Free Fall
2/?
R
Shirley Feeney let slip a very unladylike curse as she whirled away from a waltzing Fabian, and bolted upright in bed. She forced her breathing to slow down as she looked around her darkened bedroom. What on earth could have woken her up?
The door buzzer sounded again, and she stole a look at the
luminescent dial of her alarm clock.
It wouldn’t be Lenny and Squiggy,
she calmly reasoned with herself as she slipped on her bathrobe and reached
under her bed for her trusty
By the time she’d tiptoed to the bottom of the stairway, Shirley was afraid the constant buzzing buzz emanating from the door would wake up the whole building. Not to mention, give her a splitting headache. Years of habit took hold of Shirley as she dropped her voice down two octaves and asked in a guttural voice, “Who is it?”.
“It’s me, Shirl,” was the muffled voice behind the oak door.
Shirley blinked in surprise, convinced that her ears were playing tricks on her. “Come again?”
“It’s me,” the voice rose in volume, “Me, Laverne.”
“Vernie?” Cautiously, Shirley unlatched the lock and opened the door, keeping the chain in place. The tired, but smiling face on the other side of the doorway made her squeal like a five year old on Christmas morning. Quickly, she slipped the chain off, then yanked her best friend, and former roommate, into the apartment. Shirley grabbed Laverne in a fierce hug as she began to maniacally jump up and down. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? How long have you been here? When—“ Questions were flooding her brain faster than they could come out of her mouth.
“I didn’t have time to call,” Laverne explained as she released the still-bouncing Shirley and began to survey the apartment. “It was sort of a spur of the moment thing, y’know?”
Shirley nodded dumbly at her best friend, still overwhelmed by the shock of seeing her after so long. “When did you get into town?”
“About two hours ago. I would have been here sooner, but I got on the wrong bus.”
Shirley’s jaw dropped.
“You rode the bus alone at
“Yeah…”
Shirley rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Laverne,
Laverne smirked. “Don’t worry! I got here okay, didn’t I?”
“Yes, but I could have picked you up if you’d called ahead,” Shirley pointed out.
“It wasn’t a big deal. Like I said, it was a spur of the moment thing.”
A question rose in Shirley’s mind, and was out of her mouth before she could squelch it. “Where’s Carmine?”
Laverne’s smile tightened to the point where it could no longer be considered friendly. “Do you care?”
The challenging question took Shirley aback. “Well, I just assumed that he’d be with you…”
“He’s not. We broke up…” was Laverne’s flat reply.
“Laverne…”
Laverne shook her head, a motion more akin to a shudder than anything else. “Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t meant to be…”
“Laverne…”
“Like I told him when I left, it wasn’t going to work out and we should both cut our losses.” Her last sentence came out with an unexpected bite.
“But…”
“Really. It was time to get rid of the things that weren’t working for me. Got rid of the dead-end job, the dead-end town, and the dead-end boyfriend. You can relate, right?”
“Gee, I guess so, but… Wait a minute. Laverne, did you quit Shotz?”
She snorted in response. “If you can call walking out on a lousy truck washing job quitting, then yes. I quit.”
“Laverne, I can’t believe you did that! I can’t believe that you just up and left without having another job lined up.”
“Some things aren’t worth sticking around for,” Laverne said to Shirley as her eyes took on a strange far away look.
“I guess so.”
Instantly, the too cheerful smile was back on Laverne’s face. “Anyway, things work out for the best. I left Shotz, left Carmine, and moved out here to be with you…”
“Moved? You mean, this isn’t just a visit,” Shirley asked as she looked down at Laverne’s battered shopping bag in askance. “That’s all you brought with you?”
Laverne’s grin dropped a notch, and her mouth opened several
times before any actual words came out of it.
“Well, I figured that I wouldn’t need winter clothes with this being
sunny
“Vernie?” Shirley reached out tentatively to her friend.
Laverne’s tight smile was plastered on her face once again as she began to pace around Shirley’s living room. “This place is great, Shirl! It’s big and room, and look, you even have a balcony,” Laverne cried out as she dashed over to try to see the view.
“Yes, thanks. I’m really happy here,” she replied distractedly.
“What’s the upstairs like?” asked Laverne as she dashed up the short staircase. “This is great! You got a little sink by your bed, that’s so nifty.”
“Yeah. Nifty. Right.” Shirley sat down, dazed on the couch as she tried to absorb everything.
Laverne slid down the iron banister, wincing as her feet hit the floor. “I saved up two hundred and forty dollars, Shirl. That should be enough for me to buy a bed and cover my share of the rent until I find a job, right?”
Shirley nodded distractedly then forced a smile on her own face. “You must be exhausted, Laverne. Why don’t I just grab some sheets and a blanket for you so you can camp out on the couch tonight, hmm?”
“But I haven’t seen you in six months! We need to talk and catch up…”
“We can do that in the morning. It’s Sunday and we’ll have all day,” Shirley replied in a soothing voice. “I just think,” she said as she reached over to pat Laverne’s cheek, “you need to get some sleep. You look exhausted.”
Laverne opened her mouth as if to argue, but then smiled and nodded. “You’re right. We have all the time in the world to catch up.”
Shirley smiled and headed towards the closet to fetch the blanket.
“Shirl?”
“Yes?”
“Do you have a nightie I can borrow? I didn’t—“
“Bring anything because it was all winter stuff,” Shirley finished sadly. “Sure. I’ll go upstairs and see what I have.”
Hours later, Shirley Feeney watched the morning light
brighten her bedroom through tired, red-rimmed eyes. The soft buzz of Laverne’s snoring downstairs
grated on her nerves like it never had back in
She couldn’t see it. Not now.
Shirley’s jaw tightened.
Things had changed.
Shirley looked around her bedroom again. It was hers, all hers, right down to the ballerina knick-knacks on the dressing table and the inexpensive floral painting that she’d picked up at a swap meet. Guilt washed over her as she realized that she didn’t want to share her space, even with—or maybe especially with—Laverne.
FIN