Frankenstein Barbie and the Block Party!

"So glad you could make it!" a woman in a sparkly, pink dress squealed as she made her way over to Jim and I. Who the hell is that horrifying woman? I had never seen her before in my life, and I was frankly pretty thankful for that. She wore too much makeup and appeared to have flat ironed her hair one too many times. Jim looked her up and down and a smile stretched across his face: "Boy am I glad I could make it too."
Oh, barf. The scary Stepford Wife woman giggled and blushed a little. Well, I am assuming she blushed- I wouldn't actually be able to tell through all that shit on her face. So there I was at this ridiculous block party, standing next to my asshole husband while he flirted with a woman who looked like Frankenstein Barbie. I was too old to join the teenagers inside the skating rink- they were all drinking and throwing up hormones and angst all over the place. I saw Brooke Adams stumble out of the doors, holding onto some boy her age. Funny- I always thought Brooke was a good kid. She was holding a DeerPark water bottle, trying to fool the rest of the adult party goers, but I knew that was not water. If there was anything I learned in my teen years, it was that anyone under the age of 21 drinking water at a gathering, is fooling you. It kind of made me smile. They reminded me of Jim and I at that age- drunk, laughing, and happy. I guess some things change. I snapped out of my stroll down memory lane and my mind jumped back to Jim.
"HAH you are soooo funny, Jim!" barked out Frankenstein barbie. Jim was proud of himself, I could tell. This was his way of regaining control. He did this whenever he sensed that I was getting fed up or working up the nerve to say something about how much better of a man I could have. This woman was his "Fuck you, look what I can do. And you are not even going to say a word." He was right. I wasn't going to say anything. It just didn't seem worth it.
"Jim... would you mind if I went over to-"
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." He didn't take his lustful eyes off of the woman as he brushed me off. Frankenstein shot me a dirty look as if I was flirting with her husband. You can have him, honey...
I didn't know where to go, but I was NOT about to sit around and wait for Jim and Botox Barbie to slyly "go discuss something personal" in a more "private place". Discuss something personal my ass. Or...well... her ass, I guess you could say. Like I said, I was about ten years to old to join in skating rink portion of the party, but I also felt a bit too young to join in with the other adults. Or maybe I didn't feel to young as much as too tired. I decided to stroll over to the refreshment table and attempt to not look lonely. For about ten minutes, I stood there staring at the lemonade. God, this is like my senior prom. Just without the DeerPark water bottle... 
All of the sudden, someone slammed into me from behind.
"Oh shit! God, i'm so sorry!" I now had lemonade all down the front of my shirt.
"Oh, um... It's alright..." I said. Grasping for the napkins at the table. I knew Jim was going to be pissed that I had spilled something on myself. He always was loosing his temper for little things like that.
"Here, let me help you..." said the woman. I looked up to notice her short, blonde hair and leather jacket. She took my hand and began leading me somewhere. I was a bit flustered, but I followed. She pulled me through the doors of the skating rink and towards the back. I noticed Brooke again, leaning up against the back wall with that same boy. Her hair was ruffled and make-up was smeared around her eyes and lips.
"OH HEYYY THERRRE ALLISON! THAT'S IS YOUURRR NAMEEE IS RIGHT?" Brook slurred as we moved past. Close enough... 
The woman moved into the bathroom and pulled me in after her. Pulling paper towels from the dispenser, she apologized again for my ruined shirt.
"It's really okay..." I assured her, taking the paper towels she handed me.
"My name is Missy!" she said with a smile. I didn't really know what to say so I just continued to wipe my shirt with no result.
"And your name is....Allison?" She put on her best drunken face and giggled. I laughed too. It felt nice to laugh.
"Um...well, it's actually Alice."
"Sorry about your shirt, Alice. It's really my fault..."
"No no! It's really fine. I promise."
It was quiet for a sec. I looked around only to wonder why we were still standing in this bathroom. It was dark and the sink had an annoying drip. For some reason though, I didn't feel like going back out there. I then realized Missy was looking at me with a questioning smile. I didn't know what to say.
"Well... thanks for the help. I should really get back out to my husband." finally made it's way out of my mouth.
"Oh, your husband?"
"Yes...my husband. Isn't your husband here too?"
She silently looked at me, and appeared to be holding back a smile. I was confused.
"No...I'm a lesbian." she said laughing. Now I was very confused.
"But...you are always with Talus. That's his name, right? I always see you two together when you leave the apartment."
"Oh! Well, he is my room mate, you see."
"Oh.... That's nice. I think I should go..." I decided aloud. I left the bathroom and headed back outside. I didn't even bother to look back at Missy or Brooke or anyone for that matter. I wanted to go home. I walked out the doors of the skating rink and into the world of the petty adults' party. The sound of laughing filled my ears and it pissed me off. This whole thing was ridiculous and fake and I hated it. As I made my way up to Jim, I saw his eyes scroll down to the huge stain on my shirt.
"What the hell is that?" he said accusingly.
"It's just... I'm sorry. Can we please leave?"
"Alice, this is why I do not leave the house with you. You are always doing stupid shit like this, and it makes me look bad. Why would you do this to me?"
"Jim, I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"
Suddenly, I heard a voice from behind me: "It was my fault."
"Who the hell are you?" said Jim with a puzzled look.
"I'm Missy", she said, sticking out her arm for a handshake. Her request went denied.
"We're leaving", Jim demanded as he turned to go.
"Goodbye, Alice." Missy said handing me yet another paper towel. She walked away and disappeared within the crowd of  people. I looked down at the towel.


Meet me at the coffee house tomorrow at nine. Promise I won't spill any drinks on you this time :)


Um... shit. 

Awakening

I dreamt of the homeless man last night. It was one of those dreams where you can only see it- like the audio gotten lost along the way or something. We were sitting at this round table. He had his hands sticking out towards me and his eyes were that same, blank fog. I wasn't frightened though. It seemed to be a calm, controlled, almost relaxing conversation. And when I awoke, I felt so...light. I wish I knew what he was saying to me.

I sat by the window looking down at the crowd of people who surrounded the coffee shop. The sun had just come up and Jim would be stumbling out of bed soon. Normally, I would wait in bed and pretend to be asleep. He would then put his slimy fingers all over me before a cigarette and a slam of a door. Today felt different though. It didn't matter what Jim did. There was nothing he could do.

I heard a grumble and a few heavy footsteps. Jim appeared in the doorstep with his usual stained, white shirt and greasy hair, but now sporting a puzzled look. Well hello sleeping beauty... I turned my head to look at him, paused, and turned back towards the window. He didn't say anything- not one single word. The first time I had left that man's bed without his permission in ten years of marriage, and he was speechless.

"What's the problem, Jim?" I asked, finally breaking his silence.

A look of anger came across his face. It was a look I was too familiar with. But today the look of anger did not turn into a fist or yelling. Instead, he simply grabbed his coat in a frustrated panic and stormed out the door.  Confused, I looked out the window again and saw Jim leaving the apartment complex. He wasn't walking the direction of his work. I watched closely as he made his way through the fog and passed the crowd outside of the coffee shop. When he finally stopped walking he bent down onto his knees, right in the middle of the sidewalk. I squinted my eyes trying to somehow see what he was doing. Suddenly, I could see another figure through the fog. Jim was leaning down to talk to someone.

The homeless man.

He whispered something into the man's ear and then stood up, looked back up into the direction of our apartment window, and walked behind the pawn shop and out of view.

What the hell is going on?