Page 87 of The Tenant
I sit down beside her on the edge of the bed. “Your secret is safe,” I reassure her. “In fact, I think it’s wonderful how you tried to help your mother.”
“For nothing,” she says. “She was furious about how I got the money for her treatment. She didn’t want this for me. She worked so hard for me to get an education, and now…”
Oh, cry me a river. She borrowed money from a loan shark, and it backfired. What did she expect?
“Listen,” I say, “now that you’ve shared this with me, I’d like to tell you a little secret of my own.”
She looks at me with interest. “What?”
“I’m thinking about leaving Blake.”
Her mouth drops open. “Seriously?”
“Does that surprise you so much? You think he’s a psychopath.”
“Of course I do. But…”
“He didn’t used to be like this. He’s scaring me more and more lately.” I shudder. “I need to get away from him before something terrible happens. I’m worried that he might…might hurt me.”
Amanda reaches out to take my hand. I let her do it, even though I want to slap her.
“I need more time though,” I say. “I don’t have much savings, so I want to make sure that I have enough money and that I have a place to go.”
“I totally understand that,” Amanda says.
“Maybe,” I say, “the two of us can get an apartment together and share the rent.”
For the first time since she came home and saw what Blake did, her face brightens. “That would be great, Krista. I would really like that.”
I force myself to return her smile, even though it feels like plastic on my face. “Take a look at apartments. If you find something, let me know.”
She nods eagerly. “I bet you five bucks we can find a place as big as this for a quarter of the price in Staten Island.”
Staten Island? Is shekidding? “Come on. Let’s get this mess cleaned up.”
I help Amanda clean up her sheets. For the record, I am so angry at Blake for doing this. What the hell is wrong with him? Why couldn’t he throw the maggot-ridden apples in the garbage like a normal person? It seems like the stress of everything is making his behavior a bit more unpredictable than I expected. Now I have to clean up another one of his messes.
It takes us a few trips and a lot of laundry detergent, but we end up getting everything clean. I rinse the last of the disgusting apple off my hands in the kitchen sink while Amanda is spraying her room with my air freshener.
After I dry off my hands, I wander into the living room, where Goldy is swimming around in her little fishbowl. Blake and I bought Goldy when we first moved in. She was our starter pet. We imagined that someday we would upgrade to an animal that required more responsibility and love, like a cat. And then maybe a dog. And someday, a child.
But none of that is going to happen. Not anymore.
Thanks to Blake.
I get close to Goldy’s bowl. I tap on it gently, and she looks up at me. She’s a good fish. She’s provided us with a lot of entertainment in the time that we’ve had her, although that time is quickly coming to an end. Faster than I thought it would.
“Goodbye, Goldy,” I say sadly. “I’m sorry about this, but you should know that it’s Blake’s fault.”
Goldy was a symbol of the life we were starting together. It only makes sense that now that our future is going down the toilet, she should be the first to go.
57
We are in the bedroom,and Blake is staring at the bottle of bleach I’ve got in my hand. The same bottle I stashed there after Goldy went belly-up.
“What’s this doing in our closet?” I demand to know.
Blake has a baffled look on his face. As much as I hate him, part of me almost wants to reach out and give him a level ten hug, because he truly looks like he needs it. He can’t figure out how his phone ended up in Amanda’s bed or how her lipstick ended up on his collar. He has no choice but to blame her for everything. He’s lost.
