Linny
I really liked writing this story! It's a little on the darkside, but I hope you enjoy it :)
Linny was sitting in her best friend’s beauty shop, munching on Cheetos. She sucked the sticky, orange cheese off her fingers while reading the TV Guide.
“So when is Grey’s coming on, Linny?” Andrea asked while putting away the hair dye that was used for Linny’s new black hair.
Linny just sat there, gazing into the mirror in front of her. When she was little, she used to imagine that when she reached her thirties she would be beautiful. She dreamt of the day that puberty would hit and she would transform into a woman that every man desired and every woman envied. Somedays she thought she would be as sophisticated as Audrey Hepburn, as charming as Elizabeth Taylor, and as lovely as Marilyn Monroe. However, movie star looks didn’t run in her family. She looked at her plain face and sighed. All she saw was the big nose inherited by her father, and a poor excuse for green eyes inherited by her mother. There was nothing stunning about the reflection that stared back at her.
“Linny?” Andrea called impatiently. “Yo Belinda would ya mind answering me?”
“8:00 p.m.” Linny responded.
Linny ran her fingers through her new hair. She felt it slip like silk through her newly manicured fingers as she stroked it time and time again. She had been on edge lately and Andrea had invited her for a free spa day at her beauty salon. For the first time in while she felt somewhat at ease.
“Well then we better get going if we wanna make it,” Andrea said, taking off her cheetah print smock.
“For real, girl? I mean ya don’t have to come if ya don’t wanna,” Linny said. She admired the hot pink paint and rhinestones on her nails and smiled.
“Ya like ‘em?” Andrea asked, smiling at her best friend.
“They’re gorgeous, like for real,” Linny gushed.
Andrea put her coat on a flipped her black teased hair. “I promised ya that I wouldn’t leave ya on this night. All right? A’ight. Let’s get outta here.”
This night. The unwelcomed thought echoed through Linny’s head. A chill ran down her spine. She quickly nodded to Andrea and hoped that she didn’t notice her little moment.
Linny and Andrea left the beauty shop and continued towards Linny’s apartment on the cheap side of Brooklyn. They were passing by an empty shop when Linny stopped to look inside its boarded windows. She peered in the window longingly, imagining the walls with bright, multicolored paint on them.
"Maybe once you make enough money at the bar," Andrea began excitedly, "You'll be able to open your handbag shop here. How cool would that be?"
"Yeah, when they start giving out loans to high school dropouts," Linny mused. "That’ll be the day when Pauly D and me say ‘I do’."
Andrea laughed at that last comment and began making their plans for the premiere of the new Twilight movie.
Linny nodded along to what Andrea was saying and pretended to hear her. As hard as she tried, the same unwelcomed thoughts went racing through her head. Random flashes of dark and pain kept breaking their way into her sanity. Linny kept her eyes fixed on the ground in front of her, fighting back the memories. She turned back to look at Andrea, still babbling about plans for the weekend. Linny smiled, she felt so lucky to have such a loyal friend like Andrea. No matter what happened, or how bad things got, Andrea would always be there.
“So how have ya been?” asked Andrea in a serious tone.
“Oh ya know, same old same old,” Linny responded, smiling politely.
Andrea searched Linny’s face for anything out of place.
“Seriously, Andie,” Linny said. “I’m fine.”
“Well I’m just makin’ sure,” Andrea began. “It’s been four years, ya know, and I know things like this are very hard to recover from.”
Linny shook her head impatiently, “Really, I’m fine.”
Andrea was obviously not taking the hint. “Ya know, I’ve been watching Dr. Phil recently and he said that victims of r-”
“Andie! I’m fine!” Linny shouted.
There was a stillness then, as they stood in the soft glow of the streetlight. An uncomfortable tension rose between the friends. Andrea had known Linny from childhood. She knew everything about her. She knew Linny’s first crush, her dreams, her plans, her secrets. But there was something, that even Andrea, would never understand about Linny.
“I’m sorry Lin,” Andrea murmured. “I just want to be here for you.”
“Then just be here,” Linny whispered. “I just want to forget.”
They looked at eachother then, both had tears shining in their eyes. Andrea sighed and wrapped her arms tightly around her friend. Linny began to sob into Andrea shoulder. Andrea rubbed her back reassuringly, and gave her one last gentle squeeze before they started walking again.
When they reached Linny’s apartment, a little girl around three years old came running to the door. Her curls bounced and framed her smiling face as she got to the front door.
"Mama!" The little girl yelled while running into Linny's arms.
She hugged her daughter tightly and stroked her light brown hair. “Were you a good girl for great-grandma?”
Rosie nodded, still snuggled in her mother’s embrace.
Linny then pulled her back to look at her young face. Linny felt her smile fall a little as she saw two vibrant blue eyes that did not resemble her own dull green eyes. Everything in her daughter’s face did not resemble her own in fact. Rosies beauty was alien to Linny. She had light caramel colored hair that twisted in curls, her nose was small and straight unlike Linny’s. But it was her eyes that perturbed Linny; Rosie’s were this pale blue that never existed in Linny’s gene pool. Painful memories began to flash in Linny's mind once more. Her thoughts raced back four years to that very night. The chaos and panic of that night burned within Linny’s memory. She remembered those blue eyes that matched Rosie’s, but colder and hostile.
Linny quickly banished those images from her mind and looked at her little girl. In her blue eyes, all Linny saw was radiating love and happiness. Laughter bubbled on her daughter’s lips as Rosie told her that she loved her. Linny was then reminded of how keeping Rosie was actually the right choice.
Linny then heard the voices of her grandmother and Andrea discussing last week’s episode. The television then began to buzz with the familiar voices of the characters.
"Come on Linny!" Andrea yelled from the other room. "It's starting!"
"For real, I'm coming!" Linny answered. She hugged Rosie one last time and brought her in the other room where they watched Grey's Anatomy.
Linny was sitting in her best friend’s beauty shop, munching on Cheetos. She sucked the sticky, orange cheese off her fingers while reading the TV Guide.
“So when is Grey’s coming on, Linny?” Andrea asked while putting away the hair dye that was used for Linny’s new black hair.
Linny just sat there, gazing into the mirror in front of her. When she was little, she used to imagine that when she reached her thirties she would be beautiful. She dreamt of the day that puberty would hit and she would transform into a woman that every man desired and every woman envied. Somedays she thought she would be as sophisticated as Audrey Hepburn, as charming as Elizabeth Taylor, and as lovely as Marilyn Monroe. However, movie star looks didn’t run in her family. She looked at her plain face and sighed. All she saw was the big nose inherited by her father, and a poor excuse for green eyes inherited by her mother. There was nothing stunning about the reflection that stared back at her.
“Linny?” Andrea called impatiently. “Yo Belinda would ya mind answering me?”
“8:00 p.m.” Linny responded.
Linny ran her fingers through her new hair. She felt it slip like silk through her newly manicured fingers as she stroked it time and time again. She had been on edge lately and Andrea had invited her for a free spa day at her beauty salon. For the first time in while she felt somewhat at ease.
“Well then we better get going if we wanna make it,” Andrea said, taking off her cheetah print smock.
“For real, girl? I mean ya don’t have to come if ya don’t wanna,” Linny said. She admired the hot pink paint and rhinestones on her nails and smiled.
“Ya like ‘em?” Andrea asked, smiling at her best friend.
“They’re gorgeous, like for real,” Linny gushed.
Andrea put her coat on a flipped her black teased hair. “I promised ya that I wouldn’t leave ya on this night. All right? A’ight. Let’s get outta here.”
This night. The unwelcomed thought echoed through Linny’s head. A chill ran down her spine. She quickly nodded to Andrea and hoped that she didn’t notice her little moment.
Linny and Andrea left the beauty shop and continued towards Linny’s apartment on the cheap side of Brooklyn. They were passing by an empty shop when Linny stopped to look inside its boarded windows. She peered in the window longingly, imagining the walls with bright, multicolored paint on them.
"Maybe once you make enough money at the bar," Andrea began excitedly, "You'll be able to open your handbag shop here. How cool would that be?"
"Yeah, when they start giving out loans to high school dropouts," Linny mused. "That’ll be the day when Pauly D and me say ‘I do’."
Andrea laughed at that last comment and began making their plans for the premiere of the new Twilight movie.
Linny nodded along to what Andrea was saying and pretended to hear her. As hard as she tried, the same unwelcomed thoughts went racing through her head. Random flashes of dark and pain kept breaking their way into her sanity. Linny kept her eyes fixed on the ground in front of her, fighting back the memories. She turned back to look at Andrea, still babbling about plans for the weekend. Linny smiled, she felt so lucky to have such a loyal friend like Andrea. No matter what happened, or how bad things got, Andrea would always be there.
“So how have ya been?” asked Andrea in a serious tone.
“Oh ya know, same old same old,” Linny responded, smiling politely.
Andrea searched Linny’s face for anything out of place.
“Seriously, Andie,” Linny said. “I’m fine.”
“Well I’m just makin’ sure,” Andrea began. “It’s been four years, ya know, and I know things like this are very hard to recover from.”
Linny shook her head impatiently, “Really, I’m fine.”
Andrea was obviously not taking the hint. “Ya know, I’ve been watching Dr. Phil recently and he said that victims of r-”
“Andie! I’m fine!” Linny shouted.
There was a stillness then, as they stood in the soft glow of the streetlight. An uncomfortable tension rose between the friends. Andrea had known Linny from childhood. She knew everything about her. She knew Linny’s first crush, her dreams, her plans, her secrets. But there was something, that even Andrea, would never understand about Linny.
“I’m sorry Lin,” Andrea murmured. “I just want to be here for you.”
“Then just be here,” Linny whispered. “I just want to forget.”
They looked at eachother then, both had tears shining in their eyes. Andrea sighed and wrapped her arms tightly around her friend. Linny began to sob into Andrea shoulder. Andrea rubbed her back reassuringly, and gave her one last gentle squeeze before they started walking again.
When they reached Linny’s apartment, a little girl around three years old came running to the door. Her curls bounced and framed her smiling face as she got to the front door.
"Mama!" The little girl yelled while running into Linny's arms.
She hugged her daughter tightly and stroked her light brown hair. “Were you a good girl for great-grandma?”
Rosie nodded, still snuggled in her mother’s embrace.
Linny then pulled her back to look at her young face. Linny felt her smile fall a little as she saw two vibrant blue eyes that did not resemble her own dull green eyes. Everything in her daughter’s face did not resemble her own in fact. Rosies beauty was alien to Linny. She had light caramel colored hair that twisted in curls, her nose was small and straight unlike Linny’s. But it was her eyes that perturbed Linny; Rosie’s were this pale blue that never existed in Linny’s gene pool. Painful memories began to flash in Linny's mind once more. Her thoughts raced back four years to that very night. The chaos and panic of that night burned within Linny’s memory. She remembered those blue eyes that matched Rosie’s, but colder and hostile.
Linny quickly banished those images from her mind and looked at her little girl. In her blue eyes, all Linny saw was radiating love and happiness. Laughter bubbled on her daughter’s lips as Rosie told her that she loved her. Linny was then reminded of how keeping Rosie was actually the right choice.
Linny then heard the voices of her grandmother and Andrea discussing last week’s episode. The television then began to buzz with the familiar voices of the characters.
"Come on Linny!" Andrea yelled from the other room. "It's starting!"
"For real, I'm coming!" Linny answered. She hugged Rosie one last time and brought her in the other room where they watched Grey's Anatomy.