Not Overly Concerned

I: Curiosity and a Cat

(Sunday)

Tremors. A shock wave. Ripples.

Constant gentle pressure.

A slow ascent back to the world. Air on wet skin. Dripping.

Anna reached out, pulled herself over to lean against the edge of the pool. She slicked a matted lock of hair back from her face and smiled a mirthless smile. Tipping her head back on the slate grey tiles, she listened.

A girl on the university swim team was cutting back and forth, up and down the length of the pool. Two jocks, fresh from a workout, were bobbing around in one corner, jabbering about basketball and where to go for lunch.

That left Eric, who sat just a few feet behind her, reading one of his fantasy novels, and one other silent party. This last individual sat on the edge nearest the entrance, dangling her feet in the water. Anna was fairly certain it was a female. The sound of her footfalls and the length of her stride when she entered suggested a short, relatively light person. The faint snap of snug fabric being adjusted was either a woman's bathing suit or a Speedo.

Even when it was livelier, the pool was one of Anna's favorite places. Since losing her sight, she had become naturally conditioned to monitoring the sounds of the world around her. Unfortunately, (in her opinion), this included the noise created by other people. Like their voices. The warped way sound traveled had been disturbing the first time she had gone underwater after the accident. Over time she had come to appreciate the effect. Providing that mental mechanism that was always listening with a little break was nice.

Aside from that, it was a good way of getting some exercise from time to time. Somehow she had never gotten into jogging.

Anna spent a few minutes at the lip of the pool, mulling over the direction she should take with her latest literary endeavor before deciding she was ready to go. She made her way to one of the stainless ladders and climbed out. After ringing her hair out she padded back to where Eric sat with her clothes and towel.

"Finish that book yet?" she asked, bending to retrieve her giant Black Sabbath towel.

"Not yet."

Eric marked his place with a dogeared playing card.

"Any good?" Anna pulled on a 2XL Alice in Chains T-shirt and similarly oversized jeans.

"It's alright. You ready to go?"

"Yeah."

As they passed, the girl, still dangling her feet in the water, looked up from her book. She half turned to watch them go.

Out in Eric's old Cyclone, Anna checked the radio, cranked the volume on Soundgarden's Outshined. She rolled down her window with the old familiar hand crank and lit a cigarette. Sticking her elbow out, she leaned against her door to tip her face into the cool October air. Autumn air. Halloween air.

When the song ended, Anna turned the radio down.

"Hey, what are we doing for Halloween?"

Eric glanced at her. He shrugged.

"We could get you a pointy hat."

Anna took a last drag on her cigarette and flicked it out the window.

"Yeah... I meant, there must be parties going on or something."

"You want to socialize?" he asked.

"Pfft. You don't like people any more than I do."

"Not much." he admitted.

"I like Halloween. And parties. Especially if it's people we know."

"You like the idea of everyone in costumes, junk food, and getting drunk." Eric countered.

Anna shrugged.

"Yeah. So... what are we doing for Halloween?"

"It's the thirtieth. That's... what, Friday? Bound to be parties. You could call around, see what's happening. Or invite some people over - tell them to bring alcohol." he smiled.

"Think we can get away with that in our building?"

Eric shrugged apathetically.

"One way to find out."

Anna nodded thoughtfully.

"And tell Chuck to bring food if he's coming." Eric added after a pause.

Anna smiled, remembering the infamous snack massacre Chuck had perpetrated at the last party the three of them had attended.

- - - - - -

Cat returned home a couple hours later to find Maria in the kitchen. After stopping in her room to toss her backpack on the bed and deposit her towel in the laundry basket she returned to the kitchen. She drew herself a glass of tap water and mounted one of the stools at the little island that served them as a kitchen table.

"What's cookin'?"

Maria turned, tossing her head to shift black locks out of her face. She started to reply, then paused to take the wooden spoon from between her teeth.

"Red beans and rice, tacos and cheese quesadillas. And I made some of that dip with red peppers and cream cheese."

"Wow. Do we have company coming over?"

Maria shook her head, turning back to her cooking.

"I'm working nights again - Warren fired the other bartender for getting drunk on the clock. He's tending bar during the day and I'm taking over nights. So I'll bring some with me. If there's leftovers, one of us can finish them tomorrow." she explained.

"Sounds good." Cat agreed.

Grilling a decent burger was about the extent of Catherine's culinary ability, and she would be the first to admit that even that was only due to her own love of a good burger. After nearly nine months of being roommates with her, Cat still wasn't taking Maria's cooking for granted.

Maria retrieved a tray of quesadillas from the oven and turned to set it on the tile surface in front of Cat. She gingerly pulled up a few edges to check that they hadn't burnt.

"Have a good swim?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah," Cat shrugged, "It was nice. Saw some... interesting people."

"Interesting how?"

"Well, there was a girl-"

"Oh." Maria cooed suggestively.

"Yeah, yeah... " Cat rolled her eyes.

While Maria fixed a plate for her, Cat lapsed into silence, remembering.

"She was tall. Attractive. Kind of... grunge style, I guess. Huge jeans, band t-shirt. But there was something weird about her."

"Weird how?"

"Well, she had a streak of green in her hair, but... there was something else. Something about the way she moved."

"Green hair?" Maria asked, suddenly sounding curious.

"Yeah. Dark brown hair and - it was probably just some hair in the front, but pulled back, it looked like a steak."

"Huh. Who knows - maybe you'll see her at the pool again. Then you can ask her."

"Riiight. I'll let you know how that goes. Probably never see her again anyway."

"Alright," Maria tossed some cutlery into the sink and moved to leave the room, "I gotta hurry up and get a shower or I'm gonna be late. Oh, have you heard from the super about the fire escape?"

"Of course not." Cat shook her head.

"Of course not." Maria agreed, headed for the bathroom. "Help yourself to the food."