Nash
"Hey, it's me," I say to Jake, holding my phone to my ear as I step over a pile of magazines on the floor. The whole house is full of old magazines and newspapers. "I was just talking to the neighbor."
"Yeah. So who is it? Some old guy?"
"No. It's a girl. Probably around 20 or 21." I pick up one of the magazines from the floor. It's dated January 1992. Clearly, my grandfather was a hoarder.
"Is she hot?"
I walk over to the window, looking out at her house. "She's not bad."
Actually, she IS hot. Really hot, but I didn't want to tell Jake that. If I did, he'd be driving down here this second, trying to go out with her. Jake's my half-brother who sleeps with most any girl who shows interest. And a lot of girls show interest because he knows how to turn on the charm. They also love that stupid dimple in his cheek, which I think makes him look like a kid, but he's my kid brother so I'll always think he looks like a kid.
I'm 25 and he's 23, so it's not like we're that far apart in age but he acts younger than his age. But he's going to have to grow up now that I'm not there this summer. That was one of the reasons I left. He needs to grow up, and he won't do that if his big brother is always around.
"Maybe I'll drive down there this weekend," he says, a smile in his voice.
"You're not sleeping with her."
"Why? You planning on going out with her?"
"After Marissa, I think I'm done with women for a while." I lean against the kitchen counter and feel it give a little. I turn and see the counter is rotting along the edges, causing it to pull back from the wall.
"Forget Marissa," he says. "That was six months ago. Don't let that bitch control you anymore."
"She's not controlling me. I don't even talk to her anymore."
"And yet you moved to get away from her."
"I'm here to renovate the house. It had nothing to do with her."
It's a lie and we both know it. The truth is, Marissa is one of main reasons I left. We used to be engaged but that ended when I stopped by her apartment one night to surprise her and found her in bed with another guy. A guy she works with at the law firm. A scrawny ass rich guy whose dad runs the firm. Apparently Marissa had ambitions she hadn't shared with me. She always told me she went into law to protect the poor and the innocent, but the truth is she just wanted to make lots of money. And I'm sure she will, sleeping with the boss' son.
Living in Chicago, I kept running into her. We went to the same coffee shops, the same restaurants, the same gym. She even lived in my apartment building. That's how I first met her.
When I'd run into her after our break-up, she'd say a quick hello and smile at me as if we were just tenants in the same building. There was no emotion there. No regret. I loved her, or at least I thought I did, and she cheated on me and didn't give a shit. It got to the point I couldn't take running into her anymore. I needed to get away.
That's how I ended up here. I figured now was the perfect time to fix up the house. I'd planned to do it last year, when I found out I owned it, but Marissa didn't want me to. She wanted me to sell it. She told me she'd miss me too much, living two hours away while I was here fixing it up. I believed her lie, but the truth is she just wanted whatever money I could get from selling it. The house is close to a large state park with a lake so this area becomes a tourist destination in the summer. Rich people from Chicago would love to tear this house down and build an expensive summer home in its place. I'd probably get top dollar for the land but I'm not willing to sell it. Or the house. I just tell people I'm selling it so they won't question why I'm keeping it. But the reason why I am is because it's a connection to my grandfather, which is a connection to my birth mom. The only connection I have to her.
Now that I'm here and seeing how shitty the house looks, it might be better to tear the thing down, but I'm not a quitter. Unlike Marissa, I don't give up on things just because they aren't perfect or fancy or something that would impress my friends.
"You and Marissa ended six months ago," Jake says. "You need to get out there and at least get some action."
"I'm not like that and you know it."
"Yeah, you're a relationship guy, but this thing with Marissa should've proved to you that relationships suck. Sex with no strings? That's the way to go, especially at our age."