IN THIS TWILIGHT
The Mask Collector
Chapter Six
Tuesday July 1st 2003
There was a knock at the door. Darren fumbled for his crutches and pulled himself up off the couch. Aches and numbness spidered up and down his right leg and hip, he was careful not to the let the metal bars in his leg bump the coffee table. He opened the door to find Marnie standing there, “Oh, it’s you.”
“Who else?” She flashed him a wounded smile, “I wanted to see how you were doing.”
“I'm fine.”
“You don't look fine. You look rough,” she tried to push past him into the apartment.
“What are you doing here?”
“Can I come in or not?” Marnie's pitying glance became scornful, “I'm not going to have this conversation standing out in the hallway with your crazy mask-wearing neighbor staring at me.”
“What?” Darren let her slip past him so he could glance out into the hallway, all he caught a glimpse of was Chad's door slamming closed.
“A mask?” Darren closed the door and pulled his bathrobe in tight around himself. He scratched self-consciously at his beard, “What kind of mask?”
“That's not important,” she sat down on the futon and motioned for him to join her, “I'm worried about you. Have you taken a look at yourself in the mirror?”
Grimacing Darren hobbled over to the recliner and plopped down. He knew what he looked like- pale and disheveled with a hip brace and a tangle of metal bars going around and through his lower leg. “I just got out of the hospital a few days ago, what do you expect?”
“I heard you got fired.”
“How? How did you hear about that?”
“I still talk to Jenny from reception,” she said. “What happened?”
“There was a problem with the Malaysian account. It was so stupid. We used a reference photo of a guy in a gas mask in the cover art and some members of some ethnic group took offense.” Darren clenched and unclenched his fists as he spoke, “I was supposed to pass the information on to the other work groups on Monday, but by the time I came out of the coma the shit had already hit the fan. The home office had to fire someone, the fired me.
“I came to see you in the hospital, before you woke up.”
“Yeah my Mom told me.”
Marnie leaned forward, “What do you remember?”
“I gave the police the license plate, they told me there was no such number.”
“No. I mean do you remember anything from when you were in the coma? Did you hear voices or anything at all?”
“No. I just had these weird dreams, they were just... Weird...” Darren shivered at the memory of them, nightmares cast in shades of purple, shattered temples and empty faces. If Darren closed his eyes he could almost see them again. “It must have been the drugs.”
She cleared her throat, “Reese asked me out.”
“What?”
“I talked to him in the hospital when I was visiting you.”
“Reese? My brother Reese?”
“I haven't said yes yet or anything,” Marnie said, “but I am thinking about it.”
“Reese?”
“I'm not going to wait forever Darren,” she stood and walked over to him. When she tried to stroke his arm he pulled away, “Do you understand what I'm saying? I'm not going to wait forever.”
“Reese? How could you even consider? He’s a thug and a criminal.”
“He's a building contractor.”
“Same difference.”
“Have you heard anything I just said to you?”
Darren stood and immediately regretted it, “I don't care what you do. You can date my brother, maybe you'll be good for him.”
“I don't want to be with Reese, I want you.”
“Look,” he couldn't believe he was having this conversation again, “I think you better go now. I’m starting to feel tired.”
“But ...”
“Please… I don’t need this right now.” He hobbled over to the door.
“Call me,” Marnie said as he shut the door in her face, “if you need anything at all.”
Darren slumped against the wall for a few moments, trying to collect himself. You are not the bad guy here. You don't owe her anything. It's not like you were married.
Maneuvering clumsily on his crutches he closed the door and locked it. It was just a few more minutes until he could take his next pain pill, he decided to wash it down with some ice cream and soda.
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