My Home Page

 11:49
	 Skylee stared thoughtfully at the jagged waves, taking
an occasional puff of her cigarette, not really tasting it. 
The others were at some party thing in the hotel party room
and she sitting out by the back on the beach’s soft sand. 
The moon was half-hidden by silvery white clouds, resembling
fairy tale pictures.  Sky was reminiscing about her
graduation, remembering how proud her Dad had been.  Her
thoughts were broken by AJ perching next to her.  She felt a
bitter remark coming and bit her tongue, not having enough
strength to get in a fight with him.  
“ Fancy meeting you hear,” He said in a form of greeting,
his voice completly stripped of any cover he might have any
other day.  She studied his face and chose not to comment,
not knowing, for the first time what to say to him.
“ Do you have a light?  I lost my lighter,” He asked,
pulling a marbolo out of his pocket.
“ Yeah.  Here,” She handed him her lighter and their fingers
brushed, AJ keeping his there longer than necessary.
“ It looks like I’m interrupting something,” He said,
lighting his cigarette and glancing at her.
“ What do you mean?”
“ You were lost in thought there, you didn’t want anything
to interrupt it; I can see it in your eyes,” Skylee turned
away, hating the fact that he could read her as easily as a
book.
“ I’ll be quiet now,” He replied to her silence, handing her
lighter back.
“ You know, you’re a deep guy,” She said, breaking the
silence a few seconds later.
“ It takes people a while to notice,” He shrugged, taking
another deep puff.  
“ How did your Dad pass away?” He asked bluntly.  She stared
at him, his words cutting inside.  That was the first time
anyone had asked and she actually had to respond; before,
Kevin had answered.
“...You don’t have to tell me,” AJ said, misinterpreting her
silence and shrugging again.
“He...He had cancer...” She replied finally.
“ What a waste,” He stated and Skylee wondered what he was
talking about.
“ What do you mean?” 
“ You always ask me what I mean,” He met her eyes with a
firm stare, analyzing her words.
“ You’re a hard guy to understand,” It was her turn to shrug
and look away.
“ What a waste of a life.  To die of cancer,” He explained,
his tone not changing from that listless manner.
“ Yeah...He was only 46,”
“ And look at you,” Once again, his tone made her question
her own intelligence.
“ ‘What do you mean’-I know-.  Your father dies of cancer
and here you are, blowing smoke,”
“ Excuse me but you are not the right person to judge me-”
“ I know.  I agree completly, I mean I smoke,” He stated
without a trace of sarcasm.
“ What is your problem?  Why are you acting so wierd?”
Skylee said as she dug the butt of her cigarette into the
sand.
“ And now you’re littering,” AJ grabbed her hand and Sky
looked at him, getting a bit frightened of his
agressiveness.  He took the remnants of her cigarette and
stared at her.
“ What is my problem?” He repeated, his voice taking on a
shifty undertone and Skylee wondered if it was time for her
to get back to the hotel.
“ My problem is that people like you prance around this
world, playing the victim while it’s actually you who is the
conniver, the scoundrel, the phony.  I mean, your father
died of cancer and you’d think that it’d teach you
something; like say-hmm-maybe to stop smoking?  Sounds like
a good deal; no cigarette, no cancer.  They don’t call it a
cancer stick for nothing, Miss Richardson-”
“ Are you drunk, AJ?” 
“ Come to think of it, I’ve had a couple of drinks so I can
basically say whatever the fuck I want and not feel as if
I’m gonna pay high tide for it,” He said, sarcasm dripping
from his voice.  He sat, quiet, as he finished off his
cigarette and Skylee looked at him cautiously, anticipating
an outburst at any given second. 
“ You know what?  This is ridiculous; you are a hypocrite. 
Why do you smoke, Mr. Smoking-causes-cancer?” She demanded,
getting angry.
“ There’s a slight difference between you and me, Skylee. 
You see; I don’t care anymore.  Who cares?  I certainly
don’t.  I just think it’s fucked up of your father to die of
cancer and you, his daughter, to smoke,” He stood up and
walked towards the hotel without another word...



					*****
				   The Next Day
	AJ locked the bathroom door, wondering what exactly had
happened last night with Skylee.  He remembered words being
exchanged but not what was exactly said or done.  She had
been extremly quiet today on the bus and had ignored all of
Kevin’s comments.  AJ looked in the mirror at his
reflection, speculating how much he could hide with his
smiles and the glasses.  Not too much today, you could see
everything through his eyes and facial expression.
“ AJ! Hurry up!  Soundcheck’s starting,” Kevin said, banging
on the bathroom door.  AJ stared at the door, irritated by
Kev’s insistent knocking.  He couldn’t even get any privacy
in the bathroom.  Next thing you know, they probably all go
in pairs.
“ Kevin, I got the point,” He called, sighing.
“ You’re still not out-” AJ pulled the door open abruptly
and glared at a surprised Kev.
“ Come on, you’re gonna be late,” Kevin said unevenly.
“ Can I not use the fucking bathroom without someone on my
back?” He snapped.
“ AJ, calm down.  I was just telling you you’re gonna be
late for soundcheck,” 
“ Surprise, surprise.  Look what this is, Kevvy Boy.  A
watch.  That tells time.  I’m pretty sure I can figure out
when soundcheck starts and if I’m gonna be late,” Kevin
stared at AJ, contemplating on whether or not to comment.
“ Don’t get an attitude, AJ,’ He said, somewhat lamely and
walked away, leaving AJ in the doorway of the bathroom.  AJ,
sick of the same old shit all day, every day, walked briskly
to the back doors and decided to skip soundcheck...







Main Page

Table Of Contents