Everyone Knows You Go Home by Natalia Sylvester

Author:Natalia Sylvester [Sylvester, Natalia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781542046374
Publisher: Little A
Published: 2018-03-12T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 29

NOVEMBER 2, 2015

YEAR THREE: LEATHER

The walls throbbed. The air around her pulsed. In her own silence, Isabel could hear the static of her thoughts, crackling and sparking beneath the surface.

This is what happens when you drink like a teen in your thirties, she thought.

Still in bed, she raised her arms and brought her hands in front of her face. They were swollen, and they itched, but when she scratched at the skin, the sensation spread down her arms like a bruise. She flipped them over: black nail polish and faded-purple ink made the wrinkles on her fingers look deep and dry. Over the course of last night, she and Martin had gone to four bars and been stamped five times—once by each bouncer that asked for ID, and twice by an overzealous doorman who probably resented all the other bars they had visited before his. Isabel’s hand looked like a passport that’d run out of pages.

She got up and went to the bathroom, nearly tripping over her shoes, tossed to the side of the bed. Ignoring the light, ignoring her lack of balance, she ran the bathwater as hot as she could and pulled out a facial wipe.

If her mother could see her now, hungover with makeup still caked all over her face. It was the most she’d worn since probably her wedding, but when Claudia called insisting they come out for a few drinks to toast both her engagement and Isabel and Martin’s anniversary, Isabel had gotten an urge to feel glamorous. Eduardo was on a school trip to Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio, and this time (sensing he didn’t want her tagging along for his senior trip to the theme park) Isabel had not volunteered to chaperone.

With the house finally to themselves, barhopping had not been on her list of to-dos. But it felt nice to be invited, and it seemed one of those rare chances that, if turned away, would never resurface. Martin had begun ironing his shirt as soon as he got off the phone with his sister. Pressed for time, Isabel had dug a black skirt out of the closet and paired it with a sleeveless sequined top.

“Are we going someplace fancy?” Martin had asked. “I was planning on wearing jeans.”

She’d laughed and said it was not like they had to match.

Of course, none of this amused her now.

She dipped her naked body into the scorching water, relishing the initial burn, how something so painful could become so soothing. It was not unlike drinking, or the first few times she had had sex. Except this asked nothing of her. In this, she was alone and warm, and she could float without feeling like she was falling. She couldn’t remember the last time it’d been like this.

She tried and began to cry.

Her body, shaking in the tub, created a gentle wake. The water slapped against the white tiles. She slid her head beneath the surface, and her sobs became muffled, her outburst, just harmless bubbles.

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