Only One Forever (Only One 8)

We walk up the three flights of stairs. My skin starts to tingle, and the memories come one after another. I look down at my sneakers that I paid over four hundred dollars for. These sneakers might be as much as some people pay for their rent. I look at the door seeing that the doors are stainless steel, most of them dented in. When we come to his door, we both see the yellow notice on the door.

EVICTION. In big, bold black letters.

We both look at each other, neither of us saying a word, and I reach for the handle of the door, expecting it to be locked, but it opens. Alex’s arm flies out to stop me from stepping forward, but it’s too late because the door opens. Maddox takes a step in like he’s getting home. Alex follows him, and I follow her. My eyes scan the room, ignoring Alex’s gasp. There is no bedroom; it’s one big room. The back wall has two windows that are closed. The main light in the room is on, showing us the dirty rug. The whole place has one piece of furniture, and that is a mattress in the middle of the room, right on the floor. Not even sheets are on the bed, just the yellow stains, and my stomach rises. My head spins around and around, and I think I’m going to be sick when Maddox walks over to the bed and sits down. “No!” Alex yells, frightening him, and I look over at her and see the tears in her eyes.

“It’s fine.” I smile, trying not to make him feel like he did something wrong and then looking at her. “This is his home,” I remind her as I turn to see the fridge, walking over to it I open it and see it’s empty. I walk over to the sink seeing it empty, and when I try to turn on the water, nothing comes out. Opening the cupboard over the sink, I see that it’s empty. Every single cabinet is empty. “Maddox.” I turn, looking at him. “Where do you keep your cups?” He looks at me, getting up and walking to the bathroom and comes back with a red Solo cup. He hands it to me, and I smile at him. “And where are your clothes?” He looks around the room.

“We keep a bag in that corner.” He points at the empty corner of the room. I look over at Alex, who has to turn around to wipe away the tears. I look around the room, and it finally dawns on me that no one lives here. Even if you are dirt poor and have nothing, you at least have some sort of belongings. But there is nothing here

“What else is missing?” I ask, looking around at the four walls with the small bathroom in the corner.

“I had a chair,” he says. “And there was a cover for the bed.”

I hear someone in the hallway, and I take a step out, seeing one of the neighbors. She looks up at me, surprised I’m here. “Hey, sorry to bother you, but do you know the people who live here?”

She takes her keys out and starts to open her door. “No one lives there.” She huffs and puffs. “Ducked out of here early this morning. She tried to be quiet, but she was yelling at her child to hurry the fuck up while she carried one box.” I nod at her, and if I didn’t feel like barfing before, I definitely feel the bile crawling up my throat.

When I walk in, I see that Alex is wiping away a tear. “You need to call Julia,” I say, and her eyes go big. I look over to see Maddox lying on the bed in a fetal position, my voice going low. “She moved out of here this morning.”

“But.” She starts to say. “Where did she go?”

“I don’t think she left a forwarding address.” My voice stays low as not to wake Maddox. “Either way, we have to call someone.”

She pulls her phone out and calls Julia on speakerphone, lowering the volume of her phone. I look over at Maddox, but he doesn’t stir. “Hello,” Julia answers.

“Hey, it’s me,” Alex says softly. “I have a situation.”

“Oh, good God,” she huffs out. “How many situations can you get into in three days?”

“I’m not kidding.” Her voice goes tight, and she doesn’t give Julia time to talk. “There is a kid from the hockey school.”

“Oh, shit,” Julia says now.

“Mother dropped him off this morning,” Alex explains. “I got a call at six thirty. She never showed up.”

“Fuck,” Julia curses. “Are you at the rink now?”

“No,” Alex says. “We decided that we would drive him home.”

“What?” she shrieks. “What the hell is wrong with you? You can never, and I mean never leave with the child. You need to call the authorities.”