Our Razorblade Symphony - Chapter 16

Chapter 16 - You Said You Loved Me As You Left Me.

I haven't rode in a car in years. An actual car, not a bus or an off roader. As I walked outside with Mrs. Biersack I stopped beside it, unsure which one I should sit in.

"Passenger side is on the other end, Ash." Mrs. Biersack said, coming up to me and opening the driver's side door. I walked around the other side and tugged open the door. The seat was way too low but still comfy once you got settled. She stuck the keys in the ignition and started the car, it was a lot quieter then Auntie's bike. It barely shook, which I wasn't used to.

~

I raced up the steps in front of the jailhouse, pushing off the concrete quickly amd making loud tapping sounds with my foot. At the top I realized Mrs. Biersack was still a ways away, so I held the door for everyone. An older woman smiled greatfully at me.

"Thank you, young one." She said, hesitating in the middle of the sentance.

"You're welcome."

It was a force of habit for me to hold doors for people, especially in hell holes like this. Within a minuet or so Mrs. Biersack caught up and took the door from me.

Inside the doors were a bunch of machine things. A steel door frame looking gadget was blocked in by ropes while a conveyor belt held small grey tubs. Mrs. Biersack ushered me towards the machines, following close behind.

"Empty your pockets please, step through here slowly." The police officer said who was watching the station. She held some kind of hand held scanner thing, dangling at her side. I emptied my pockets of paper and a quarter then walked through the metal door. The woman waved the scanner thing from my head down to my legs then ushered me out of the way to scan Mrs. Biersack.

"What was that?" I asked, looking back as we walked.

"Security." she said. "They're making sure you're not bringing the inmates knifes or anything."

"Makes sense."

Another few flights of stairs to get to the room. I kept my pace to match Mrs. Biersack's. She held on to the railing and carefully stepped, her hard sole shoes clacking up the steps next to mine.

"I didn't think I'd ever have ot be here visiting Andy..." she said, her voice giving off emotion.

"Me neither." I said. "I didn't even think Andy would end up here."

"Considering what he did, he might be here for..." her voice trailed off. "I don't want ot think about it."

"Then don't."

Around a corner to the next flight, I held on to the railing too. Something about the stairs were freaking me out.

"I'll do my best to prove it was defense, I promise."

"I hope they belive us. Pete was a real asshole." She mumbled. "When Andy was younger he loved him, but after we got married, everything changed."

"Like what?"

"He drank." she wiped her right eye "When Andy was 9 he started to get abusive, tearing ass through the house like a bat out of hell. He would hit us any chance he got when he was pissed."

This was sickening. "Why couldn't you tell anyone?"

"He'd kill me, dummy." she said "Or else take Andy away...Andy is all I have. I can't let him be taken away and put in some god damn foster home."

"When I found his bruises he begged me to stay quiet." I said. "I didn't know how serious it was until Andy was...you know..."

"arrested." She finished my sentence. "Go ahead and say it. I'm not sensitive to it all that much."

I sighed, starting to get tired of the stairs. "What was Andy like when he was little?"

Mrs. Biersack actually smiled, wincing slightly at her cut lip. "He was a wild little thing. He would sing, run around wearing his KISS shirt and singing 'I Wanna Rock' to me."

"So like he is now?" I joked.

"I haven't exactly been able to see him that much anymore. Pete didn't work so I had to, and that took up most of my day. I'd see him in the basement and thats about it."

We were quiet the rest of the way. When we reached the right entrance I held open the door for her, letting her through first. Once inside a guard checked us over (again) before directing us to the visitation room.

There was a line of chairs all lines up to seprate stations, small, dark blue walls separated the booths apart along with a large window of thick, bullet proof glass. On the blue wall held a phone-booth like phone, cord and everything only without the numbers and the coin slot.

"Andrew Biersack." Mrs. Biersack said to the guard, pulling out a forum from her bag and showed it to the officer, a plump man in dark blue uniform. I sat down on one of the stools.

The room was pretty empty. Nobody else sat in the booths, the chairs were pushed out and scattered everywhere, a few abandoned children's toys lay on the floor, then there was us. Mrs. Biersack stood with her arms crossed over her chest, keeping her coat in place and hiding bruises.

I turned to the booth I was sitting at, labeled "Visitation 42." There was some graffiti around the corner of the desk and a couple pieces of dried gum. I kept my arms away from it and set my hands on my lap.

After what seemed like forever, the guard brought out Andy. His clothing replaced with an orange prison outfit, his hair was messy and brushed to the side. His blue eyes were duller than usual and he was bruised from his fight with Pete. When he saw me he grinned boldly and grabbed the phone, motioning at me to get the one of my side.

"I thought you would never come!" he said, beaming happily. "I was worried you were scared of me..."

"You're my best friend, how could I be scared of you? Don't answer that." I added, seeing the mischievous ting in his eyes he gets before making a sarcastic comment.

"I remember seeing myself on the news. They have crappy little TVs here by the way, and the report only had mom talking."

"I ran home." I admitted. "You went into some kind of shock and flipped your shit."

"I honestly don't remember anything other than hitting Pete then ending up in an isolation cell." he said. "God I hope I'm not there forever..."

"Don't say that!" I growled. "You're not going to be here forever."

"How do you know?" his face quickly turned from joyous to sad, he leaned on his elbow.

"I'm defending you too, since I know about the abuse thing."

Andy shrugged. "What good is that going to do? I'll still be in here, I still killed Pete, I'll have that reputation of someone's punk-ass prison bitch when I get out." He shook his head. "It won't do any good."

"Andy don't talk like that." I pressed my hand to the glass, leaving a short smudge against it.

"Don't deny it Ashley, I fucked up and..." he sighed and shook his head, pressing his hand right where mine was. I could almost feel the warmth of his pale fingers against mine.

"Have hope!" I begged. "We're going to do our damnedest to get you off, or at least a short time in this hell."

"I heard even a short time feels like a lifetime." he said sadly, looking down.

"You won't get lifetime, I promise." I said. "Theres no way in hell we're letting you rot here."

Andy gave me a hopeful smile, weak but still showed emotion. "Really?"

"Yes." I replied.

He smiled at me again, his blue eyes going a shade brighter and more lively. I tapped my fingers across the glass and moved closer to the booth.

"Ashley can you promise me something else?" he said after a minuet or two of silence.

"What is it?"

"Wait for me" he begged "Wait for me, I don't think I can bear losing you."

"What do you mean?" I raised my eyebrow, was he asking what I thought he was? He bent his head so his hair fell in his face and rubbed the top of his head, sighing audibly into the phone. I watched him take a deep breath and put the phone closer to his mouth.

"I love you, and I know you do too. Please wait for me?"

My stomach knotted and I felt butterflies roaming around in my middle. He loved me back? After all this time I was scared to tell him, he figured it out on his own. His eyes begged me like a dog at the dinner table, pleading silently.

"What gave it away?" I murmured.

"I can read expression, Ashes." he said. "Plus that wasn't just friendly sex we had."

My face flushed red and I looked down at his chest. He was breathing heavily but not hard enough for it to go into the phone, his thin chest moving rapidly up and down. My eyes moved back up and met his. "I promise I'll wait."

"Times up." the guard gruffed, coming over to Mrs. Biersack and I, laying a hand on my shoulder. Mrs. Biersack was asleep in the chair next to me but woke up as soon as he spoke, jumping slightly.

"Just a bit longer, please?" I pleaded. "We just got here!"

"Sorry kiddo." he said.

I looked back at Andy, who was being told to get off the phone. He whipped his head back at me, giving me a sad 'don't leave me' look. I stood up, still holding the phone and talked quickly in.

"What ever happens, don't forget that we're always here." I said "No matter what the asshole mates you have, don't forget us."

"I love you" he said before being taken away again.