Read Online Surreal Ecstasy by Chrissy Moon - Free Book Online Page A

But who would fill
dem bitchy shoes? Who can we possibly get that can simultaneously file her
nails, gossip about her employees, and play Farmville all day? That
takes talent and skill, you know. She had months of extensive training of
sitting on her fat ass and cackling like a witch."
    I laughed—my first genuine laugh
since I'd been hospitalized. I saw Erica outside in the hallway, headed towards
my door. She wasn't easy to miss with that damned perfect blonde hair. She
poked her head in the doorway, smiling. "Ah! I see you have a visitor,"
she chirped cheerfully. I groaned with mild embarrassment. Oblivious (or
seemingly so), Erica closed the door again and continued down the hall.
    Dess bit her lip as she tore her
eyes away from the hallway. "I'm the only visitor you've had, aren't I?"
    "Is it that obvious?" I
sighed quietly.
    She said nothing but sort of smiled
and bit down on her lip again. I was starting to see that it was her go-to move
when she needed to pause or think. Then she took a breath, leaned forward and
said, "It's none of my business, but I could tell."
    "Huh? What are you talking
about?" I had a sinking feeling I knew exactly what she was getting
at. Without thinking, I shoved my right arm underneath the paper blanket. Part
of me wanted this conversation to end right here, right now. But a small voice
in my head told me that if I ever wanted to have a friend—a real friend—I would
have to deal with the ugliness of my life situations.
    She blinked slowly and sighed
quietly. Then she looked directly in my eyes and said, "What that fucker
does to you. Has been doing to you."
    I looked down toward the bed rail
on my right. I took a breath through my nose so deep, my shoulders rose and
fell.
    "You don't have to say
anything," Dess continued gently, placing a timid hand on my bed's edge. "I
know the signs." She stopped and scoffed. "I know them too well."
A hard look graced her face for a moment, which confused me. Her husband
certainly didn't look the violent type. In the next instant, she was focused on
me again, the serious expression gone. She offered me a small smile and pulled
forward a chair that was next to the door, settling down in it. "I just
hope you left him," she added softly yet clearly.
    I nodded before I began speaking. "I'm
trying," I said noncommittally. "It's a long story."
    "I'm sure it is," she
agreed. "Just—you know—Don't feel alone. Okay? I know it's easy to think
you are, but…"
    "Well… thanks, Dess. That's
really nice of you. It's just… we don't really know each other too well."
    "Best part about it. Who cares
what a ruffian such as myself thinks about you?" She folded her arms
casually at the foot of my bed, smiling fully now, flashing a brilliant set of
teeth.
    "Roofie-ann? What the hell is
that?"
    "A badass. A gangta. Someone
like me, you know."
    "Um… I'm looking at you now
and… sorry, Dess, although you don't look like everyone else, you certainly don't
look like a badass, gangta, or a roughie-ann."
    She threw her head back and
laughed. "Ruffian," she corrected. "And you're right. My ass isn't
really that bad at all. It's a good ass," she added, winking. I laughed as
she continued. "People think that about me, though, so I'm used to it.
Kinda adopted the persona just to shut up the onlookers, you know?"
     "That doesn't make sense. You
just said you weren't really a ruffle-man or whatever the hell it is. So how
could you adopt the persona?"
     "Ruffian," she corrected
again, then considered and nodded. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that
when people think horrid things about me, I stand there and let them. You can
tell when they do it, too—they look at me like I stepped out of a B movie gone horribly
wrong."
    "Don't you get pissed?" I
asked her before taking a sip of water from my plastic cup.
    "I used to. I used to give
them dirty looks, especially the kids. Then one day I realized that there will
always be someone who would have a problem with what I look