The Apartment
The Apartment
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CHAPTER 22: THE APARTMENT
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I walked Mei home on Thursday.
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She didn't ask me to. She didn't want me to. She just walked out of the library and I followed her and she didn't tell me to stop.
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We walked through the neighbourhood and past the park and past the shopping street. She stopped in front of an apartment building. It was older than mine. It had a rusted gate and a cracked sidewalk and a nameplate that was missing three letters.
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"This is me," she said.
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"Okay."
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"You don't have to wait."
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"I'm not waiting. I'm just standing here."
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She looked at me for a moment. Then she opened the gate and walked inside. She didn't close it.
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I followed her in.
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The apartment was small.
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It was smaller than mine. It had one room and a kitchen and a bathroom that was barely a bathroom. The walls were bare. The floor was old. There was a single window that faced the parking lot.
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Mei's mother wasn't there.
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"There's no one home," she said.
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"Where is she?"
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"Work."
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She said it the way you say the weather. Like it was a fact that didn't need to be explained.
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"She works a lot," I said.
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"She works two jobs."
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"That's a lot."
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"Yeah."
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She sat down on the floor with her back against the wall. I sat down across from her.
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"She's not home a lot," Mei said. "She leaves at six and comes back at eleven. Sometimes later. Sometimes not at all."
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"Does she know where you are?"
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"She knows I'm at school. She knows I come home. She doesn't ask about anything else."
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She looked at the window.
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"She's tired," she said. "She's always been tired. I don't blame her."
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"Do you ever talk to her?"
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"About what?"
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"About anything."
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Mei was quiet for a moment.
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"We don't talk," she said. "We just exist in the same room sometimes."
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I didn't say anything.
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I noticed the way she said it. Not sad. Not angry. Just tired. The same tiredness that I recognized from somewhere else.
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I noticed the way she sat with her back against the wall.
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I noticed the long sleeves.
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I noticed the empty room.
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I noticed everything.
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I stayed for an hour.
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We didn't talk much. She made tea. It was the cheap kind. She gave me a cup and she didn't make one for herself.
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"Don't you want tea?" I asked.
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"I'm not thirsty."
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"You never are."
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She looked at me.
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"You noticed that?"
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"I notice everything."
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She didn't say anything. She just looked at me for a long time. Then she looked away.
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"You should go," she said.
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"Okay."
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I stood up. She didn't.
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"Will you be okay?" I asked.
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She looked at me.
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"I'm always okay," she said.
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I didn't believe her.
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But I didn't say anything.
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I walked out of the apartment and closed the gate behind me.
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I walked home. 82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowe4OayPxQ
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