How To Write A Short Story
Author: Eric Moffat
MAIN BODY — THIRD SECTION
Rob parked and exited the car, patting his pockets and pulled out a cigarette. But it wasn’t one that lit up, and as he inhaled, I wished that I hadn’t been so foolhardy as to give up that feeling of smoking. There wasn’t quite anything like taking that first drag after a long day.
“Hey,” he said, smiling a little. “Sorry I’m late.”
“You are?” I asked, leaning back against my car. “Well, no matter.” He tried to smile back, but there were deeper bags under his eyes, and the unmistakable stench of old clothes hung off of him. He wasn’t doing very well; something was different.
“You okay?” I asked, leading the way up into the building.
“…No,” he muttered, shaking his head. “My brother, he… he recently just had a huge mental breakdown. Completely lost his shit.”
“Oh, geez, I’m sorry.”
“It’s cool.” He yawned, shaking his head some more. All I could think was that he could use a nap, and not somebody to talk to about his feelings right then. “I’ve just been working double-time to pay for everything.”
“I can tell,” I said gently, leading him to the elevator. “You look ready to keel over.”
“It’s… it’s my girlfriend,” he said, smiling. “She just lost her job, and between that and my brother going psycho, I just haven’t had time to, ya know, process anything. It’s double shifts every day now, just to keep a roof over our heads.”
“Why not move back in with your parents?”
“My Dad lives out East somewhere—we’re not really that close—but my Mom’s offered. I just… self-sufficient, you know.”
“There’s no shame in asking for help.” The doors dinged open and we stepped inside. “It’s why we’re here, isn’t it?”
“Well, yeah… except, I work here.”
“Since when?”
“Since… ever.” He smiled again, yawned, shook his head. “Nothing too amazing, but somebody needs to clean the toilets.”
“I thought you were an aspiring author?”
“No time, these days. I barely sleep as it is.”
“You keep going like this, and you’ll drop dead at twenty-five.”
“Good; that means I’ve only two more days to go.”
This wasn’t good—he wasn’t exactly a friend, but there was definitely something wrong about all of this. When we had met four months ago, he had been wound up, excitable, and very eager to meet me. Now, with a hand on his back, I was pretty sure I could push him off a ledge and he’d fall happily to his death.
I decided that I was going to help him, but the first thing I needed to see was if he was willing to listen to somebody else. Doctor Rhodes wasn’t in today, but Tina was, and Tina always helped me get back into the swing of things quickly enough.
“Oh, Mister Blanche,” said Paula, the receptionist. “Is everything okay?”
“I need to see Tina, right away.”
“Y-Yes, sir. One second.”
“Who’s Tina?” Rob asked. That was a very bad sign—he couldn’t even recognize his boss’ name. I kept a firm hold of his shirt from behind as we stood there, waiting for Tina to arrive. When she saw us together, she didn’t even ask and waved us in.
Normally, I would’ve enjoyed her services with a little extra something, but this was no longer about my getting a load off. Taking Rob’s arm and hoisting it over my shoulder, he yawned, sluggishly dragging his feet along the ground as we made our way to the massage parlor.
“Lay him down,” she said, helping me seat him on the table. Rob blinked slowly, looking around in a haze. “Rob. Rob, it’s me, Tina.”
“…Oh, hey. You’re that Tina?”
“Yes.” She smiled warmly, moving his head down to the headrest as I swung his legs up onto the table. There was no need though—he was already sound asleep, sawing logs. After making sure he wouldn’t wake up with any sore muscles from awkward positions, Tina and I dipped into her office.
“You know each other?” she asked, taking a seat beside me on the couch.
“Not intimately, but we’ve spoken a few times.” I glanced back at him, the doors open enough for me to see that he hadn’t moved. Heck, if I didn’t see his back rise up, I would’ve assumed he’d died. “What’s he been doing?”
“You heard… about his brother, right?”
“Yeah.”
Tina sighed, closing the door to the office by leaning over my lap, brushing her chest against my legs. Normally, that would’ve been a cause for celebration, but today it was just an annoyance.
“Listen, what I’m about to tell you breaks about a zillion different confidentiality agreements,” she said, sitting back upright. “But I trust you won’t go blabbing to anybody about this.”
“Who would I talk to?” I laughed, taking her hand in mine. “Tina, that kid’s going through hell.”
“And I’m trying to get him to stop.” She looked down at the floor. “But he’s adamant. Just about chewed Julio’s ear off the other day when he came in for his shift. Demanded that I let him work a double. I was so scared, I just agreed.”
“He says that it’s because of what happened to his brother. And now his girlfriend lost her job, too, so he’s working hard to pay bills.”
“He… doesn’t have a girlfriend.”
“What?” I looked to the side, back to her. “He said he did.”
“No…” Tina removed her hand from mine. “The girl he’s living with? That’s his brother’s girlfriend. I’ve met her.”
“But…”The lightbulbs clicked on quickly. Cheating on his brother with his girlfriend… that was low. Then to get his elder sibling committed to a mental asylum to boot? This kid was either a certified genius or completely nuts himself.
“I don’t get it either,” Tina said, shaking her head. “Why go through all that, only to then work doubles? Why would he do that—all he ever said were great things about Doug.”
“Maybe they had a falling out, something deeper than skin.”
“He idolized his big brother.”
“The girlfriend’s idea, then?”
“I guess so—but why not move somewhere cheaper?”
“He said he wanted to be self-sufficient. Didn’t want to move back in with his mom.”
I shook my head—none of this was making any sense. There was no reason, no rhyme behind what was going on. The only thing I knew about the kid was that he had an active imagination and loved his so-called girlfriend.
“I want you to put him under,” I said after a minute. “Nothing horrible, no strings.”
“Like you tried to put me under?” Tina asked, cocking a smile. “I’m not exactly an idiot, and I know you and Doctor Rhodes—not to mention most of my staff—have found their way into your pants one way or another.”
“No strings,” I said, smiling a little at her when her eyes shifted down to my crotch. “And we aren’t doing that until after he tells us why he’s so tired.”
“Aw, party pooper.” Leaning back over, she kissed my cheek. “Alright, once he’s under, you ask your questions. I’ll amuse myself for a bit while you do.”
“With your mouth, I’m assuming.”
“Can’t very well do it with his mouth, now can I.”