I have it,” she finally answers. "I have class, though. Can it..."
“Call him. I need you to get Owen’s address and text it to me.”
“But...”
“Please! This is really important!” I beg, cutting her off again.
“Maria, what’s going on?”
Tina sounds nervous, and I wish I knew what was wrong so that I could ease her mind.
“Everything’s okay,” I lie. “I’ll explain it tonight, okay? I promise.”
Friday, March 1 – 4:30 PM
Maria
I hurry down the long, icy staircase toward my apartment, but this time, instead of going all the way to the bottom and turning left, I only go down two flights and then turn right.
Owen and Craig live in apartment twenty at the far end of the row. How did I never once see him in the two years I’ve lived here?
My knuckles ache from the cold as I rap on the door, and I stick my hands inside my coat pockets as I wait. Nobody answers.
“Owen?”
I bang on the door again and shift my weight back and forth between my cold feet. I’ll wait out here all night if I have to, but I hope it doesn’t come to that. It’s only four-thirty, but it’s already getting dark.
Just as I’m about to knock again, I hear footsteps inside. The lock clicks, and then Owen opens the door. He has an ice pack wrapped around his right hand and he looks like he’s been crying.
“Can I come in?” I ask as he stares at me in silence.
He shakes his head indecisively. For a moment, I think he’s going to close the door in my face, but then he finally breaks down and invites me in.
“Thanks,” I tell him, and I take off my boots and coat as he closes the door and silently walks past me.
The downstairs of his apartment is exactly like mine, except it’s cleaner and better organized. With four girls living in my apartment, it’s hard to keep things tidy. Tiny potted plants line the kitchen window sill, and the living room walls are practically covered with framed photographs.
“Um... do you want a drink?” he finally asks, heading into the kitchen.
“No, but thank you,” I answer. “I want to know what happened to your hand, and I want to see it.”
“I just hurt it a little,” he protests. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Bullshit it’s not a big deal!” I fire back at him.
I don’t know where all this energy and confidence came from, but I feel like I could stare down even Tina right now. Maybe Tina’s a little bit of a stretch, but I’m doing really well by my standards, at least.
“I’m fine, Maria,” he tries to tell me, but the pained look on his face gives him away.
“Oh come on already! Show me your hand!” I snap, glaring angrily at him.
He finally gives in and removes the ice pack. I feel sick to my stomach as I see the bulging bandages around his thumb. The swelling is horrible even with ice and bandages, and I almost throw up as I carefully unwrap it and see that his skin is turning black.
“Can you move your thumb at all?” I ask, and he shakes his head.
“That settles it, then,” I say. “Come on—I’m taking you to the hospital.”
“It’s just bruised, Maria!”
“It’s fucking broken, Owen!” I shout at him, and he winces and shrinks back from me as if I’ve just struck him across the face.
I back away from him and go silent, uncertain about what just happened. Did I just do something wrong? Nobody likes to be yelled at, but something about how he reacted doesn’t feel right.
“It’s not the first time I’ve broken a bone. I’ll be okay,” he says quietly, trying not to look at me.
“Owen... I’m not leaving until you come with me,” I tell him as gently as I can. There’s no way I’m letting him try to wait out a broken bone.
He tries to argue, but I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer tonight.
“You have to go to a doctor! I’ll even drive you. We can take Tina’s car,” I push, hoping he’ll give in to pressure.
“Is this really why you came over?” he asks after a long silence.
“It’s a start,” I answer. “We can talk more later.”
“Alright, I’ll go,” he finally gives in, and he sighs dejectedly as he fetches his coat.
––––––––
The sun has long since gone down when I finally get Owen back to our apartment complex. It took the doctors less than an hour to set his thumb and get