Mad Woman Roommate

She had stayed for months at a time completely alone. It was a 4 bedroom apartment, that she had all to herself for months at a time. The closed doors with the letters labeled A through D were her only constant reminder that these rooms would one day be filled with roommates. She dreaded the day that would be. She herself stayed in the room with the letter B on her own door. She liked to spend her time pacing the hallway every single night of that apartment. The carpet became so matted overtime from the constant back and forth from her mindless walking up and down it at all hours of the night and parts of the day. It seemed a way for Sally to try and escape from the sad reality that her children were taken from her a few years ago. She was seen by society as an unfit mother. Indeed, so she was. She faced each empty day inside her subconscious being, reminded of this truth. She listened to blaring, vulgar music from her phone as she did so, to try and drown out the little voices she heard inside her mind. She would get high and stick her head under cold water from the bathtub periodically, just to gain a sense of reality. Her empty and alone reality. She would then proceed to pull her short brown hair straight up, as water dripped from the stiff locks of her hair. On the nights she wasn't doing that, she was "entertaining" male guests, as a way to pass the time and help keep her loneliness at bay. She commuted back and forth on a motorized bicycle from her apartment complex to work everyday. At least on the days she decided to go to work. She worked as a delivery driver for a small local garden delivery service and was given the opportunity to load and deliver fresh produce from the neighboring areas from this establishment. On the days she was stuck in traffic, Sally Flehm would take time to shoot random pictures of herself and her surroundings and post it onto her social media. They were the most obscure photos that were completely unorthodox and sporadic to ever hit the social media platform! In fact, this was her constant state of being. Whenever she got into an irrational manic state of being, she would repeatedly take pictures of random things. Spilled wine, her dead potted plants, her body, her nails, and even a scarf draped across her ceiling fan. The most eerie pictures, show and telling of a woman who was completely out of her mind.

One evening, she was sitting on the balcony of her apartment smoking a joint, as the landlady came to show a potential tenant seeking a room for rent. Sally was surprised to see people in her apartment, but quickly recovered and offered the new younger roommate a smoke of her joint. Samantha, in a state of shock and bewilderment, shook her head and declined the offer and reminded the landlady of the "no smoking policy" within the lease she had just signed minutes before seeing the place and meeting her new roommate. The landlady didn't seem at all perturbed by this scene and simply said that this was a city and that smoking was a very common and accepted thing to do, especially within a college town. She did however, remind Sally of the designated smoking areas and encouraged her to utilize them, now that she had a roommate. As she was being told this, Sally was immediately taking arm loads of food out of the fridge to make room for the new roommate. Samantha surveyed the place. It was a complete mess! She hoped that her roommate Sally would clean up the common areas as she moved her stuff in. Hesitantly, Samantha accepted the keys from the landlady and promptly moved into room A that day. Directly side by side, with only a small wall between room B that Sally occupied. Little did she know what a complete nightmare her living situation would become as the days passed. The first night came and went without anything untoward, however. But the second night was another matter altogether. It started off by Sally inviting Samantha to go with her to the store to get refreshments to enjoy by the pool. Samantha had already planned to go down to the pool anyways, for a bit of a break in her unpacking. There were two disc golf baskets set up for the residents to enjoy during business hours, and she felt like they were calling her name! The two set off down the street to a rather large liquor store. When they got there, Sally hastily grabbed 2 large beer cans, cheap beer at that. Samantha was eager to get to the pool area to enjoy the rest of the summer evening before they closed the community area for the night, and was not interested in drinking anything but water. After making the purchases, Sally led them back out of the store and onto the sidewalk that led straight to the complex. Samantha didn't think anything about the fact that her companion had just purchased 2 cans of beer. The second one was intended for her to drink, but like she declined the smoke, she again declined the beer that was being offered to her. It felt like this older woman was trying to bond or connect with this younger girl through drinking and smoking, and it wasn't working. Samantha didn't mind the companionship this woman offered freely to her, in fact, she was grateful for the distraction to keep her mind off of the breakup she had just been through. She did however, feel mildly annoyed that Sally was continuing to pester her about not drinking or smoking with her. Also, it seemed as though Sally was showing physical signs of exasperations towards Samantha for not participating in her bad habits. They had finally made it to the pool area and enjoyed the cool water and Samantha even got to show Sally how to play disc golf. After enjoying their time together, they then parted ways. Samantha, being tired from the day's work, made her way back to their shared apartment, while her companion proceeded back to the liquor store, by herself this time. The night was only beginning. Stupidly, Samantha left her door wide open, as she continued to sort and organize through all her belongings. She didn't realize it at the time how intoxicated her eccentric roommate had become. In her drunkenness, Sally was given the perfect opportunity to talk nonstop to her new companion. She asked her question after question, trying to pull as much information from Samantha's personal life as she possibly could. Samantha then realized that her intoxicated roommate wasn't going to stop, as hour after hour she unpacked Sally would not leave her alone. In the doorway of her room, Sally drank and talked, drank and talked some more to her half tolerant companion. Samantha was as gracious as she could possibly be under the circumstances, but she had never been in the presence of an intoxicated human being before, let alone a rude and impertinent drunk. She should have thought to close her door, but she didn't. She proceeded to engage in the incessant conversation. It wasn't until the time showed almost midnight, that she realized her great desire and need for a shower and sleep. Sally followed close in tail. Samantha couldn't close the door on her soon enough, as Sally pushed her way through the bathroom door. To her horror, Samantha watched as Sally then proceeded to undress herself right in front of her! Samantha ran from the first bathroom and was just able to shut and lock the second bathroom from her indecent roommate. Samantha was alarmed at that point on and as she showered, Sally would repeatedly knock and shout through the door. It then dawned on her that her roommate was an alcoholic, as she remembered her roommate continued to drink nonstop in her doorway. She dreaded to come out of the bathroom, not knowing if Sally would be there waiting for her, naked. Samantha made it back to her bedroom and closed and locked her door, grateful for the quietness of her safe haven as she slept.

The next day, the third roommate, Laura Fount moved into bedroom C. The night of the downward spiral began with all 3 of the girls visiting quaintly together in the living room, just getting to know one another. Laura asked Sally and Samantha if they'd like to join her in a celebratory smoke together out on the balcony. Samantha, again declined, but Sally seized the opportunity for a free smoke. From that point on, Sally bullied and belittled Samantha for not participating in the smoking session. Dear Laura spoke up on behalf of her new roommate. Sally then proceeded to open up a $65 dollar bottle of red wine she had just purchased that evening. A luxury item she could not afford, but she bought it as the addiction drove her to do it. The more she drank and the more she smoked, Sally proceeded to get nastier towards them both. Laura and Samantha looked at each other in utter disbelief and immediately left Sally in the living room to each go to their separate bedrooms for the night. Sally was then left to her own devices. She began immediately to unravel her insanity, as all the friendly doors were closed in on her that night. How could she expect anything less when her behavior was so abrasive towards her fellow man. She was bored. She made a mess of the kitchen and all along snapped pictures of the mess she was purposefully creating and posted them to her social media. She laid her roommate's kitchen utensils out on the counter. One by one, she took the most disturbing pictures. She poured the red wine on the counter, and placed a coffee filter on top to soak up the liquid. Meanwhile, Samantha could hear the obnoxious and loud noises coming from the kitchen. She knew that Sally was up to no good. She happened to be friends with Sally on the same social media platform, and hopped on there to just distract her from the chaos that was happening right outside her door. She was disturbed by the images she saw from Sally. She saw the whole common areas completely disarrayed. Within just a few short minutes, Sally had made a complete pigsty of the place and was posting pictures of it for anyone to see! She saw her coffee mugs and her spatulas dripping with the red liquid. This was a manic attack she was witnessing. She even read the phrase written on a scrap of paper laying on the counter, "It's better this way." What could that possibly mean!? Samantha thought her life was in danger from this lunatic! She tried calling Laura, but Laura slept like the dead and never woke up to hear her phone ring. Samantha then called 911, which then brought two police officers to her door. Samantha could hear Sally run straight to her door, close it and lock it. Samantha was still on the phone with the dispatcher and asked for the police to come to her window, because she was too afraid to leave her room. The police were unsure what to do, as Samantha cried out to them from her bedroom window. She had never felt more terrified of her safety than she did in that moment. They couldn't get into the apartment unless the door was unlocked and they didn't want to break it down, due to liability reasons. Samantha, out of sheer desperation, asked if they could help her leave the apartment, and somehow help her down from the window. They tried comforting and reassuring her as best they could, and encouraged her to just stay in her room for the night, and so she did. She locked her bedroom door and laid in her bed that night listening and watching from her phone all the disturbing things that Sally was doing to the common areas. Sally was indeed spiraling into her deranged episode. It was all so terrifying and unusual, that it was all Samantha could do to just try and fall asleep, dreading the morning and it's disaster it would surely bring.

The next morning, Samantha awoke from a somewhat restless sleep. She crept from her bed, wincing at the sound of the creaking carpeted floors her feet stood up on. She cautiously opened her door and walked down the hallway to the kitchen. To her great surprise and relief, the mess she had witnessed the night before was completely clean! How could this be!? She had seen pictures posted repeatedly of the mess! Was she imagining things? Except for her favorite coffee mug being turned upside down, with the stains of drying wine still showing off it's white porcelain, the kitchen looked as if it had been thoroughly deep cleaned! How could this be!? Samantha couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she reasoned that Sally had purposefully made a mess of the place just so she would have something to do for the evening to keep her occupied. Was she really that bored with her life? Was this woman in utter torment from not being able to be with her children that she would act the child herself by making messes and cleaning up after herself!? Samantha was deeply disturbed by the realization that she and Laura were possibly living with a severely mentally ill human being. Sympathy and anger washed over Samantha as she cleaned her favorite mug and started boiling water for her morning c0ffee. She was determined to report the whole incident to the landlady, as it seemed like a hazardous living situation. Sally appeared suddenly. She acted as if nothing had happened. Samantha wasn't sure how or even if she should broach the subject to her. They both remained quiet and there was nothing said of the incident.

The next evening was no better. Sally blared loud and raunchy music, and even came out of her room, wearing nothing but her underwear and a loose cardigan. Her bare chest was exposed as she danced for all the world to see on the balcony outside! That was enough to send Laura and Samantha into a heated confrontation with the lunatic they were dealing with. Both tried to reason and implore her to behave herself, to turn down her music, to stop walking up and down the hallway, but to no avail! She twerked in front of them and continued on down the hall. It was as if she was in a trance or possessed. This erratic behavior lasted hour after hour. The two roommates eventually gave up and went about their day, trying to avoid bumping into their inconsiderate and brain sick roommate. They did, however continually report Sally. Time after time, this happened, and each time the girls would document by taking pictures and videos, writing down the date and time the incidents occurred within the apartment, and reporting it back to their landlady. They had no other choice but to build a case against her. Even maybe go so far as to get a restraining order against her...

In fact, it became evidently more apparent for Samantha to get the restraining order quickly against her, because one night Samantha's door wasn't closed and locked properly, as she normally made it a point to do so every single night before bed. Sally, slowly opened her door and peered in as Samantha jumped up, shocked and utterly horrified to see Sally's imploring brown eyes staring at her from the threshold of her door. She pleaded whisperingly to Samantha to help her look for her lost keys. Samantha, morning dazed and still stunned at the knowledge that her door was left unlocked the entire night stayed upright in her bed, not even to acknowledge Sally's cry for help. Why would she? When this woman's life was in utter shambles and disarray and caused such chaos to those living with her. Her problems would not become their problem.

As the days and weeks went by, Sally made it abundantly clear that she had no regard or consideration towards her roommates. As she threw the trash can lid out the sliding screen door, left used toilet paper on the commodes, and continued to open and close the doors all hours of the night. As this happened, an animosity slowly grew between Samantha, Melissa, and Lauren. Tension rose between them all, and their alliance slowly dissipated away. It was the lack of energy that drew them all apart, and they no longer acknowledged Sally and her indecent behavior, but instead sat back and tolerated her for the remainder of their lease term.