Invest In Me

*****

The yellow cab was weaving its way across the busy streets and avenues of New York City like a small bug. It carried with itself one white cabbie in his thirties, who was driving it, as a matter of fact, and one country girl, meeting the metropolitan city for the first time.

She realized right then that what she was shown on TV was nothing compared to the wild jungle of concrete that was New York. The first thing that struck Bella as crazy was the number of people. There were like a thousand men and women waiting on the sidewalk to pass the street. The buildings were much taller than she could possibly fathom, their tops scratching the sky’s undisturbed blueness. These silent pillars of glass seemed to follow her everywhere, but deep down she knew that she could never get accustomed to them. The billboards and ads were shiny and blooming with striking colors which entered her eyes. She had to squirm to see well.

And now as Bella became a part of this whole madness, she despised all of it even more. She cursed her destiny and life into herself as she rolled down the window to get some air. It was getting suffocating in such small space. When she breathed in the New York oxygen, it was the last drop in the cup full of water. The air stank of gas, oil, some very unpleasant aromas that filled her lungs which weren’t accustomed to this foul air.

“We are here, ma’am,” the cabbie said from behind the steering wheel.

“How much will it cost me?” Bella asked, fumbling with her wallet.

“The sum is right here.” He showed her a small screen where the money she had to pay was written in red numbers. When she saw that the sum contained more than three numbers, her blood froze in the arteries it was going through. Reluctantly, she offered the money to the driver who counted them one last time.

“It’s correct, you know,” she said a bit more aggressively than she had wanted to. Bella was offended by the act of him counting the money before her.

“I have to make sure, ma’am. I am sorry. Do you need some help with the bags?” he asked, looking into her eyes.

“Yes, please.” She was angry at this horrible city, its terrible people and their awful habits. Stepping out of the cab, she placed her feet on the hard asphalt ground. It felt different beneath the soles of her feet. She headed for the trunk and opened it. The cabbie joined her and put the bags on the ground. “Thanks. I can manage with them.”

The cabbie went inside again and was off to another destination and another person waiting to be taken on some other place. Bella looked at the building before her eyes. She checked the address again before analyzing every detail.

It was a five-story building located in a far-off borough of the Big Apple that you could easily consider a suburb all on its own. The façade was peeling in some places; the windows were in a desperate condition and the stairs as well. The door creaked under the pressure of the wind and that was just the outside. She breathed in, bracing herself for the indoors. Taking the bags with her, she slowly climbed the stairs and was taken aback by the horrible smell of urine inside. A huge sense that she was about to vomit overwhelmed her, so she went outside immediately, dropping her luggage on the floor. How was she going to live in that place?

Her hand on the rail of the stairs, she breathed in and out, in and out, in and out. Calming herself, she placed two fingers on her nostrils and went inside again. Bella wasn’t going to give up so easily. Now it was much better. She tried to take as many bags with one hand and went up the stairs. The first landing was in a very poor condition, and she soon found out that was the case with the second one as well. Her apartment number was 34, and she was told that it was situated on the third floor.

All of her expectations came crashing down the second she laid her eyes on the ancient, wasted door. There was only the number 3 on it and the 4 was written on a piece of paper and attached with a small nail. Below the numbers, she read: Sam (No need for last name).

She knew that she had a roommate in order to pay cheaper rent, but she had absolutely no idea what she looked like or who she was. Now scrutinizing the sight before her, she concluded that Sam was someone who didn’t give a single damn about where she lived. Bella didn’t know how to interpret ‘No need for last name,’ and she hoped from the bottom of her heart that she wouldn’t have to deal with different men coming to the apartment who would have a rendezvous with Sam every single night.

Missing her house in the country now more than ever, she knocked on the door and entered. It was a small apartment that welcomed her. It had one kitchen, one bathroom opposite of it, a living room and a dining room in one, and two doors that perhaps led to the two bedrooms.

The apartment could be made into a nice, cute, little home, but its current tenant had left it in an utter mess. There were old newspapers everywhere, unwashed dishes, boxes, and who knew what else. Bella couldn’t help it but grimace.

“I came! Sam!” she shouted so that she wouldn’t scare her new roommate, but no one answered. Was she home?

She started toward the living-room and found a young woman like herself working on a laptop. She was impeccably pale with huge black hair in a terrifying shape as if spikes were coming out of it. She wore heavy makeup – black mascara and a black lipstick. It seemed as if her eyes were small white balls engulfed in blackness. Dressed up in black leather with a dog collar around her neck, she was a complete wonder in Bella’s eyes. Where I have come, she thought to herself. But that wasn’t all. Bella noticed a piercing on her nose and on her two eyebrows. There was a huge tattoo on the right side of her neck too.

“Sam?” Bella asked in a tiny voice. All of it was too much to digest.

The young woman didn’t appear to listen to her and after Bella stood like that for some minutes, Sam finally took notice of her.

“Oh, you came,” she said, pulling out small headphones from her ears. Bella understood why she didn’t hear her. “You are Bella, right? Like the one from that vampire movie?”

Bella cocked her head and stared at her in bewilderment. “I guess so. Yeah, I am Bella. Nice to meet you. I will be your roommate, and I hope that we will get on well.”

“Likewise,” Sam said. “Do you want to play some WoW with me?”

Bella wasn’t sure what that meant, so she said no and went to her bedroom after Sam directed her there. Sitting on the bed, she sighed. Besides the small wardrobe and the nightstand, it was the only piece of furniture.