The Beginning of the End, Part 35

Kevin came back grinning, and I knew that meant the “plan” was going into effect. All five of us piled into the old mustang once Kevin worked his magic underneath. Melanie was talking nonstop about how cool this was, how she was so excited that we would all see her house… almost like this was just a normal visit. But it was anything but.

I kept trying to convince myself that this wasn’t wrong, that in the long run it would actually help Melanie to get out of the motel and into an apartment, that we weren’t doing anything illegal. But my Catholic upbringing wouldn’t allow me to see this situation for anything other than what it was – breaking and entering, and robbery. Not to mention the fact that illegal drugs would also be involved.

I finally decided to try to concentrate on untying the knots in my stomach by blocking out the conversations around me and closing my eyes. I let the motion of the car soothe me and I tried to take deep breaths. It seemed only seconds later when I heard Melanie yell out, “HERE! This is it!”

I opened my eyes and blinked. Melanie had lived in a gorgeous, enormous house. This was obviously the “rich” part of town, and the fact that Melanie would even want to run away seemd ludicrous to me. As everyone exited the car and we stealthily made our way up to the front door, I stopped worrying and started wondering how bad her life could’ve been. I mean, in a house like this…?

Melanie unlocked the door and quickly rounded a corner to quiet the beeping that broke the silence. The rest of us stood in the front hallway gaping. I noticed I wasn’t the only one impressed with the surroundings.

“Had to turn off the alarm,” Melaine said, reappearing. “Let’s go upstairs.”

She led us through several large rooms before reaching the staircase, which rounded the living room before disappearing into another floor. As we went up the stairs, my heartbeat slowed to normal. I wanted to know more about the girl who lived here, and what made her leave. It suddenly became important to me to talk to Melanie, to convince her to stay here, to wait for her parents and apologize and leave Bobby and the partying behind…

She turned on a light in one of the rooms, and I blinked at the sudden brightness. “This was my room,” she said, almost sadly, I thought. “You guys wait here.”

“Should I call Polon?” Kevin asked. “I mean, how long will you be?”

“Just a minute,” she replied. “But wait until I see how much there is.”

We all sat down in various places in the room. It was decorated in pink and frills, a large canopy bed on one end, a desk and several filled bookshelves on the other. There was a small landing when you walked in, and then about three steps going down into the room itself. I chose to sit on one of the stairs, so I could examine every inch of her room.

I let my mind wander and pictured Melanie, talking on the princess phone while lying on her bed and laughing. I saw her sitting at the desk and doing homework, occasionally looking out the window that appeared to have a nice view of the backyard. There were dozens of dolls in a large curio cabinet against one wall, and I wondered how long she had been collecting them. Did her mother buy them all for her? Or had they been handed down through the generations? Some of them looked pretty old, but all were in excellent condition. Suddenly a thought struck me – the room almost looked like a museum display. Everything was perfectly in place, nothing was dusty, the pillows on the bed looked invitingly plump. It was almost as if the room were waiting for its owner to come back, as if her parents were saving it for her, hoping for her return…

“Two grand!”

Melanie’s triumphant voice broke my reverie. Suddenly there was a flurry of action as Kevin made the phone call from the princess phone by the bed, Bobby took the money from Melanie and started counting, and Marc got up and paced. Moments later, Bobby, Kevin and Marc left, money in hand, and instructed Melanie to leave the front door unlocked so they could get back in.

“Ok, just lock it when you get back,” she replied, suddenly sounding a little nervous.

When we heard the front door close, I turned to Melanie. She was sitting next to me on the landing in her room, looking around it in much the same way I was.

“Do you miss it?” I asked quietly.

She looked at me with a sad smile. “Sometimes,” she admitted.

I scooched closer to her, and looked her directly in the eyes. “Then why don’t you stay?”

She sighed and shrugged. “I can’t,” she replied. “Too much water under the bridge. Besides, my life is with Bobby now.”

“But are you really happy?”

She looked at me in confusion. “Of course I’m happy!” she insisted.

“Really?”

Melanie looked away, and I wondered if it was to hide her true feelings. For a while, she remained silent, then she turned back to look at me again.

“Look, I know you mean well, Dasi, but I chose my life with Bobby. Living here – I never was able to make choices. I mean, look at this room!” she waved her hand toward all the frills. “It’s been the same since I can remember. They won’t let me grow up. They won’t let me live,” she said with desperation.

“Don’t you understand?” Melanie’s eyes were pleading with me.

I wished I could say I didn’t, but I did. Even though I knew she was wrong, I remembered being that young and feeling trapped in my parents’ home. What Melanie didn’t realize was that they sheltered her because they obviously loved her, and that she would thank them someday.

If she ever went back to them.

The sound of the front door opening caused us both to freeze like deer caught in the headlights. Quiet, determined footsteps ascended the stairs, and Melanie reached over and shut off the light.

“What the hell? Why are you sitting in the dark?”

We collectively exhaled as we recognized Bobby’s voice. Melanie turned the light back on and jumped up to greet him. Kevin and Marc stood there as well, both grinning like idiots.

“So?” I asked.

Bobby held up a bag with the largest amount of powder I had ever seen. It didn’t look real – there was just too much. My mouth fell open. “Holy shit,” I muttered.

“Party time!” Kevin laughed. He turned to Melanie. “Hon, where’s the kitchen? I’m gonna need some room to cook all this shit up.”

Melanie took him down to the kitchen with Bobby and Marc tagging along, leaving me alone with my thoughts. My stomach was churning in anticipation of that first hit, and with the amount of coke they had brought back I realized that this was going to be a very long night.
I just hoped we all survived it.