One Day Soon (One Day Soon, #1)(93)

“This was your room,” I said, trying to mask my horror. I could see a moth eaten wool blanket thrown over a stained mattress in the middle of the floor. Yoss had again fashioned shelves out of cinderblocks to house his collection of odds and ends. A battery operated camping lamp stood on top of a pile of books.

Yoss didn’t respond. He found an empty trash bag and started shoving clothing inside. “There’s not much I want to take. The rest of this shit can stay.” He picked up something purple and shoved it quickly in the bag.

“Wait a sec,” I called out, reaching into the bag and pulling out an old pillow in the shape of a fuzzy, purple heart. “How do you still have this?” I asked in disbelief. I could see where part of the polyester fabric had been burned and it still bore the evidence of the fire that had ruined our lives.

“I went back for it. Well not just this, other stuff. But it hadn’t been completely destroyed. So I took it,” Yoss explained as if it were no big deal.

“I can’t believe anything survived that fire.” I carefully put the pillow back into the bag, touched and aching that he had been holding onto my something that had belonged to me for all these years.

“You went back to The Pit?” I asked, watching him gather up his meager belongings.

“Yeah, I did. A few weeks later. I just wanted to have look. Maybe find some of Bug’s stuff to give to his family. I didn’t expect much. So much had been destroyed.” I felt a pain in the center of my chest at the mention of our friend. “I couldn’t find any of his stuff. Where he had been sleeping.” Yoss took a deep breath, as if to steady himself. “There was nothing left.” His eyes were wet when they met mine. “He never had a chance.”

I couldn’t help myself. I reached out and took his hand. He squeezed my fingers, holding on. “Anyway, it was strange, but the area where we had been sleeping wasn’t too bad. Sure, the smoke had ruined some of it, but a lot of stuff was okay. The pillow. Your clothes. Even your toothbrush. It was all there. I hadn’t lost everything.”

“Yoss…”

“Okay, well I think I have everything I want. Let’s get out of here. I don’t want to stay here longer than I have to.” Yoss glanced around the room, a look of shame on his face. “I tried, you know. I really did try to do something else. To be something more.”

He squeezed my fingers again.

“You still can, Yoss. It’s not too late,” I told him. Squeeze. Pain.

He lifted our joined hands and pressed it to his chest.

“I found you again, didn’t I?” He smiled. It was a relief to see it there.

“I never really went away.”



“Do you know what happened to Shane? To Karla and Di?” I asked as we headed back towards town. My stomach was growling and when I looked at the time I realized it was close to lunchtime.

I drove past Seventh Street Bridge and by force of habit I looked out towards the crumbling uprights by the river. It was still the place to congregate. I could see groups of people hanging out, just as we had done.

“I spoke with Karla once,” I admitted.

Yoss looked at me in surprise. “You did? She never mentioned it.”

“Are you surprised she didn’t?” I raised my eyebrows and he shook his head.

“I never understood why she hated you so much. You never did anything to her,” Yoss mused.

I laughed. “Because she loved you. You knew that.”

“I think you overestimated her feelings, Imi,” Yoss scoffed.

“And I think you underestimate how important you were to everyone,” I said.

Yoss made a noise under his breath but didn’t comment so I went on. “I asked her where you were. She refused to talk to me. In fact she turned her back on me and walked away.” I remembered the day all too clearly. I had only been back home for a few weeks and I was half out of my mind wondering where Yoss had gone.

I went back to the bridge almost every day. I hadn’t seen anyone I recognized until that day weeks later. Karla was there with a group of people I didn’t know. I had called out to her.

“Karla!” I had waved when she looked my way.

I had run over to her, calling out her name. “Have you seen Yoss?” I yelled.

Karla’s face had gone cold. Incredibly hard. She had turned away from me and walked off.

I didn’t approach anyone else after that. I saw Shane a few times, but after Karla’s chilly greeting, I didn’t bother speaking to him. And I never saw Di. I missed her. Almost as much as I missed Yoss.

After the fire we had all become shells of ourselves. Some more so than others.

“Shane’s still around. He actually got a job as a janitor at the juice plant on the other side of town. He has a girlfriend he’s been living with for a few years now. I see him around every now and then. He’s doing pretty good for himself.”

“That’s great! I’m so glad,” I said genuinely.

“I’m not sure where Karla is. She hooked up with some guy and took off a while back. It’s not like she sends postcards.” Yoss shrugged, his mouth pressed into a thin line.

“And Di?” I asked softly.

Yoss rubbed his eyes and I noticed the strain on his face, the pallor of his skin. There were fine tremors in his hands and I could tell he was getting tired.