The City That Never Sleeps
In early November you found yourself sitting in the Times Square. It was a chilly, lonely November night. Actually, it was 2am in the city that never sleeps. Usually, you were not like this city, but lately, you didn’t sleep either. You looked around and took in the people, the shops, the commotion, the noise, the advertisements, and the dark night sky lit up with artificial light. You knew that New York was the birthplace of LGBTQ+ rights in the USA, and interestingly for you, New Yorkers spoke hundreds of different languages. Perhaps there was a reason that you came here and fell in love with the place. That was, however, when you were younger. You were realizing now that you missed the small town, family, humble vibes that was your hometown in Italy, and is Jericho. You have been thinking lately, probably too much. You thought of your husband, though you loved him, you thought of him as a best friend as opposed to someone you liked romantically or sexually. You realized that you had no friends, because how could you pick specific people to like and hangout with and trust out of the millions around you. You realized that, although great at your job, maybe teenage you just got on the first train that left the station. You realized that you, knowing everything that you did, didn't know how to help yourself, didn't know what you truly wanted. Or, maybe you did. Maybe you were just rejecting it, maybe you were just scared. Staring down at your bare legs, fresh tattoos stared back at you. Extra black ink stained your skin, and you couldn’t seem make out how the ink would really look quite yet. Hopefully, just above your right knee would read 'Peace will win' and the left, 'Fear will lose' when they healed, and hopefully the new one covering the back of your left shoulder would be a pair of black lips, your own, ironically.
You made your way into a building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This outcast school board meeting was going to be so boring. You haven't seen your husband in a couple weeks, so you knew he'd be happy to see you. You were the first one there, so you sat down and started looking over your recent notes from Nevermore that were to be submitted. "Good to see you, Anura" your boss made his way to sit across from you. "You too, sir" you stated handing him your notes. Admittedly, your boss was a really nice guy. He made this job way easier for everyone, if they allowed him to. There were a couple people, not mentioning any names, that acted like they were in charge, despite being on the same level of seniority as you. "These are great notes, thank you for the feedback." He continued, "Anura, when you visited Nevermore, was there anything suspicious, or anything that you may have missed?" You looked to him surprised, you usually never missed anything. Besides the Nightshades and the poisonous plant you found in the greenhouse, there was nothing. "No, I mean, nothing I thought was of concern" you said confidently. Your boss looked at you, "I believe you. However, recent horrible news has come from Jericho, and the sheriff is adamant that it is tied to Nevermore. Someone needs to go back down there. Mr. Martell is going to come in here and insist that he go, but I want to send you back. I need you to offer to go down there, and act like you want to give them a piece of your mind. Mr. Martell is very off track and is being insolent lately, and he's not doing us any favours." You agreed with him fully.
As the room became full, Mr. Martell walked in with your husband at the last minute, talking unnecessarily loud. "Nevermore is giving us outcasts a horrible look. Multiple people have died in the town of Jericho and now the sheriff is pointing fingers at us" he sat down next to your boss as your husband sat next to you. He continued, "The principal there thinks SHE can do whatever she wants. Outreach day, what the hell is outreach day? She spent money on a statue in the town of Joseph Crackstone, of all people, just for it to go up into flames!" He was fuming, but how did he of all people know about all of this? You were there most recently, and you hadn't heard about any of this. "YOU" he said pointing a finger your way. "YOU were there last, you didn’t find anything suspicious, out of the ordinary? You probably took the shapeshifters side and told her to do whatever she pleased" he bit at you. You looked up at him, going to stand and holler back at him in defence of yourself and the school, but you remembered you had to go back there. YOU had to go back there, not anyone else. "Listen Mr. Martell, I didn't find anything out of the ordinary when I was there, but if there's something going on, I will find out" you said with a fake anger. "I will go there and give them a piece of our minds. Nothing will get past us." You wanted to be really convincing, almost throwing in something about Larissa, but you wouldn't stoop to his level of misogyny or shapeshifting slander. Your husband looked at you with wide eyes. You could tell his face was saying 'What are you doing? Shut up.' You didn't know what you were saying or doing, but you knew you had to figure out the truth. Your boss backed you up, "Right, Mx. Ricci, I want you to go to Nevermore and give a detailed report on these recent events. You will stay as long as you need to. You are to leave on Friday" and with that, you were excused.
"What do you think you're doing?" Your husband grabbed you once you were outside, out of view from any of your co-workers. "What do you mean? Craig told me he wanted me to go back to Nevermore. He said he didn't want Mr. Martell to go, he wants me to go instead." Your husband looked at you surprised, but also like he was disappointed. "Anura, you know Kevin Martell acts like he runs the board when he doesn't, but he's the only one who knows what he's doing. Craig is too soft." So what is not being soft exactly? Is it berating a woman who is just doing her job? Is it making fun of her for an ability she can't control having? Is it being a misogynistic and probably homophobic dick? You didn't understand why your husband was on his side. "Kyle, I don't know why you agree with Kevin, but his opinions are way too strong. Nevermore will be fine. He's just pissed off because he's been alive for too long, and there's nothing left on earth to interest him. Why do you hang out with him more than you do me." Honestly, you weren't mad that he didn't hang out with you much. You were mad that for the first time he saw you in weeks, he didn't ask how you we're doing or make polite conversation. He was always caught up in work, and he never took your side. "I don't know Anura, it's just with you, it's never easy." What the hell was that supposed to mean?