Free Style and Disgrace by Caitlin West

promise!
    Me: You suck, I’d own Sister Christian .
    Sammy: So buy it on iTunes and sing in the shower. Gotta go.
    I sighed and flopped back on the bed, closing my eyes. My stomach was a little uneasy from all the spices at dinner and I tried not to believe Ian had done it on purpose. Still, the discomfort didn’t keep me from drifting off. As my senses relaxed, I became fully aware of the empty space in the room, almost as if open air emitted a low, white noise.
    I felt as if my body were weightless, my arms and legs so numb I couldn’t be sure they were still there. My breathing was regular, each inhale held for a moment followed by a long, controlled exhale. It was more like a profound meditation than actual sleep, the kind I saw in martial arts movies where the hero was preparing to beat the living ass out of the villain.
    Yeah, my monkey style would lean more toward snacking on rice cakes than battling ninjas though. Such is life.
    Darkness gave way to a vision of my neighbor’s house through my bedroom window. I could see their deck from my vantage point where they kept their barbecue and expensive lawn furniture. Every summer, the few times I was home they would host parties with kids, blow up swimming pools, and serve enough booze to make a sports bar look like an AA meet up.
    The sun was down. Dusk made their yard matte gray with black textures. Everything was quiet and the well-manicured grass seemed lonely as night took over. I wanted to open my window and breathe in the night air, but I couldn’t. Something held me back so I continued to observe, a silent voyeur of nothing.
    If this is a dream, it’s kind of lame.
    Their sliding glass door opened and two people came out. I couldn’t make out their features. They were silhouettes outlined in dark green. Their features were obscured by blotted, wild colors ranging from red to orange to yellow. Each time they moved, the colors flared in different parts of their bodies. Their centers were darker and the extremities were lighter, down to the feet of the woman, which were almost blue.
    I couldn’t make out what they were saying at first, but it was clear they were arguing. He thrust his finger in her face, gesticulating abruptly. She didn’t recoil, didn’t so much as take a step back. They were locked in a battle of willpowers and neither had any intention of backing down.
    An instinctive jolt filled my head and I knew they were escalating toward something terrible. I strained to move, wanting to open the window and tell them to stop. Whatever disagreement they were having, they could work it out. They didn’t have to resort to hurting one another, not any more than they already had anyway.
    I couldn’t move, but their voices came to me first as whispers then as clear as if they were in my bedroom.
    “You’re a fucking bitch,” he said to her, trying to keep his voice low, but it rasped against his slim control. “You’re a lying, conniving whore and you really should just admit it!”
    “I’m a fucking bitch?” Her voice raised an octave as rage swallowed her whole. “You fucked my sister, our lawyer, and even another guy and I’m the fucking bitch? I’ve never met anyone who deserved to be castrated quite as much as you! I got tired of waiting around at home and finally took care of myself. So what? Between the two of us, I’d have to be gang-raped to be more messed up than you.”
    “I didn’t sleep with that guy, God damn it! That was a rumor!”
    “You don’t deny the others?”
    “You know about the others! We have to work this out, Jill. Think of the kids—”
    “Is that what you were thinking about when you screwed Sarah in your office? Were you worrying about the family while getting a little oral advice from the lawyer in our bed? I’m thinking of the kids. The fact is, I can’t believe I’m so calm. I wish I had the nerve to kill you for what you’ve done!”
    No! I tried to shout, but it was just a thought trapped in my