Forgotten, Not Gone
Fiction Friday
Craig couldn’t help but feel nervous as he slunk towards the bushes and away from the glow of the street light. He didn’t know why. It’s not like this was his first time venturing out to hide amongst the shadows. He figured that the nerves would have been gone by this point. After all, it had been almost a year since he started doing this, and not once had he ever come close to being caught.
Be confident, he thought, as he crept further into the darkness, carefully stepping into the grassy alley between the two houses. He knew this place well. He basically used to live here. That had to count for something…
But probably not. At the very least, that’s one thing he still had going for him — he could be honest with himself. Confidence? That was taken from him a year ago. His sense of humor? Caput. His smile? Hadn’t seen it since everything happened.
Maybe she wouldn’t even be home? Then he could abort the mission and leave. It was a possibility. Just because her car was there, it didn’t mean that she was. He wasn’t on any type of schedule that matched hers. This wasn’t a routine thing. He only did it if he saw her car parked outside, on those nights when he felt compelled to drive by the once familiar house.
God damned rain. Now his pants and the palms of his hands were sopped with the murky brown wetness that rose to cover the backs of his fingers each time he planted his hands into the earth. But it was worth it — above him, Craig could hear muffled voices coming from the open window he couldn’t see, but knew was there. He could sense the rays of light that floated into the alley way, probably from a TV.
When the flashing blue lights were firmly behind him, he pulled himself off the ground, using the backyard fence to his left for support. A year ago, this would have been no problem for him. There would have been no labored steps. No heavy breaths. No creaky knees. The irony was that, back then, when he was lean and nimble, he had no reason to do this. Everything was different.
Craig made sure to hug the fence as closely as he could, while he walked around to the side that directly faced the back of the house. He positioned himself behind the oak tree that was in the backyard, on the other side of the fence. With a deep exhale, he gripped the damp top rail and propped a foot up on the pickets. Using all of his strength, he began to climb. His arms violently shook as he tried his best to contain his mighty heaves. Eventually, he found himself straddling the top with his chest and belly splayed across the wooden beam. His face was probably so red. He could feel it flushed with heat.
The lights in her room were on, so he figured he should make himself comfortable. Finally managing to throw his legs around to the other side, he wiggled his way to a perch within the old oak tree that was nestled between two branches forking from the trunk.
Not even a silhouette danced along her bedroom walls. Which was weird. She never left the lights on if she wasn’t there. Perfect, he thought, what an on-brand move this would be: to go through all of that, for her to not actually be home.
What was that?
A light flickered on in the kitchen, which he could see through the sliding glass doors that, for some reason, she always seemed to leave uncovered. It’s funny, he thought, back when he knew her, he would always tell her to lock it. You never know what kind of creeps could be out there, he would say.
It looked like a quiet Friday night in. Thank God. Her hair was tied up in a sloppy bun and her hands were hidden, swallowed up by her sweatshirt’s over-sized sleeves. There were no roommates around. No bottles of wine and half-full drinking glasses scattered atop the counters. It seemed like there was going to be no dancing, or flirting, or exchanging of body heat with somebody not named Craig Halstead. Just like it used to be.
She looked beautiful, sitting there on the counter, looking out into the hallway. Was she sad? Maybe she missed him. Maybe things weren’t going well with that block-headed chode, and she was second guessing why she ever left him, Craig, and chose that chubby loser. Yeah, he had packed on the pounds since, but at the time that everything happened — oh boy, it was a no brainer.
The leaves began to rustle, shaking off droplets of rain onto his face, as he furiously scratched at his ratty beard. He wiped his eyes.
Oh no. Anything but this.
The block-headed chode emerged from the hallway. Seeing him in the flesh for the first time was worse than Craig could have imagined. That stupid crew-cut looked even goofier than in it did in the one picture he had ever seen of the bastard.
From his perch, Craig’s heart began to race. He couldn’t tell what was dripping down his face anymore. Rain drops or beads of sweat? Her smile was killing him. What did she see in that stubby schlub in wholesale khakis? At least the new, fat Craig was still tall.
That idiot probably has no idea that while he was falling in love with her, and opening himself up wholeheartedly, Sofia was planning for her future with me, Craig thought. I can’t wait for this work placement to end so that you can move back home, she would say. Yeah, their semi-regular visits were good, but she couldn’t wait for the real thing — for their weird limbo period to be over, and to officially be together again. She missed him and wished she could be in his arms. Until the very end. Until that day when everything came tumbling down.
Did New Guy know she told Craig that she would always love him? Forever and always? No matter what? Did she say the same things to this guy? Did he know she was a fucking liar?
No. No no no.
Craig shielded his eyes as Sofia and Chode began to kiss. His stomach churned at the sight of it. Oh God. She got up, grabbed Chode’s hand, and began leading him towards the stairs. Craig knew what that meant. He had to get the hell out of there.
How could he have been stupid enough to not once consider this possibility? Chode was very much real and she was actually gone — like she said she would never be.
Fighting through barriers of cold wet leaves, Craig scrambled to get a grip on some branches so he could turn around and scale the fence. It didn’t even matter that he was being pelted by rain and acorns falling from the branches swaying above him.
Then, amidst all the rattling, a loud crack cut through the air. There was no time to even process what happened. Fractured tree limb in hand, he fell to the ground, landing on his back with a wail before the wind escaped his lungs. Move, you fat bastard, he kept telling himself. But it was no use. All he could do was roll around like a capsized turtle.
The back door slid open.
“Holy shit, there’s a homeless person in the backyard,” Sofia shouted from the entryway. “David, call the cops.”
“Wait! Wait! Don’t call the cops,” Craig managed to eke out. “I’m sorry! I’m leaving!”
“Craig,” she asked, “Is that you?”
From his back, everything was upside down. He saw Sofia squinting in his direction, but as she was about to approach him, Chode appeared beside her and held her back.
“Stay away, Sofe, he could be dangerous. Let me handle this.”
“David! Stop,” she cried after him. But before Craig knew it, he found himself on his knees, being clutched at the collar by David, The Chode.
“This guy,” David asked, confused, his fist cocked and ready. “What the hell is this sack of shit doing here?” Turning his attention to Craig, he began to scream, “It’s been a year, you fucking creep, get over it. God, you look like shit — I almost didn’t recognize you. I’m gonna make sure you never bother us again.”
David spun him around and threw him to the ground, sticking his face into the muddy grass and jamming a knee into his back.
“I’m holding him here until the cops come. We’re gonna make sure we get a restraining order against this guy — Sofia what are you doing, I said stay back-”
Shrugging off his commands, she kneeled down in front of Craig, and stared at his muddy face in all its puffy, scraggily, glory. Slowly, he could see the apprehension fade from her gaze. He could feel the contact of her eyes on his, and wished they weren’t so bloodshot and raw, but he quickly forgot about that when he heard her coo to him with her gentle tongue clicks, the way she used to do when he was sick. Or sad. Or upset. And even though he was embarrassed, degraded, and covered in muck, he couldn’t help but flash a smile. When she smiled back, time seemed to stop for a moment. She was looking at him just like she used to — back in the good days — with the same sense of sincerity and loving concern.
“David, please let him go. I know him. There’s no way he’d come back after this — he’s harmless.”
“But-”
“David.”
With a grumble, David stood up and released him, standing by Sofia as they watched Craig slowly gather himself and rise to his feet. He kept his head down, unable to look at them as he walked towards the gate to leave. This time around, there was no need to crawl through the grassy alley. He didn’t have to hide anymore. Unconcerned and unafraid, he returned to the dimly lit street and found his car. Craig looked back at Sofia’s house once more before starting the ignition and driving away.
As he drove, the night’s events replayed in his mind, over and over again, until suddenly, a wide grin plastered itself across his face. He couldn’t shake it even if he wanted to. His cheeks were hurting.
Just like she said she would, he thought.
