Surrendered: A Collection of Five Works

by Unknown

  Surrendered

  “Devin, promise me that you’ll look after her.” Marcus pleaded, barely making it through his sentence. “Please promise me that.”

  “You know I will, I promise.” Devin squeezed the Marcus’s hand a little tighter while he choked back his tears. The beeping from the monitors in surrounding hospital rooms made everything feel way too real for Devin. He knew that his best friend was going to die, but he was not ready to watch it happen.

  “Take care of my si-” at that moment, he drew his last breath of life. The steady beeping of the heart monitor suddenly went flat.

  Devin could not hold back the tears any longer. The dam holding back his tears had busted and he instantly became a wreck. He had so many memories and great times with Marcus and he definitely was not ready to let them go. He still remembered when they had met in basic training and became friends almost instantly. It all started when Marcus stuck up for Devin during conditioning, which earned him 50 extra pushups. They hadn’t even known each other at the time, it was just an act of kindness.

  A few minutes later, Devin’s tears were interrupted by the sound of another woman crying. He raised his head and looked to the side to see a young woman in tears. He didn’t know the woman, but he knew exactly who she was. She had blue eyes just like Marcus and curly brown hair that looked like a longer version of his. A lot of people liked Marcus’s eyes. Not very many light skinned people were born with blue eyes, so people thought that they made Marcus very unique. But Kim, her eyes were beautiful too, she looked just like Marcus. She was tall like him too, she had to be about 5’10. He let go of Marcus’s still warm hand and hugged the woman in a tight comforting embrace. He had no idea why he did it, but she looked like she needed comfort and he felt like he needed to do it. They were both too much in shock to move, so they stood hugging each other until she pulled away. She looked him directly in the eyes and put her head back down.

  Their conversation was interrupted by a quiet voice.

  “I’m sorry, but you guys have to leave now.” she said rudely.

  “But my brother!” Kim screamed.

  “I’m so sorry, but I really need to ask you to leave.” The nurse said, pulling Kim from the room and handing her over to Devin.

  “M-m-my brother is gone…” she stuttered. “He’s the only family I had left. Now I have nobody.”

  “You have me…” Devin said through sobs. “We haven’t even officially met yet, but I want you to know that I’m here for you. I’m Devin. I promised Marcus that I would care for you.”

  Devin had no idea where to go or what to do. He had just lost his best friend and now he had to take care of his best friend’s little sister. He wasn’t complaining, but how does one depressed person take care of another when he can barely take care of himself? He didn’t even know what Marcus meant when he told him to look after her. Was he supposed to provide her with support? Was he supposed to watch over her and make sure nothing happened to her? He had no clue. All he knew was that he had to be strong for Kim.

  “You can stay at my house for a couple days if you don’t want to be at your house alone. It’s up to you. I have a guest bedroom.” he offered.

  “I don’t know.” she said. I just want to go home and cry.”

  “Do you want me to come with you?” Devin asked.

  “No thanks. I need to be alone.” Kim said, walking to her car.

  “Okay” said Devin, looking back at the hospital that kept his deceased friend captive.

  The whole way back to his house, Devin thought about how hard it was for his best friend to get shot right before his very own eyes. He had been shot twice in the chest, once in the leg, and once in the lower stomach. In the military, you are told to be prepared for anything, but Devin was not prepared to see that. It hurt way him more than four bullets to his own body would’ve.

  Another thing he thought about was how hard it must be for Kim. From what Marcus had always told him, they were pretty close. He said that they used to do everything together. Marcus had told him how their mother was taken by cancer and their father died in a car crash. Now Marcus was gone too. Everyone was gone, and there was nothing she could do about it. Everyone was gone but him, of course.

  Marcus had always told Devin how hard it was having to grow up without their parents and that’s why Marcus was always there to protect Kim and make sure nothing bad ever happened to her. Both of their parents died the same year, and Kim was only 6 when it happened. Apparently, Kim didn’t remember them much, but she still always carried around a picture of the four of them everywhere she went.

  He would never break his promise to Marcus. They both needed each other. He wondered why Marcus had never showed him any pictures of Kim. The only reason he knew it was her in the hospital room was because she looked just like him. They were practically twins. She was just a beautiful, female version of Marcus.

  Marcus was light skinned with brown curly hair. His parents were an interracial couple, so created two children of a lighter complexion than their father. Marcus’s vision wasn’t ever very good, so he always had a pair of glasses on.

  When he got home, he walked through the door and instantly felt his knees give out from under him. He rolled to the floor like a big ball of sadness. Although his best friend was now gone, he still couldn’t shift his brain away from Kim. She was so beautiful, it crushed his heart to see her cry. Even though they had just met, he was still so worried about her. What would she do? She had no family left.

  After Devin finally regained his calmness, he got up and walked to the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror and realized how horrible he looked. His eyes were swollen and puffy, his face was beet-red, and he smelled of sweat and depression. He was a wreck. He decided on taking a shower.

  He stripped out of his uniform and stood for a second before he stepped into the scalding hot water. The water was hot enough to burn him, but he was so numb that he didn’t care. He just let the water hit him and then cascade down his body to the floor of the bathtub. He stood there lifeless as the water stripped away all that was left of him. All of the happiness and positive energy was gone. All of his life was gone. He was so out of it that he completely forgot to wash his body. When he exited the shower, the only difference was that he was dripping wet. He was still the same sweaty mess.

  After his shower, Devin changed into his red, plaid pajama pants and a white tee shirt. He made himself a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. He took two bites of his sandwich and ate a spoonful of soup and was too upset to finish it. He left it on the table and then he walked to his room and crawled into his unmade bed. He laid there, unable to fall asleep until his he received a text message from Kim.

  KIM: Is this Devin?

  Devin: Yeah.

  KIM: It’s Kim. I got your number from his phone. I can’t sleep.

  DEVIN: Me either. How could either of us possibly sleep?

  KIM: I don’t know what to do. I feel lonely. Will you come stay the night with me? You can stay in the guest bedroom.

  DEVIN: Of course I will.

  First she sent him the address and then Devin packed an overnight bag full of clothes, blankets, and movies. He didn’t know why he packed blankets and movies, and he wasn’t sure of how many days she would want him to stay, so he packed enough clothes for 4 days. It was Saturday and the funeral would probably be on Tuesday, so maybe she’d want him to stay until then. He was sure that neither of them would be in the mood to watch movies, but he packed them anyway.

  It only took him about 20 minutes to get to Kim’s house. His mind was so full that he forgot to knock, so he just walked right in. She didn’t even notice. When he walked in, he saw Kim sitting on the couch in a state of shock, she was not able to move, speak, or do anything. He could see that she was clutching a picture of Marcus in her hand. She was squeezing it so tightly that it was probably wrinkled now. Devin could actually feel her pain, just by looking at her.

  He
looked around the room, taking in the look of everything; the mint green walls, the black leather couch, all of the black furniture. Just from what he was seeing, he could tell that Kim was a very organized woman. It’s not very often that you see all black furniture.

  He sat next to her on the couch and put his arm around her, pulling her toward him. She didn’t push him away, she just fell straight into his embrace. It had only been 25 minutes since they had texted, so what had happened to her since then? She said she couldn’t sleep but she didn’t even have her pajamas on. Maybe she just wanted him to come over. He didn’t understand. Maybe she found the picture after she texted him. Either way, he didn’t care. All he cared about was finding a way to try to put even just a little bit of light back into her life. It wouldn’t happen instantly, but he was going to be there with her every step of the way. He promised Marcus he would be there for her, and it was a promise he would never break. He was her guardian angel now. All he hoped was that she wouldn’t push him away.

  She leaned into his arm and just sat there. She didn’t move or speak. The only sound she made were quiet sniffles. He didn’t know what to do or say, so he did something strange. He kissed her on the top of the head.

  “I’m here for you, Kim. I want you to know that. I will always be here. I’m not going anywhere. Not Ever”

  She looked up and him and looked him in the eye for a brief second and then went back to looking down. She looked like she wanted to say something, like she was holding something back. Her face was so sad that Devin couldn’t help but tear up. She was like a sad, beautiful goddess.

  “Why are you crying?” she asked him.

  “Because I can’t stand to see my best friend’s little sister in pain like this… It kills me inside.” he tried to hurry and change the subject. “You must be hungry. Do you want something to eat?”

  “No, I can’t eat right now. If I eat, my stomach might explode.” she replied.

  “I understand. I couldn’t eat my food either. I made myself a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup and I could only take two bites.” he told her.

  “Grilled cheese and tomato soup actually sounds pretty good right now.” she licked her lips unintentionally.

  “I’ll make you some.” he got up from the couch and went to the kitchen to make her a sandwich. She didn’t object either, so she must’ve actually been hungry.

  He walked around the purple-walled room, looking for his ingredients. He looked in cupboard after cupboard, looking for tomato soup. After he found it, he got the bread and cheese and started to make the grilled cheese, being extra careful not to burn it. He grilled it perfectly, so that it was golden brown. Then, he got the can of tomato soup and poured it in the pot over the stove. He waited until it was done and put it into a bowl.

  When the food was done, he left it on the table and walked back into the living room, where Kim was still clutching the picture of her deceased brother. He gently touched her shoulder, which made her flinch and drop the picture.

  “Your food is done, love.” Devin said.

  “Alright. I’ll eat in a little bit.” She replied, tears running down her face. “I just miss him so much. It feels like just yesterday we were running around our yard playing tag.”

  “I know. I miss him too. We’ve made so many memories, I just can’t believe he is gone so soon. He was like a brother to me. The only best friend I ever wanted or needed.” he told her.

  “I feel like this is just a dream. Please just pinch me so I will wake up from this horrible nightmare. I don’t even want to live without him.” she begged

  “So are you ready for that grilled cheese yet?” he tried to change the subject.

  Devin sat and watched TV while listening to the mixed sounds of crunching and sobs from the other room. He wanted so badly to just get up and go comfort her, but he didn’t know how that would end. He would probably end up crying again too. He sat there for about ten minutes until he remembered how his early shower went. He got up and walked into the kitchen, where the beautiful, sad woman was eating her grilled cheese sandwich.

  “Do you mind if I take a shower?” he asked her.

  “Not at all. Towels are in the bottom cabinet.” she told him.

  “Care to join me?” he joked.

  “Ha-ha, very funny.” she replied without a single smile.

  He left the room, walking to the bathroom. Once again, he stripped out of all of his clothes, stripped down to the contents of his emotional package. There he was, standing in the bathroom of his deceased best friend’s little sister. It just didn’t feel right. None of this felt right. Devin wished he could just restart the whole week because then he could’ve prevented his best friend from getting shot. He wished it was him that got shot and not Marcus. Marcus did not deserve to die. He was only 30 years old, which was way too young to die.

  He turned the water on, this time making sure that it wasn’t too hot. He pulled a washcloth from the towel closet and waited until the water was just right to step into. He let the water run down his face and back until his whole body was wet. He stuck his head out of the brown shower curtain to look at his bag and realized that he had forgotten body wash at home. His only option was to use Kim’s Vanilla & Brown Sugar body wash. Hey, at least he would smell pretty and delicious!

  Devin scrubbed his whole body down, making sure to wash every part of himself. He kept washing himself until he heard a voice from outside the door.

  “Can you hurry up?” Kim asked. “I need to pee.”

  “Yeah, just a second.” Devin scrambled out of the shower and grabbed the pink towel. It was the only color she had. He patted himself dry quickly and then wrapped the towel around his waist before opening the door. To his surprise, Kim was standing there patiently. She had already changed into her pajamas; blue shorts and a grey tank top. She looked absolutely beautiful. They shared a quick glance before Devin walked to the guest bedroom to change his clothes.

  “Devin?” he heard Kim call out from up the hall. He wondered what she needed.

  “You forgot your bag in the bathroom.” she laughed.

  I’m so stupid. Devin thought

  He walked back to the bathroom and grabbed his bag. He could’ve sworn that he saw Kim eyeing him up and down. It didn’t bother him at all though, because he was definitely checking her out, too. He then walked back to the bedroom where he dropped his towel and patted himself dry once more. When he was dry enough, he pulled a pair of black Nike basketball shorts and boxers out. He put them both on, and left the room without even thinking of putting on a shirt. He left the bag there, considering that was his room for the night.

  He walked into the living room, where he found Kim sitting on the couch with her legs pulled up to her chest. She was watching Empire and she looked the happiest that she had all day. She looked pretty interested in the show, but maybe she just zoned off.

  Devin sat on the couch next to her and got comfortable.

  “How old are you?” he asked.

  “26, and you?” she replied.

  “I’m 30. Yeah, I am pretty old.” he joked.

  “Hey, you’re not that old.” she playfully punched his shoulder.

  “I was joking!” he tapped her arm. “So how did you like the grilled cheese?”

  “It was grilled to perfection.” she laughed.

  They spent an hour talking, kind of flirting, and eating popcorn. They seemed to be having a somewhat good time before Kim yawned and told Devin that she was going to try to sleep. He didn’t want her to go to bed but he didn’t want to seem too clingy. They both said goodnight and parted ways. Devin couldn’t help but stare at her while she walked away. She was perfect. Marcus would definitely disapprove.

  After watching TV for 30 minutes, he grabbed his phone and walked to the guest bedroom. There was a TV in the room, so he turned it on. He put on the first show that he came across, some cartoon, and laid there in the dark unable to fall asleep before he picked up his phone.


  DEVIN: Are you still awake…?

  KIM: That’s a silly question. Of course I am.

  DEVIN: Are you okay?

  KIM: Of course I’m not.

  DEVIN: I wish I could help you…

  KIM: I wish I could help myself…

  Devin didn’t know what to do. He thought about calling her, but she was right down the hall. That would be awkward.

  He crawled out of bed and crept down the hall toward her room. For some reason, she slept with her back to the door, so he walked right over to her bed and crawled in. She didn’t even seem surprised, she just laid there. He reached over and stroked the side of her head, running his fingers through her hair, scooting a bit closer.

  “Things will start to get better soon.” he sat up and placed a kiss right on the side of her head. He was really only trying to reassure himself.

  “Do you actually believe that?” she questioned him.

  “Yes. We just have to stay strong.” he said. “It’ll be hard, but I know we can.”

  She turned around to face him. She looked right into his eyes and could see the sadness he was feeling. She had been thinking that she was the only one who was sad, but now she realized that she was wrong. She scooted closer to him and put her arm over him, which made him pull her closer. She flipped over, facing away from him so he couldn’t see her cry but still stayed just as close to him. They both stayed awake with the same thing on their mind… Marcus.

  When Kim finally heard the sound of Devin’s soft snores, she pulled his arm back over her, cuddled him closely, pulled the blankets up, and fell asleep.

  When Devin woke up the next morning, they were still laying the same way as they were when they fell asleep. He sat up and looked at the clock. It was 10:38. He usually never slept that late. He looked down at Kim, sleeping beautifully. He leaned down and planted a kiss on her forehead before getting up and walking to the guest bedroom to get his toothbrush.