The Brooklyn Dump

The subway took them deeper and deeper into Brooklyn. The brownstones began falling apart, looking abandoned, until finally they reached their destination. Anna observed the "homes'' that were splattered with graffiti, with stained wood panels covering dead grass in front of them, as well as empty bottles and dirty sheets. There were a few people walking around, and they looked like they might murder Anna and Max both. The nice ones would probably offer some crack, Anna thought to herself, but she didn't want to stick around to find out who was nice and who wasn't.

She gave a fake smile and said, "It's so pretty here."

Max hadn't said a word the entire train ride, and it was clear to Anna that she wasn't going to start talking now. She looked up to see Max's tired, annoyed face, and that told her she should probably shut up.

"Sorry," Anna laughed nervously.

Anna continued following Max as she walked fast toward a building a few blocks down that looked like it was infested with rats and homeless drug addicts, but Anna decided not to comment. Maybe Max was a homeless drug addict, although she hoped her friend would've made better choices.

Max swung open a wood door with no lock and a jiggling doorknob from hell. In fact, Anna was pretty sure Max just kicked it open. She guessed Max wasn't concerned about burglars and murderers. They were probably friends of hers.

How fun for me, Anna thought as she slowly stepped inside. The broken-down room had two doors, one to the right and one to the left, that Anna figured were most likely bedrooms. A dirty, yellow curtain in the corner of the living room covered up what Anna thought was meant to be a bathroom. Anna didn't see a decent shower, just a rusty bathtub, which explained Max's desperate need for a spa day.

The dark wood floors were fading with washed-out water spots everywhere and boards poking up.

THAT's not a safety hazard, Anna thought sarcastically.

As she continued investigating, Anna cringed when she saw that the walls were a candy apple red that should never have left the store, and to top it off the paint was peeling to reveal hideous, green, floral wallpaper.

Anna knew her face reflected her grossed-out thoughts, and she did not care. The living quarters were much less desirable than she expected.

"Not from around here, are you?" She heard a man's voice say softly.

Anna whipped around to see a young man staring at her from the other side of the room with an amused smirk on his face.

"Oh, um, no," were the only words Anna could manage to spit out.

The boy was unbelievably handsome, his eyes a soft light brown, with deep dark chocolate skin to match.

"It's not as bad as it looks, I promise," he said with a wink.

Anna chuckled nervously and had no idea why. She couldn't stop staring into his mesmerizing brown eyes.

"And what stranger have we invited into our cozy home, Max?" he said with a smile.

"Oh, sorry!" Anna jumped in. "My name is—"

"Weird girl from the subway," Max interrupted as she walked to the right and slammed shut what Anna assumed was Max's bedroom door.

Anna scrunched her face uncomfortably as she turned back to the boy.

"Is that your full name or short for something?" He laughed.

She nervously and slowly smiled, entranced by his gaze.

"I'm Anna."

"Anna," he said, looking equally caught up in her.

"I'm Chris, it's a pleasure to meet you," he said as he moved toward her and reached out his hand.

Anna shook his hand weakly and giggled. She was completely horrified — this was not Anna Johnston. Anna was a strong, independent woman with a high-profile job about to take on the world, not some girly kid with a crush.

"Is she always this friendly?" asked Anna.

Chris smiled again and said, "She's not so bad, I promise. Max has just been through a lot and does not trust easily. It took me a very long time to break through with her."

Anna's stomach fell. She hadn't even thought about what atrocities her friend may have been through. It nearly brought Anna to tears, but she held them back. The actual story was most likely a disaster, and she needn't speculate.

"I can tell you care about her, Anna. She will open up, just give her time."

Anna sighed. "I've waited a long time for this moment. My patience is unending."

Chris suddenly looked perplexed. "How is it exactly that you know her?"

She looked him in the eye and said confidently, "She is my friend who disappeared. I don't know what she's told you, but I lost her many years ago, and as much as she's lying right now, I know it's her."

Chris nodded his head with a strange look on his face before he sighed, and his eyes fell to the floor.

Anna didn't want to make any assumptions based on the facial expressions of a man she'd never met, but something told her that he knew. He knew she was right, he had heard about her, and Anna was not a stranger to either of them.

"Give me a moment alone with her," Chris muttered seriously as he turned toward Max's room. Anna nodded cautiously as he walked hesitantly to Max's door and opened it while lightly knocking.

He walked in and Anna could only hear muffled voices after that. An occasional word was audible here and there.

"Too much."

"I can't."

"Bleeding."

"She . . . go . . ."

Anna knew Chris was attempting to get Max to speak with her, and she appreciated that he was entertaining her crazy story.

The final muffled word was, "Whatever."

Chris squeezed through a small opening in her door. Anna's eyes brightened when he motioned for her to come over.

In shock, Anna mouthed, "Thank you," as she quickly tiptoed to the door.

"Hey there . . ." Anna said nervously, peeking her head into Max's room. "Thanks for letting me hang!"

Anna smiled with the tiniest flicker of hope that was shot down immediately by the flustered girl in front of her.

"Don't thank me, I don't want you here at all," Max said with a scoff. "Chris is a very good friend, and he deserves my cooperation at the very least, so here we are. What do you want from me?"

Anna was taken aback by Max's bluntness, but continued to sit down on the end of her mattress on the floor. Max's room was a bit cleaner than the living room, but that wasn't really saying much. Her mattress looked old and beaten down, like someone had dragged it down the street and set it on fire. Her light blue blanket wasn't even long enough to cover her body, and was stained with something Anna had no interest in identifying. To her right, there were empty and half-full water bottles next to a small pile of clothes that appeared tattered and ripped. Besides a large chest of drawers towering over the old mattress, that was all that was present in Max's room. Anna wondered how anyone could live like this. She wanted to drag her friend out of there immediately and back home.

"Why won't you just talk to me?" she asked kindly. "I'm not trying to hurt you or ruin your life, but I just know it's you. It would be a terrible, terrible thing for you to lie to me after we all assumed you were dead. You don't know what it's been like."

Anna started tearing up watching Max stare at her blankly.

"Violet, please. I guess it's just a coincidence that your name is Max and your mother's name was Maxine. Just a coincidence that you look identical to the girl I knew. Identical to the girl's father. Or perhaps you forgot about him, but he certainly did not forget about you."

She watched Max's eyes shut immediately and her head drop forward as if mentioning Jeremy Redding made a sharp pain surge through her.

Anna was about to continue pleading when a small, stuffed animal bumble bee caught her eye. It was dirty but decently taken care of compared to the rest of the things in Max's room. Again, not really saying much.

Anna's mind flashed back to a memory she had long forgotten.

Two young girls were running through a front yard full of beautiful green grass. A red and yellow pinwheel stood next to a stone painted, "I love you, Daddy!" As the girls played, one of them was stung by a bee on her arm and she began crying loudly. Her father rushed outside with a concerned look across his face.

"Violet, sweetie, are you okay? What happened?"

Violet sniffled with a few small tears running down her face and said, "I got stung by a bee!"

Her father smiled and said, "I'm sorry, little one, it won't hurt for long, I promise!"

He took her hand and began to lead her inside. "I'll take care of you, kiddo!"

"Thanks, Daddy, I love you."

As Jeremy smiled and started toward the red front door, Anna blurted out, "You know, once a bee stings you, it dies, so you won't have to worry about that happening again!"

Anna was certain she had helped her friend by letting her know this. However, Violet's eyes widened, and her head shot up to her father for confirmation.

"Daddy," she mumbled with more tears in her eyes, "is . . . is it really dead?"

He looked down at her, confused by her emotional response.

"Well, yes sweetie, that happens to honey bees. Anna is right." He smiled as he looked at his daughter's best friend.

"Daddy, that's awful!"

She started sniffling again. "I didn't want it to die! It just hurt me a little bit!"

Violet's tears started falling again. Jeremy, still with a smile on his face, looked at Anna, who was horrified that she had said something that made Violet cry. He winked at her, letting her know she did nothing wrong.

Anna flashed a small smile and walked to her friend. She put her hand on Violet's shoulder as she said, "It's okay Violet. It wasn't your fault. I love you! Let's go inside and play Barbies!"

Violet wiped her face with her shirt sleeve and said, "Okay. I love you, too."

They hugged and ran inside.

When Violet and Anna returned from school the next day, her father had a present waiting for Violet.

Violet's eyes got bigger as they sprinted to the red door. She smiled already like he'd given her a castle.

"Daddy, Daddy! Is that for me?!"

Jeremy laughed, "Yes indeed, kiddo! Just something to make you smile."

Anna yelled, "Open it, open it, Vi!!"

Violet jumped toward her dad, grabbing the gift and ripping the bag right open. She pulled out a bumble bee stuffed animal as she sucked in a huge breath.

"This is your little bee okay? Take care of it. He will never die, and you can love him forever."

Violet looked at her father and pounced on him with her arms wide open.

"I love you," she chirped, hugging her father tight.

Anna felt such joy for her friend, and she saw that bumblebee every day for years. It was gone after Violet was taken, and she never saw it again. Until now.

Anna noticed Max trying to figure out what she could possibly be gawking at, but she saw Max quickly realize.

She and Anna turned their heads back toward each other at the same time, staring for what seemed like an eternity.

Max had shock and disbelief climbing quickly across her face as Anna's tears hit the mattress.

"It . . . it is you," Anna said softly. "Violet . . . I . . . I . . . where have you been?!"

Finally, letting out a cry that nearly shook the floors, Anna lunged at Max, wrapping her arms around her.

She felt Max flinch and try to push her away, but Anna would not let Max go.

Anna was sobbing all over her, but noticed Max's eyes were shut tight, and her hands were bleeding.

"Anna, please . . ." Max choked out anxiously.

Anna looked into Max's familiar green eyes and realized her body was shaking.

"Violet, what's wrong? What's going on?" She grabbed Max's hands and turned her bleeding palms up.

"What is this, Vi?" she looked at Max, who was withdrawing more by the second. "What happened to you?"

Anna jumped a little when Max ripped her hands from Anna's loving grasp, breathing heavily. "Look, Anna. None of this was supposed to happen. You were not supposed to find me, and I was not expecting to share my experience with anyone, ever. I'm not ready, I just can't tell you right now. I don't know if I'll ever be able to, and I'm sorry for that. Just please call me Max. That is non-negotiable."

Anna thought Max sounded angry, like she was upset that her best friend she was so abruptly taken from was in front of her after seven years. Anna shook her head, suddenly offended by her friend's distasteful reaction.

"I don't understand Vio—I mean Max. I thought—"

Max interrupted her loudly, "You weren't supposed to find me."

The girls glared at each other, Anna growing more irate by the second.

"Vio—"

Max scowled at her.

"Sorry! Max, we've been searching for you for years, desperately. And here I find you being held by no one. Completely able to come back and save us all from years' worth of tears, hopelessness, and pain."

Anna raised her voice, it rang through the apartment. "Why? Why would you do that to us? To your father?"

She watched Max's eyes shut tight once again at the mention of her father, Jeremy.

"This is ridiculous, actually. I will try to be understanding, but there better be a damn good reason why you basically left us all to—"

"I am not that person anymore, damn it!!" screamed Max. "You don't know me anymore! None of you do. I can't go back. The decision was mine to make, you couldn't possibly understand!"

Max sat back with some force, propping herself up against her food-stained wall. Or was that blood, Anna wondered?

"Max . . . I'm so sorry. This is just . . . not how I thought this would go."

Anna sulked, waiting for a response, but Max just turned away.

"Anna . . . I'm messed up. There is nothing about me that could possibly bring any joy or happiness to your lives."

Anna thought Max looked on the verge of tears, holding them back with all of her might.

She smirked. "Well, you've been nothing but a dickhead to me, and I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life right now."

Anna was hoping for a smile, but to no avail.

She continued, "Max, you can disappear and never speak to me again, that would be fine, I could handle it. But your dad never recovered. He deserves to know you are alive."

"Anna . . . " Max hung her head low.

"No," interrupted Anna with command. "You listen to me, Max. You will listen."

Anna was thankful that Max didn't argue.

"I have the floor." Anna took a deep breath and prepared herself for what was going to be a very long speech.

"Your father died the moment you went missing."