The Best Friend I've Ever Had

The first apartment caught my eye; it was the only one with its lights on. With blood-stricken hands, I reached for the knocker at the top of the door. Nathan was my best friend, so I hoped he would understand me coming unannounced. Since he moved one town over, I wasn't even sure I was at the right location, but it was the only place I thought I would be safe.

I knocked a few more times; the pouring rain dripped swifter down my back. With a clap of thunder, and a flash of lightning, it came down even heavier.

Finally, Nathan came to his front door. "Judy! What's wrong?"

"Can I come in?"

He gently held my hand and guided me into his living room. Even through my gloves, his hand felt cold as ice. "Let me get you a blanket," he said. In front of the sofa was a black television. Above it, a clock marked the time on the wall: 11:45p.m. On top of the television were pictures one in which he wore a graduation gown with his arms wrapped around the shoulders of his parents.

He returned soon after and sat beside me on the couch; he covered my shoulders with the quilted blanket I made for him back in high school. The concern in his eyes was evident.

"Are you okay, Judy?"

Nathan’s eyes focused on mine as I paused to wipe the tears falling down my cheeks. The breaking of my voice made it hard for me to say anything.

"It's my dad," I said, "He's been drinking again. This time he totally lost control."

“I’m so sorry, Judy,” he said.

"No matter what I do, he always goes back to drinking without any regard for me or my feelings. Sometimes, I feel like a ghost, like I'm invisible or that he doesn't even see me."

"I get it. Believe it or not, that's the same reason why I moved out here," Nathan said. “Since the accident, my parents and I barely talk anymore. I visit them from time to time, but they never acknowledge me like they used to before.”

He looked out to the storm on the other side of the window. The branches of bare trees tapped lightly against the glass. “My parents are kind people and are always there to support me whenever I need them. I've always done my best to make them proud of me. Sure, I’ve made mistakes in my life, but was that really a reason for them to stop speaking to me?"

The sorrow in his eyes was clear when he glanced at the clock. “Anyway, it’s getting late. Since you need a place to stay, I have an extra bedroom in the back to the left. The bathroom is on the right. You can dry up in there before you go to sleep.”

My feet still ached and were red as peppers from running. In any case, I got up and went into the bathroom where a pink towel was hanging on the shower, and folded next to the sink was a white T-shirt along with blue shorts. It was weird. It was as though he was expecting me all along.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “You can use everything in there. It’s all clean.”

The wooden floor creaked as I climbed into the bed later on. I slowly leaned my body down, resting my head on the soft pillow. “Thank you so much,” I said, "You're such a great friend."

"You're my best friend, Judy. It's the least I can do."

The next thing I remembered was waking up in the bed and feeling the glow of the sun against my arm. I wiped the grogginess from my eyes as I stretched on the bed. From the crack in the bedroom door, I saw the entrance to Nathan’s room was wide open, but he wasn’t there.

I continued to search the apartment for him but couldn’t find him anywhere. I called his name several times until I walked into the living room and sat down. The ruffling of paper underneath me made me realize I sat on the newspaper; I figured Nathan must have gone to work. He must have brought the newspaper in before leaving.

A sharp pain shot through my heart when I saw him. On the front page of the paper, was a photograph of my dad, Marc, his eyes stared at me as if he could see me through the ink. On the other side of his photo: a photograph showed his car crumpled together in the front, air bag ejected, and the windshield cracked.

“Last evening around 7pm, Pastor Marc Villa, of the local Simon's Baptist Church was killed in a car accident when he collided with a car that ran a stop sign. His car apparently slammed into the side of the other vehicle. Pastor Villa, 41, was well loved by the congregation of his church as they arrived to place flowers and letters at the scene of the accident this morning. He leaves behind one daughter.” My head felt dizzy as I held my breath and read on.

“The driver of the other vehicle was also killed. He had no ID on him at the time of the collision, but authorities found a photograph of him with relatives within the glove compartment of the car. They later identified the man as 23-year-old college graduate, Nathan James.”