C4: Opening Up

Abel sat at the greasy front steps of the "Cheap Apartments for Debtors" building.

The flickering light near the pavement kept the place alight. A rat scurried along the street into the gutters below the building. Slow droplets of rain dropped from the far sky. 

"Did I fuck up? Am I a broken man?" He asked himself, gazing at the flickering lamp post. 

He felt like the flickering bulb had already given him the answer. 

The young man sighed, lying back on the steps. 

Abel wished he had taken the packet of cigarettes with him. The coldness of the street was freezing him alive. 

He closed his eyes, recalling all those past kisses again. 

"Ha… what a sham–" 

A slap on the shoulder made him open his eyes once more. He looked up and saw the 6'2 feet Mrs. Queen standing right behind him. 

Her dark eyes were gazing down at him, silver hair softly brushing against his own. 

"You cold?" She asked, taking a seat right beside the young man. 

She wasn't wearing a jacket either. She only wore the small sleeveless white shirt she was wearing under that jacket. 

Abel rubbed his forehead, looking down. 

"I'm sorry for leaving like that," he muttered. "It was weird." 

Tessa slid her hands into her pockets and grabbed the packet of cigarettes. She opened the box and raised it for Abel to take one cig. 

"Forget it. Have a smoke first." 

Abel took one cig and placed the tip on the mouth. Tessa lit it up. Then, she pocketed the packet of cigarettes back. 

The young man took a puff and gave it to the woman beside him. 

"So," she began, keeping the cig to her lips. "What's your story? How'd you mentally fuck up this bad that you can't even kiss a girl without looking like a depressed fuck?" 

Her tone had changed into a much more serious one now. 

Abel gazed at Tessa's eyes. They were looking forward to the flickering light. 

"It sucks. You really don't want to know." 

Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and turned to Abel. 

"No, tell me. I didn't just climb all those stairs just to get a *no* from you." 

Abel chuckled. "I guess not." 

"Spot on, babe. Now, let it all out. Don't keep that inside you – like a pussy," her tone was aggressive. 

Abel's mouth fell open as he shot a confused glance at Tes. That switch in her personality caught him off guard. 

"Ok… God." 

With an unimpressed gaze, she took a puff from the cigarette. 

"It's… about my past." 

"Obviously." 

"Will you let me continue?" 

"Ok ok." 

"My first real love was back in high school….

She was this gorgeous, beautiful, skin paler than the moonshine girl called Cara. She was from a sort of poor family. I was from an average family in my neighborhood, but we all had problems. The thing was, my Mom and Dad always searched some materialism in my marriage for some reason. 

And my falling in love with Cara didn't sit well with them. So they tried to separate us. Cara was always this passionate girl. She was patient, calm, and collected – no matter where she was. 

So, when high school was about to end – things started to stir up. 

Cara's parents were trying to push her into marrying a rich guy. We were in the spring season of our love – so we decided to run away together. We did small jobs and had fun in the first few months. Until Cara got pregnant. 

We could hardly afford the bills in the house, a baby? Didn't sound right… 

So, she secretly got an abortion. Of course, she didn't tell me about this sooner. She didn't tell me until she wanted to break up – said things wouldn't work out. 

Well… I have this friend, sort of. Name's Jordan. Very gay. 

He works in the Surveillance Department of the Guston Station. Works with detectives. I met him at the club. He felt a little comfortable with me, apparently. 

I asked him to check in on it a little and he did it on a whim. He said she was having a great time with a guy in a suit better than James Bond. They were talking in a bench near the park, smiling, flirting. 

Of course, she'd fallen for another. 

So, I let her go. I loved her enough to let her go – for the betterment of her life. 

Ever since then, I've been living like a poor bitch. Could never afford anything except for my own place… which soon, became this hell hole. 

And yeah, life started like that. After her, I've had like 15 relationships? The last one ended so fast that I wanted to laugh about it. And now – you." 

Abel puffed out a smoke, turning to Tes. 

Tessa didn't reply. She simply snatched the cigarette from Abel's hand and took a puff. 

"You think you're the only fuck up? My husband died… and I've been like this, ever since," she said calmly. 

They gazed at each other for a while. Abel was in shock. 

"I – I'm sorry." 

A small smile drew on Tessa's lips before a chuckle escaped. 

"You think you're the only one with fucking problems? You think you're the only one who isn't always happy?" 

Abel blinked. "No…" he breathed out, looking down. "I suppose not." 

Tessa's hand gripped the neck of Abel's t-shirt. She pushed him tightly against the stairs, climbing over the young man's body. She sat at his stomach and gazed down at him. 

It was cold and the streets were lonely. 

Only a flickering light accompanied them. A mysterious, drop-dead gorgeous mommy on top of him with a slow drizzle in the background. 

Abel's heart felt as if it had stopped. 

"Child," the sugar mommy whispered under her breath. "What is life, if not a collection of momentary bliss?" 

She leaned forth and grasped Abel's neck, connecting their lips. Abel closed his eyes, the quote "momentary bliss" echoing through his mind. 

He could only enjoy the kiss. It was hard not to. 

Tessa broke off the kiss and the young man's eyes slowly opened. A bridge of saliva connected their lips for a moment before breaking apart. The line of saliva dripped against Abel's face. 

"Hurry up. We got to get to bed," she bit her lip. "It's past your bedtime, baby boy." 

She got off Abel's body and rushed to the doors of the apartment building. 

"Catch your mommy if you can." 

Abel grinned and stood up. "Don't mind if I do, Mommy."