Lights. Darks. Lights. Darks. A Friday night and what am I doing? Sorting dirty clothes in the infamous Hanson laundry room. Lights. Darks. Lights. Darks. I should be out with friends, or something. They're all at a frat party, though. Lights. Darks. Lights. Darks. And more than likely, Alison will be there. I just can't face her. We went our separate ways when I came back from LA, and she never knew what happened that one night. Yet, I can't help but feel guilty. Lights. Darks. Lights. Darks. Becca's right. I'm just too nice.
ding-dong.
The doorbell snapped me out of my mechanical state. I abandoned my laundry and headed for the front door. "Yeah?" I said, swinging the door open.
"Oh... Hey, Ike. Here's some figures for you and your brothers to go over," Becca explained, handing me a manila envelope.
"Thanks," I replied, taking it from her.
"Well, that's all I wanted." She shoved her hands into her pockets. "See ya on Monday." She turned and headed for her car.
Becca didn't feel comfortable around me alone. That was as obvious as her roots. And to be truthful, I didn't think I could trust the two of us alone together any more than she could. We only saw one another at work, and even then we kept ourselves surrounded by others constantly. The only way to know if we could handle being alone together is to try. "Becca! Wait!"
She spun around. "Yeah?"
"What are you doing tonight?"
Becca shrugged. "Nothing really. Why?"
"Well, no one else is here. Wanna stick around, or something?"
She shrugged again. "Sure, I guess." Becca walked into the house and hung her coat in the hall closet. "So, what are you doing here by yourself? I thought you didn't live here anymore," she teased me.
"Laundry," was my simple reply.
Becca giggled. "Well, at the very least, I hope you're not gonna leave it here for your mom to clean."
"No, smarty," I said, giving her a playful shove in the direction of the living room. "I do my own laundry. As a matter of fact, I was in the middle of sorting when you rang the doorbell."
"Oh, well, don't let me keep you."
"I won't." I headed for the laundry room. I made it not more than ten paces when I realized Becca wasn't following me. I stopped and turned around. "You don't have to stand there, ya know. My laundry doesn't bite." I flashed her a smile.
"Are you sure? I remember when Lisa's brother, Luke, would bring his dirty clothes home from school. I swear, some of them could walk to class by themselves." She giggled.
"No, they're not funky, just dirty."
"Well, then, let's go."
Becca linked arms with me, and we headed towards the laundry room.
"Okay... last load's in the dryer. What do you wanna do?" I flopped down next to Becca on the couch.
"Shh! Can't you see I'm channel surfing?" was her response.
"What do you mean surfing? You're watching a commercial!"
"Yeah, but I wanna see what comes on after the commercial. It's almost 8:00, so SOMETHING should be coming on. Ya know, I'll never understand how you guys channel surf. You change the channel before I can get a good look at what's on the screen."
"You're just not as quick as I am." I flashed her a smile.
She returned the smile. "Yeah, I'll bet."
The commercial ended and the show began. "Hello. I'm Vern Lundquyst. Tonight, almost a decade after Sergei Grinkov's death, we look back at the tribute to his life, put together by his wife and skating partner, Ekaterina Gordeeva, and the rest of the skating community. Join us tonight as we watch Celebration of a Life."
"Oh my God! I love this. It's SO sad. We have to watch it!" Becca gushed.
"Wait. Let me get this straight. You WANT to watch it because it's sad?" It seemed kinda stupid to me. "You wanna make yourself cry, or something?"
"Crying's good for the heart," Becca explained as she jogged down the hall towards the bathroom. She jogged back with a box of tissues in hand. "Besides, this is the most beautiful love story ever told."
"Really? I have three sisters, and I was always under the impression that Beauty and the Beast was the greatest love story ever told."
"That's a lie," Becca replied.
"Oh, is it?"
"Yup."
"And you're gonna make me watch this, huh?"
"Yup."
"Fine. I give."
"Just as well. You weren't going to get your way, anyway," Becca giggled.
"Now, explain this to me," I said during the commercial break. "How did they meet?"
"Okay. Here it is. Last time. Sergei was fifteen, and Katia was eleven. They started out as skating partners. Then they became friends. Eventually, they became lovers and got married. Katia had Daria, and then Sergei died." Becca sniffed.
"Speaking of little kids, Zoe's birthday is coming up. I have no idea what to get her."
"Well, did you ask your mom what she could use?"
"Yeah, she said clothes."
"What do you mean you have no idea? Get her an outfit then."
"I don't know anything about picking out clothes for a four-year-old. Will you go shopping with me tomorrow, and help me pick something out?" I asked hopefully, giving her puppy-dog eyes.
Becca shrugged. "Sure."
The commercial break ended, and the finale began. Between the finale and Katia's speech, Becca went through half the box of tissues. She went through the first quarter earlier when Katia performed her solo. She just stepped out onto the ice, and Becca burst into tears.
It was the next part that got to me. They showed clips of Sergei through the years while playing these sad songs. It was enough to choke me up.
I'm gonna live my life... Like every day's the last... Without a simple goodbye... It all goes by so fast...
Such a shame. They thought they has their whole lives ahead of 'em, and his was unexpectedly cut short.
Gonna look back in vain... And see you standing there... When all that remains... Is just an empty chair...
Funny. You never realize how to take people for granted until it's too late. You always think that they're gonna be there, that YOU'RE gonna be there. No on ever expects tragedy to come knockin' on the door.
I looked over at Becca. She was crying profusely into the last tissue she had just pulled from the box. She was shaking slightly, too. I put both my arms around her, and she leaned into me, sighing. I stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.
For no reason why... I can't cry hard enough... No, I can't cry hard enough... For you to hear me now...