Call Me Crazy (6 page)

“He is Native American.”

“Ooo, so yummy, tan skin, silky black hair?”

“Are you going to let me tell this or do you just want to enjoy your own imagination?” I interrupt her verbal drooling.

“Fine, geez, get on with it.”

“Yes to the tan skin and black hair, but that wasn’t all. He is just incredible. He is tall, several inches over six feet, broad shoulders, muscular arms and chest and he just had a presence about him.”

“A presence, okay, got it, mm hmm,” her eyes are closed and she’s nodding her head, savoring every detail. Nat has always been a boy lover, and her taste is wide and varied.

“Okay Nat, bring it down a notch. The last thing I need is you walking out of here putting off major pheromones. One of the manic old dudes might chase after you, they pick up on that stuff; it’s creepy as hell.”

“Eww, could we please refrain from using terms like pheromones and old dudes in the same sentence?” She cringes.

“Good point,” I admit.

“So did you talk to him?”

I shake my head. “Uh, I sort of hid from him.”

“What?” She asks with wide eyes.

“I panicked. It’s been a while since I’ve been around a, okay well actually I’ve never been around a guy as attractive as him before. Plus
there was this weird vibe I got from him.”

“Vibe? What vibe, you didn’t mention a vibe.”

“Down girl,” I chide. “Let me get there. So when he walked into the rec room I honed in on him like a beacon and I swear it took everything in me not to walk over to him and…,” I shudder. “Gah, this is so irrational.”

Nat snorts out a laugh. “Did you seriously just say irrational, you?”

“Shut your pie whole,” I snap.

“Dude, if the shoe fits.”

“The point is,” I continue, “it was weird and I wanted to cuddle with…,” I trail off, shuddering. I never want to cuddle―with anyone, let alone a perfect stranger.

“Man this is awesome!” Nat throws her fist in the air like a victorious champion. “How romantic would it be to tell your children one day that you met their father in the crazy house?”

“What is with you and Candy dreaming about me procreating with someone I haven’t even spoken to?”

“It could happen,” she shrugs.

“Whatev,” I tell her using our favorite blow off term.

“So you going to talk to him the next time he comes in?”

“Doc thinks I should,” I hesitate, “but if I do I’m not about to tell him I’m a patient here. I’ll have to make up something. Maybe I’ll tell him Candy is my crazy great aunt or something.”

She nods. “Mm hmm, I could totally see that working.” Nat scoots to the edge of the bed and pushes herself up onto her feet. “So you’ll keep me updated?”

I roll my eyes. “Definitely, I wouldn’t let you miss one episode of The Young and the Bat–shit Crazy.”

She hugs me as she laughs at my lame joke. She’s the only one I let hug me besides my parents. When I say I don’t like to be touched it’s an understatement. Dr. Stacey says it isn’t uncommon for someone with mental health issues to have personal space issues. “Great,” I had told her, “one more thing to add to my utter weirdness.”

“See ya later, k?” Nat waves as she heads out of my room.

I hear the scuffling out in the hall and I know it’s time for night time meds. I let out a huff of air.

“Only a month left,” I tell myself as I make my way into the hall to join the others and get my nighttime happy pills.

Chapte
r 4

“Smile for me and I will know that my life has meaning. Smile for me and I will see that all is not lost. When you smile for me, I am complete; I am found.”

~Unknown.

Trey

I open the door to MPF and I’m hit with a refreshing blast of cool air. It’s a nice break from the summer heat pulsing at my back.

I walk over to the Information Desk and sign
in; just as I had the first time I visited. Mildred is once again planted in the chair on the other side of the desk and she smiles up at me.

“Hello dear; she’s in the rec room.”

“Thank you,” I tell her.

It’s been three days since I came to visit her for the first time. My grandmother has visited every day this week and it makes me feel like a jerk for not coming with her. I had somewhat of a good reason; I had been looking for a job. Though my grandmother gets some government help, it’s not enough to take care of everything, so it falls to me to pick up the slack. After searching through the classifieds, I came across an ad for a ranch hand. The job
is located a few minutes out of town, but it is hard physical labor, just what I need to keep my mind off of things.

Just as I’m rounding the corner to head towards the rec room, I’m jolted back as a small body crashes into mine. I look down and see a head full of pink streaked hair. I put my hands on her shoulders to steady her and I’m surprised to feel how petite she is.

“Crap, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t look…,” She looks up at me after straightening her shirt and her words freeze in her throat. I’m frozen where I stand as well. My eyes land on the most expressive face I have ever seen. Her eyes are wide and sparkle with surprise, and her dainty nose fits perfectly with her small bone structure and high cheeks. Her generous lips are spread just enough that I can see the straight, white teeth behind them.

To cover my reaction to her, I let out a chuckle. “Are you alright?”

The sound seems to catch her attention and she frowns at me. I’m struck by how utterly adorable it is and feel my pulse speed up.

“Are you laughing at me?” She asks indignantly.

“Well, you did kind of look a little shocked.”

“I wasn’t expecting to walk into a moving mountain, so I think shocked is an acceptable response.” She folds her arms across her chest and lifts her chin defiantly. Her adorableness goes up another notch.

I don’t realize that I’m still grinning at her until she points it out.

“You can wipe that grin off your face at any time.”

I rub my hand across my chin in an attempt to straighten out the smile. Judging by the single eyebrow raised at me, I haven’t fooled her.

“I’m Trey,” I finally say and hold out my hand to her. She looks at my hand and then back up at me. For a brief minute I think she isn’t going to take it, but then she slips her small hand into mine. Her skin is so soft and warm that I find I don’t want to release her.

“I’m Tally.”

The name totally fits her. Cute, and to the point, and I like it. I really don’t want to embarrass her any more, but at the same time I find that I really like seeing her with her feathers ruffled, so I give into my curiosity.

“Was that you I saw the other day ducking under a table?” I watch as her face slowly blooms a lovely shade of red.

“I, it was, there was…,” she stumbles over her words.

I can see the wheels turning in her mind as she tries to come up with an excuse and to my surprise she suddenly clamps her mouth closed.

I chuckle. “It’s okay, Tally. I think we all have moments when it’s just necessary to look for nothing in particular under a table.”

She grins at me and quickly looks down at her feet. I’m struggling for what to say next because I’m not ready for her to walk away just yet. She beats me to it.

“I’m not really sure what the protocol is for talking to someone in a mental health hospital without it becoming more awkward.”

I watch as she nervously shuffles her feet and I have to cram my hands into my front pockets to keep from reaching out and lifting her chin so that I can see her eyes again. I noticed the first time she looked up at me that they were a striking blue–grey color, like the color of the clouds as they darken for a coming storm. I find myself wondering if her eyes, like storm clouds, become darker and more turbulent with strong emotions.

“Well, let me take the awkwardness out of it,” I tell her. “I’m here visiting my mom. She’s going through a tough time.”

Her face softens as she finally looks back up at me.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

I hear the sincerity in her voice and in that very brief moment I see a glimpse of the depth of emotion Tally carries deep inside. Don’t ask me how, but something in her draws me and I know that I want to spend more time with her. I want to see just how deep those emotions go.

I raise my brow at her. “Do you have family here?”

Just as she’s about to answer, an older woman comes around the corner and stops beside Tally. She smiles up at me and the wrinkles in her face deepen. Her eyes are a tad wild and there is no doubt that this woman is a patient.

“Tally is…,” the older woman starts.

“I’m her niece,” Tally interrupts, “well her great niece. Candy,” she motions towards me, “this is Trey.”

The woman called Candy looks me over from head to toe and back again. I might have been a little freaked out by the gleam in her eyes but my attention is caught by the blush that is once again burning up Tally’s tan skin.

“It’s nice to meet you Candy,” I tell her as I hold out my hand. Candy takes it without pause and pumps it up and down vigorously.

“Oh believe me,
the pleasure is
all
mine.”

Tally tries to inconspicuously stomp Candy’s foot as she glares at the older woman from the corner of her eye. Candy doesn’t even flinch. She finally
drops my hand and takes a step back.

“So you and my
niece,
” she emphasizes the word as she glances at Tally, “known each other long?”

“All of about five minutes,” I tell her.

“Got any plans?”

“Candy, really?” Tally scolds her aunt.

Candy shrugs. “What? An old lady can’t live vicariously through her great niece’s love life?”

“Okay first off,
eww
, second, there is no love life, and third, if there were, the answer would be a big, freaking, fat NO.” Tally looks up at me with a small smile. “She has an over active imagination.”

“Do I ever,” Candy smirks as she continues her perusal of me.

“Okay, so Trey, it was really nice to meet you but I need to take my aunt back to her room before she attempts to rape you in broad daylight.”

I choke at her words and can’t help laughing when Candy responds.

“It doesn’t have to be in broad daylight, and who says I would have to force him, I mean I am much older than you and have much, much,” she waggles her eyebrows at me suggestively, “more experience.”

“Okay, I think I just threw up in my mouth.” Tally grabs Candy’s hand and begins to drag her off.

I reach out quickly and snatch Tally’s free hand.

“Will I see you again?” I ask her and can tell she is surprised at my forwardness, but frankly I don’t care. All I know is that I want to get to know Tally.

“Um…,”

“She practically lives here,” Candy snorts. “I’m sure you will run into her again.”

Tally throws Candy a look I can’t decipher. I’m still holding onto Tally’s hand, waiting for her to confirm her aunt’s words.

“I am here every day, don’t really have anywhere else to be, as sad as that sounds.” She admits meekly.

I let my thumb rub across her smooth wrist, as if I’ve done it a thousand times before, and I see her eyes widen and her breath hitch.

“I think it’s great that you care so much for your aunt.”

She lets out a nervous laugh and I feel her trying to gently twist her wrist free. I open my fingers reluctantly and stand up straight, backing up a step in the process.

“Okay well, see you tomorrow,” she frowns as if she doesn’t like what she has said. “I mean, you know, not like we’re planning it, like a date or anything. I just mean that we probably will run into each other again if you’re here and I’m here, it’s a possibility. That’s all I’m saying.”

I smile at her and let my voice drop as I meet her gaze. “I definitely plan to run into you again, if it happens to be with you ending up in my arms, that would just be an added bonus.”

“Snap, crackle, pop,” Candy laughs. “That boy is off the charts on the smooth and make you want to…,”

Tally slaps a hand over her aunt’s mouth as her eyes widen.

“That’s my cue, see you later,” she smiles and quickly walks away towing her aunt behind her. Before they make it around the next corner I hear Candy’s voice.

“If you don’t get you a piece of that tall, edible eye candy, I will disown you as my niece.”

I smile at her words and think that Candy might not be too bad to have around if she is going to advocate a possible relationship with the lovely Tally.

I resume my quest to find my mom and hope that she is having one of her good days. Tally was a breath of fresh air in the bleak existence that has become my life and I’m not ready to lose the energy she breathed into me.

“Hey mom.” I find her sitting in one of the chairs close to a window. She is staring out at the dead grass and dead trees. The sky is clear and the sun so bright that it is impossible not to squint. I wish that she had a better view, something that would lift her spirit. She has always loved nature so much.