The door opened and a little girl answered. Michaela smiled and hugged the child and asked for her mother. "Mommy", the girl exclaimed. "Auntie Michaela is here!" Her mother, with her little brother at her mom's hip, walked to the living room to find Michaela still in her damp clothes.
"Girl", the woman said looking totally confused. "Why are your clothes wet?"
"Well, Rene, that's what I came to talk to you about. See what had happened was…"
"Michaela please don't tell me you tried to…"
"I don't know. I was fine until…"
Before she could finish her statement, there was a knock on the door. Rene opened door and a woman in a nurse's uniform walked in. "Hey Rene", the nurse said between short breaths. "Please tell me you have some foot soak cause my feet hurt like hell."
"Sure I do. It's in the bathroom cabinet. Oh, Michaela is in the living room." The nurse walked in to find Michaela still her wet clothes still trying to wring out the water from hair. "Hey girl. What happened to you? Did you fall in a pool or something?"
"She didn't fall in a pool Maria. She tried to kill herself."
"What?! Again? Michaela you promised…"
"I know. I know", Michaela replied. "I was doing fine until…"
"Don't you remember what happened last time", Maria yelled. "Remember the grief we went through after that time you tried to OD on pills? Or what about the time you slit your wrist? I swear Michaela, sometimes you….m'inciter à vouloir vous claquer autour!"
"Whoa, whoa there. If you are going to yell at me, please do it in English."
"See? This is what I'm talking about! You're not taking this seriously! You think this shit is a big ass joke!"
"Hold up, hold up", Rene cut in. "Now Michaela, what happened? What would drive you to do this?"
"Well", she started. "I was doing fine at work and then Terrance called…"
"Good lord", Maria interrupted. "Why doesn't this surprise me? Why is it every time you try to kill yourself, he is the common thread? What did he say to degrade you this time?"
"Well I was about to order some lunch and he called. When I told him that I was ordering lunch, he said 'Well I hope are eating something healthy cause the last time we met, you looked like you gained some weight. You know the camera adds 10 pounds to you. It would look bad if you looked big as a house on television.' I couldn't say anything. In fact, I ran to the bathroom and threw up."
"I don't know what to say girl", Rene said after a minute of silence. "I really don't know…"
"I know what to say", Maria cut in. "Why are you still talking to this clown? Why is he still calling you? Doesn't he have something else to do besides call and upset you? Why do you answer your phone when he calls? If it were me, I would blow a whistle in his ear. That would stop his ass from calling." Maria stood up and started walking towards the bathroom, grumbling something along the way.
"Look girl", Rene said in a soft voice. "You have to let him go. If you don't, he will continue to make you feel this way. He will always have the upper hand if you don't stand up for yourself."
Tears started well up in Michaela's eyes as she listened to Rene's soothing words. "I don't know why I let him do this to me. Just when I thought it was I was over this, he comes in and makes the situation worse. I don't know what to do."
"If I were you", Maria said walked back into the room. "I would say 'Fuck off!' then hang up and if he kept calling it would go straight to voicemail. Look ya'll I gotta get back to the hospital. I'm working a double. Remember what I said Michaela. I'll call ya'll later."
As Rene walked Maria her car, Michaela sulked into sofa. She took a deep breath and closed eyes. For now, she had lived to see another day…
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