condo I freeze. The condo looks like it’s been hit by a hurricane. We were only gone for four hours and it doesn’t even look like home anymore. Tall moving boxes sealed with black—or pink? —tape make it nearly impossible to get across the living room. In giant letters names have been written on the cardboard. Rene. Rene. Rene. Chrissie …shit, she started packing my things, too.
I rapidly notice the rest of the room. The pictures are gone from the walls. The books from the shelves. The CDs and albums. All the stupid clutter Rene and I accumulated in four years here, gone.
The music is blasting, and my anxious gaze floats through the room, but I don’t see Rene. How the heck did she do this in four hours? Jeez, I knew we had to finish packing today, but I didn’t expect it look like this and I definitely didn’t expect it to plunge my emotions into free-fall again.
My brain can’t keep up with what’s happening here. Neil makes a low whistle, pulling me from my stupor. “Someone is eager to get out of Berkeley,” he says, amused and jeering. He looks at some boxes, pausing at one with his name written on it. “She might have let us pack up our own shit, don’t you think?”
“Rene? Are you here?” I call out.
The music switches off and Rene comes bouncing from the kitchen. She’s dressed in short-short cutoff overalls and a tube top, her black hair pushed back from her face in a pink bandana. Perspiration speckles her rich olive skin.
She smiles, brushing at a wayward curl with a forearm. “I’ve packed all the kitchen things and marked them to go to LA for my new apartment, like you said I could.” She stares down at something in her hand. “Do you want this or can I keep it?”
I maneuver through the boxes to see what she’s looking at. It’s a picture of the three of us our first Christmas after Neil moved in.
I hold out my hand, a lump rising in my throat. “No. I want to keep this.”
Rene shakes her head and sighs. “I sort of like it. I was hoping you’d let me keep it.” She stares at me expectantly, I stare back, and then she sets it next to an unsealed box. “Fine, you can have it.” She taps two boxes. “These ones are yours, Chrissie. I haven’t sealed and labeled them yet. You can finish putting your stuff in here. I haven’t even started on your bedroom.”
“Let’s not have you packing our stuff from the bedroom,” Neil says, sitting down on the couch.
Rene sticks out her tongue at him. “What’s the matter? Afraid I might get all hot and bothered looking at your boxers?”
Neil laughs. “Nope. More afraid you might steal Josh Moss’s phone number from my address book.”
Rene flushes, her eyes sparkly. “Asshole!” She crosses her arms. “So how is Josh?”
“Josh will be here tomorrow. He’s driving back to Seattle with me.” A teasing glint brightens Neil’s eyes. “Might be your last chance with him, Rene.”
She scrunches up her nose and shrugs. “Too bad my plane leaves at 6 a.m. Well, it’s his loss.”
Neil laughs and clicks on the TV. It’s one of the only things in the room not disconnected or shoved into a box.
I finally find my voice. “I can’t believe you packed my things without me. I don’t even know what’s in the boxes. I thought we were going to do this together. You didn’t even wait for me.”
Both Rene and Neil stare at me. Shit! Why did that have to come out so loud and sound so irrational?
Rene arches a brow. “My plane leaves early in the morning. We can’t put it off any longer, Chrissie.”
In the morning. I tense. For the first time it sinks in and holds the feel of realness that we are all leaving tomorrow, heading in different directions.
“Besides, it wouldn’t be right to leave you having to do everything,” she says.
She takes from her pocket a folded sheet of paper, shoves it at me, and sinks down on the arm of the sofa.
Her finger moves along the list as I read.
She says, “That’s my
I rapidly notice the rest of the room. The pictures are gone from the walls. The books from the shelves. The CDs and albums. All the stupid clutter Rene and I accumulated in four years here, gone.
The music is blasting, and my anxious gaze floats through the room, but I don’t see Rene. How the heck did she do this in four hours? Jeez, I knew we had to finish packing today, but I didn’t expect it look like this and I definitely didn’t expect it to plunge my emotions into free-fall again.
My brain can’t keep up with what’s happening here. Neil makes a low whistle, pulling me from my stupor. “Someone is eager to get out of Berkeley,” he says, amused and jeering. He looks at some boxes, pausing at one with his name written on it. “She might have let us pack up our own shit, don’t you think?”
“Rene? Are you here?” I call out.
The music switches off and Rene comes bouncing from the kitchen. She’s dressed in short-short cutoff overalls and a tube top, her black hair pushed back from her face in a pink bandana. Perspiration speckles her rich olive skin.
She smiles, brushing at a wayward curl with a forearm. “I’ve packed all the kitchen things and marked them to go to LA for my new apartment, like you said I could.” She stares down at something in her hand. “Do you want this or can I keep it?”
I maneuver through the boxes to see what she’s looking at. It’s a picture of the three of us our first Christmas after Neil moved in.
I hold out my hand, a lump rising in my throat. “No. I want to keep this.”
Rene shakes her head and sighs. “I sort of like it. I was hoping you’d let me keep it.” She stares at me expectantly, I stare back, and then she sets it next to an unsealed box. “Fine, you can have it.” She taps two boxes. “These ones are yours, Chrissie. I haven’t sealed and labeled them yet. You can finish putting your stuff in here. I haven’t even started on your bedroom.”
“Let’s not have you packing our stuff from the bedroom,” Neil says, sitting down on the couch.
Rene sticks out her tongue at him. “What’s the matter? Afraid I might get all hot and bothered looking at your boxers?”
Neil laughs. “Nope. More afraid you might steal Josh Moss’s phone number from my address book.”
Rene flushes, her eyes sparkly. “Asshole!” She crosses her arms. “So how is Josh?”
“Josh will be here tomorrow. He’s driving back to Seattle with me.” A teasing glint brightens Neil’s eyes. “Might be your last chance with him, Rene.”
She scrunches up her nose and shrugs. “Too bad my plane leaves at 6 a.m. Well, it’s his loss.”
Neil laughs and clicks on the TV. It’s one of the only things in the room not disconnected or shoved into a box.
I finally find my voice. “I can’t believe you packed my things without me. I don’t even know what’s in the boxes. I thought we were going to do this together. You didn’t even wait for me.”
Both Rene and Neil stare at me. Shit! Why did that have to come out so loud and sound so irrational?
Rene arches a brow. “My plane leaves early in the morning. We can’t put it off any longer, Chrissie.”
In the morning. I tense. For the first time it sinks in and holds the feel of realness that we are all leaving tomorrow, heading in different directions.
“Besides, it wouldn’t be right to leave you having to do everything,” she says.
She takes from her pocket a folded sheet of paper, shoves it at me, and sinks down on the arm of the sofa.
Her finger moves along the list as I read.
She says, “That’s my
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