She grinned at him when she saw him.
“
Off to chase that m
om of yours again, huh?
”
Daisy asked, as he rushed to his car.
“
Third time this month she
'
s done this. When are you going to face the music and learn that once a crazy person, always a crazy
person?
She
'
s just using the fact you love her as an excuse to take you for everything you have.
”
“
Shut up,
”
Yuri said, his heart filling with pain.
I know she
'
s crazy now, but she wasn
'
t always like that.
As he climbed into his car, Daisy said
before he shut the door
,
“
I thought you were going to go to college, Yuri. Now look what she
'
s done to you. She doesn
'
t love you.
”
But I love her,
he thought, frowning at his shaking hands.
After slamming the door shut, he stared blankly ahead for a moment.
He
started
the car, wheeled out of the parking lot,
and took to the road. As he drove, his head grew fuzzy again.
If I don
'
t get rest soon, I
'
m going to lose it. But I can
'
t let her down. I have to take care of her. Otherwise, she won
'
t have anyone. Maybe if Dad hadn
'
t died, it wouldn
'
t be like this. Maybe she wouldn
'
t have lost it andâ¦
With that thought in mind, he pulled by a broken
-
down house and stopped. There were many cars in the driveway.
A party at
Mom
'
s
boyfriend
'
s? Now? Oh, no, not when she
'
s like this.
Yuri
'
s
jaw
tightened
and he opened the door o
f his car and stepped outside, onto the grass. As he walked up the front steps, a group of regulars
lingered
by the front door
,
grinning
at him.
“
Back again, huh?
”
one of them said.
“
Your mama is inside, seeing black shadows on the couch.
”
Yuri groaned.
“
I was too late. How bad is it this time?
”
One of the other people sniggered. It was a girl with
blond
hair with a green stripe in the front.
“
Pretty bad. I have
heard
some strange things come out of your mom
'
s mouth, but nothing like this. Even Dougie doesn
'
t want to sleep with her. I think she
'
s talking about seeing your daddy tonight.
”
Yuri moved to head inside, his stomach sinking, when the
blonde girl
grabbed his arm.
“
Here,
”
she said, offering him a beer.
“
Normally, I don
'
t share my drinks, but it sure looks like you need one.
”
He
put
up his hands and shook his head.
“
Sorry. My head is foggy enough as it is with the lack of sleep. I don
'
t want to drink and drive.
”
“
Suit yourself,
”
she said, then she winked.
“
I offer other things besides drinks, you know? I wouldn
'
t mind slipping off with you for a quickie on the top floor. You
'
re pretty hot stuff.
”