BANG BANG BANG
Panic rose in my throat at the sound of the banging. Normally I wasn’t the type of person to panic, but there was something about that banging, something about what it meant. I hadn’t been in this woman’s body for long, but something told me it came with some baggage. My mind tried to focus on what I knew, but the memory of the picture I had been staring at when I had made the wish became hazy every time I drew near to it. It was like trying to grasp smoke; every time I thought I had it, it slipped through my fingers.
“I know you’re in there, Candy!” A man’s voice called out, “I saw your car pull up!”
Candy! That name was so familiar. I knew my name was Jon, that it had always been Jon, but I also knew that my name was Candy. I was Candy! It made so much sense! I knew there was a contradiction, a paradox of being two people at once, but the panic that had sunk deep into my stomach wouldn’t let me understand that.
Knowing that I was in trouble if I didn’t, I opened the door.
“Your rent is five days late, Candy,” the large middle aged man said in the doorway. He was a balding, overweight man with a middle eastern complexion. His paisley shirt was unbuttoned, showing off his hairy chest. His white pants were tight, showing off something else.
“Oh, hi Larry,” I smile. Larry! That’s his name! He’s my landlord, of course, it all makes so much sense, “I meant to call you. I’m a little short this month. Could you give me an extension?” You twirl your curly blond hair to act flirty, hoping that smooths things over.
“No extensions!” Larry snaps, “I’m sick of you bc college girls always paying late! No money, no apartment!”
Panic, again, this time making my knees wobble. I knew I didn’t have any money at all. I had spent it on... um... I tried to remember, but again the memory wouldn’t come. What mattered is that I knew I was broke. And soon I was going to be homeless! I couldn’t end up homeless! Girls like me ended up dead in an alley!
“Maybe,” I said, trying something I thought I’d seen in a movie once, “we could come to another arrangement? Just this once?”
A lecherous smile grew on Larry’s unshaven face. “What do you have in mind?”
I stepped closer, then traced my index finger from his bare chest down toward his groin, then outlined his obvious bulge, all the while staring him in the eyes. “You know, I could make it worth your while if you could be so kind as to let this month’s rent slide.”
Larry stepped into the apartment and closed the door behind him, locking the deadbolt. I could see that he was sold on my proposal. Of course he was! After all, it made so much sense!
