Brisk

Damn. At this rate I’ll never make it in time. The hollow ring of the sirens rattled me from my thoughts bringing me swiftly back to my icy reality. So cold…always so so cold. I picked up my backpack, stiff and frozen and began to walk as quickly as my near-frostbitten limbs would allow. With my overly numb fingers I felt around my neck for the only thing of value I owned. The black heart-shaped locket my sister gave me before she left or disappeared depending on who you ask.

Money was never tight in my family. But time and affection were. My sister had been the only person I truly loved and trusted in my household. Only eleven months older than me she was the guardian and emotional support my parents and house staff didn’t know how to be. She was the fixture in my life that I’d always relied on and couldn’t imagine not having. I still remember the day she gave me this locket. It wasn’t a special occasion or really any occasion where I’d expected anything close to a reward - although I had done everything right. I’d been escorted home by the cops after, righteously, pummeling a classmate. The wrong classmate apparently. This being my first infraction I expected some leniency. With my last name being what it is I assumed I’d get some display of false anger and an impeccably soft slap on the wrist. Not at all what happened. During lunch one beautiful spring day before the weather went absolutely haywire, I was sitting in the school courtyard with my best friends, Roxanne, Ty, and Corinne. We were discussing how crazy the weather had been lately - one day it’d be sunny with a nice breeze, the next there’d be a torrential downpour (extremely rare for Los Angeles), and the next few days we’d get a hellish heat wave followed by SNOW of all things. That seemed to be the pattern for weeks at a time so naturally it captured the attention of a studious and inquisitive lot like us. The latest theory that day came from Roxanne - who suggested that the weather was actually being manufactured by the city to reward or punish our collective behavior. Gotta love a conspiracy theorist. Of course, the rest of us laughed at how ridiculous this was while Roxanne vehemently argued her case. Mid-sentence she stopped and looked around the then crowded courtyard. “Anyone got a tampon?” she asked timidly. We all did but that wasn’t the issue. She’d apparently asked too late and would have trouble making it to the closest bathroom without anyone noticing. Corrine handed her a tampon and we all stood to maneuver our way to the bathroom keeping Roxanne’s mostly obscured from view. We didn’t make it more than a few feet before running into Jessie - the king of all douchebags. Prior to 9th grade Jessie had actually been a close friend and decent human being, most likely due to our families doing business together. But in this particular instance his rude and childish side won. “Huh. Looks like the crimson tide rolled in with this whale” he laughed, looking around as if expecting someone to join in on his sad excuse for a joke. When we tried to move past him did the unexpected, he pushed Roxanne to the ground and when Ty stepped in to stop him, she was met with a swift punch to the gut. Jessie the Psycho, ladies and gentlemen. At this point I don’t remember much of what happened next except thinking I needed to find his weak spot to stop him from hurting anyone else. I was later told that I not only kicked him where it really hurt but when he fell to the ground in obvious agony I delivered a flurry of slaps to his face and head. Hardly the moves of an MMA champion but my version of berserker mode in that encounter earned me the label of being “troubled” and it stuck to me like white on rice. Much to the dismay of my family who heavily contemplated sending me away to some boarding school more appropriate for “girls like me”. It was my sister who convinced them to graciously let me stay at home with the rest of the family siting our familial duty to always stick together. I could hear her pleading my case for hours, only resting once she had a firm promise from our parents that I wouldn’t be sent away. Afterwards, we had a good laugh about this and the fact that Jessie pretty much walked away without a scratch despite my best hand slappy efforts. That’s when she pulled out a small, shiny black object from her back pocket and handed it to me. Upon closer inspection it was some sort of heart shaped locket, but not like anything I’d ever seen. There was no chain attached to wear it and the material was jet black. It seemed light enough to be hollow inside but there didn’t seem to be a way to open it. I shook it out of curiosity and sure enough the shallow rattle let me know there was something inside. I had so many questions: What was it -other than a weird locket? Where’d she get it? Why was she giving it to me? “So I get in trouble and you’re giving me presents? Gee, thanks!” was all l managed to get out before her laughter cut me off. “Now’s as good a time to give you a gift as any! Whatever you do, don’t lose it.” she said, fixing me with her best impression of our mother’s stern glare before laughing again and giving me a hug. I didn’t ask anymore questions after returning her hug. I guess I was still shocked that a day of being punished for doling out justice could turn into receiving one of the most cryptic gifts I’d ever received. What is now my most prized possession. I’ve never quite figured out how to open it after almost 5 years of wearing it on a repurposed rose gold chain from some other long forgotten necklace.

Having zoned out thinking about my locket and how I got it, I’d covered a good amount of distance and was almost home. Somehow being close to home and getting out of the twelve degrees below zero that had somehow become typical for this hour didn’t feel as triumphant as it should have. Remembering my sister and my friends created a sharp ache in my heart that the presence of my frozen locket could scarcely fill. After my sister left a year ago it was all downhill from there. My friends were the only reason I got through it and as of today only Ty remained. Roxanne, who became increasingly vocal about her conspiracy theories around the weather and a whole slew of other things, landed herself a nice cozy jail cell. Oddly enough, jail was one of the few places a person could get reliably warm living arrangements and semi-regular meals. I really hope the rumors about the jail rationing the heat to only six hours per day aren’t true. Even if they are Roxanne’s still better off than Corrine. Last month, she was found frozen to death after not showing up to her work shift. A fate I’m at risk of sharing if I don’t move it. I’d guess without any real way of knowing that the sirens went off about twenty minutes ago, which means I’ve got about another ten to get home before the temperature drops another twenty degrees. Ok. Time to focus. I should be passing my favorite, newly abandoned hair salon by now, marking only two and a half blocks from home. It’s my favorite because the poster of the immaculately coifed woman in the window just seems so silly these days. We’re all trying our best not to let mother earth ice us out but sure I’ll take a fresh cut and color. There’s my twisted sense of humor, rearing its silly head again but this time it also reminds me that I haven’t seen that poster. Which means I’m lost. I’m lost and the temperature is rapidly dropping. My only option at this point is to try to find some shelter or hope someone will take me in for the night. About a block ahead I can see a few windows are lighted which means I’m not alone out here or as bad off as I thought. Finally fortune smiles upon me, freakin’ finally!