Spider on the Wall

Suddenly there was water! My grip failing as I struggled to fight, to live. It was washing me away, dragging me down to the black hole that held my fate. I hung for dear life at the very edge, the water quickly drowning me.

“Woah, hang on there,” a voice said, startled but calming. I was lifted, I was saved. I rose higher and higher. The air was cold around my body.

“Hang on, c’mon, you can make it. There, take it easy. You got a lot of fight in ya, keep fighting.” I breathed and my body struggled to move. “There you go. Nice and easy.” The voice was had a bit of edge in it. I realized it was scared as I was, but still it continued to comfort me in was seemed to be the end.

It waited as I regained strength. When I finally laid eyes on my hero. A human, with shaggy brown hair, stubble, and dark brown eyes. I noticed his hands that held me, bitten down fingernails and a band aided finger.

“You’re gonna make it.” He encouraged. Suddenly we lifted and his walk made me unstable as we went to a different room. This one had plain white walls, a black box, and a few things humans sat in. He lifted me higher, higher and rested he hands against the wall. I slowly crawled and placed my feet against it. I walked up and made myself home in the corner.

“Okay, here’s the deal. You eat bugs. That’s your rent. Don’t end up in my bed. Don’t end up in my shower… again. And do not startle me. Deal?” I was grateful as I rested. He glanced at me walked away. He left back into the room we were before. I took a look around the place from my ceiling corner. The room was small, the black box room connected to the room with the hot box and the cold rectangular box, a small support linking the rooms together. My hero returned sometime later all wet. He laid on the couch for awhile and watched the black box with pictures flashing on it, glancing at me every now and then checking on me. As this went on I began spinning my web. I took all the details into account, it had to be perfect. Something on the table in front of him began buzzing and my hero picked it up.

“Hey Matt. What’s up? I didn’t know what he was doing, talking into the small thing. Was someone in there? Like on the black box?

“Yea I wasn’t, didn’t feel too good. Was there a quiz? Good. I don’t need to miss another one of those.” My hero spoke sarcastically. “Nah I’m still not feeling well. If you want you could come over here. I’m about to start dinner and I could kick your ass in COD.” Sounds great, see you then.” He put the small thing down and got up, walking to the cold box. It opened and he pulled some food out: meat, veggies, and some other stuff. He washed the veggies and began cutting them with a sharp thing. He was good, very fast and precise. I understood his hurt finger now. He got the that hot box going and threw some things in a pan. Now I know bugs are my thing but the smell that filled the rooms almost converted me! Spicy, yet subtle aroma overtook the room as I watched my hero flip the meats around. Better than I could ever do, even with eight legs. There was a knock and he ran to the door.

“Hey Matt, foods almost done.”

“Jesus Christ, Germy! Smells better than my mother’s cookin! But don’t tell her that.”

“Stop callin me germy!” My hero gave him a slug in the arm as he walked back to the hot box.

“I can’t help it. You’re the neatest person I know, my girlfriend isn’t even that clean.”

“I’m not a germaphobe.” he argued back.

“Yeah yeah. But God forbid if there’s a mess in your kitchen.”

“My kitchen is my girl. And I can do her better than you could.”

“Is that some kinda sex joke? Because there’s no way!” My hero laughed at that and they gathered plates and ate.

“Dude, why don’t you get a minor in culinary? Law is great and all, but you just don’t seem to enjoy it like I do.” My hero became very uncomfortable.

“I don’t think I can make it. It’s so fast pace. I don’t know.”

“C’mon Dillon let’s be real here. It only took me 10 minutes to get here, putting on pants made it take 20 altogether. You got this shit.”

“Thanks, but I don’t know.”

Dillon. That’s my hero’s name. I watched him slouch over staring at his feet.

“C’mon,” Dillon grinned at Matt, “Time to get your ass kicked.”

“Oh you’re on!” Matt started looking around while Dillon got out weird things with a bunch of buttons.

“Yo, where’s the tv remote?”

“Check in the couch.”

Alright, so tv is that black box.. And couch is the thing they sit on. I felt like I’ve learned so much in one day. I watched them press those buttons fast, they were controlling the people on the screen. I learned more new words. Gun was the thing that fired light and killed other people on tv. Fuck was when either one of them appeared to be losing. Pop was the thing they drank from a can. There was a lot of laughter, slugging each other, and swear words. I nabbed a fly in my web and chowed down. After a few hours they got up and stretched.

“Oh man, I gotta go. Still have to write that paper.” Matt said.

“Seriously? He gave us two weeks to write that.”

What can I say,” Matt shrugged, “I’ve got a masters in procrastination.” He bumped knuckles to Dillon and went out the door. Dillon sighed, he looked sad as he went to the kitchen and cleaned up the kitchen and tv room. That thing buzzed again and he picked it up.

“Forget something?.... No I’ll be there, I can’t miss anymore quizs. Thanks man, see you tomorrow.”

He put it back on the counter and continued. When he sat on the couch he opened a book and went through papers. A long time passed before he put his hands in his hair.

“Fuck.” He said. I didn’t know you could lose to a book. Weird. He put it up and walked over to me, keeping a healthy distance.

“Glad to see you’re doing alright. Wish I could say the same for myself. I think I’m gonna call you Billy.”

Billy? I had a name. It was a weird feeling, I felt like I mattered. I never had a friend. He left into a different room and turned off the lights. I myself, got some shut eyes.

I woke up to him walking around picking up books and paper. He opened a window and left out the door. Flies came and went, the stupid ones got caught in my web that I worked on expanding. When my hero came back he didn’t look happy. Tossed his books on the couch and paced to the kitchen and back a few times. That thing buzzed again. He took a deep breath before answering.

“Hey Mom, hey Dad. How are you? How’s Suzy? That’s good. No the quiz went well. Yea I feel pretty good about it. How about you all come over? I can make something for ya. Tell Kate that Matt might be coming over, I know she’s got a crush on him. Yea he still has his girlfriend she’s coming too. So are you coming over? Oh, that’s alright, maybe next time. Alright I got to get to studying. I’ll talk to you later. Mk, bye!” He put the thing down and frowned.

“When am I gonna get the balls to tell them I’m failing.” There was a knock on the door. Dillon opened and Matt and another man came in.

“Hey guys how it’s going?” Dillon smiled.

“Good. Hey listen, my girlfriend couldn’t make it, so I brought Luc, that alright?”

“Yea. Nice to meet you.” Dillon shook his hand. “What do you want for dinner? I was thinking spaghetti if my parents came over, but they said they have other things to do.”

Matt turned on the tv and couldn’t hide his relief. “That means Kate isn’t coming over. I know she’s got a crush on me, but she could stop staring.” Luc laughed, it was the first sound he made, Matt playfully elbowed him and I caught a dirty look that Dillon missed.

“So what do you guys want?”

“I don’t know, I’m kinda in a pizza mood.”

“I can make a pizza, got the red sauce and everything.”

“Sounds good, man.” Matt sounded kinda nervous. Luc nodded in agreeing.

“Well go ahead and watch tv, play a game.”

“Do you want us to help? Luc asked. Matt laughed,

“It’s better to stay out of Chef Germys way.” I saw Dillon roll his eyes.

When it was done they ate, I joined with mosquitoes that came through the window.

“So, how did you do on the quiz?” Matt prompted.

“I bombed it.” Dillon sighed.

“Tell your parents?” Dillon shook his head.

“I am never ordering another pizza again, and I’m not saying that to butter up!” Luc claimed.

“He thinks you should go to culinary too.”

“You told him about that?” Dillon eyebrows raised, “You said you wouldn’t.” Matt grew real nervous again.

“I, uh, look... Luc is.. A good friend. He’s trustworthy…” there was a long silence. I could see things being put together in Dillon’s mind. He finally shrugged.

“Pick up a controller, guy’s. Let’s see who’s the better marksman.”

They began playing the game with guns.

“So,” Dillon paused, “How long have you guys been dating?” Matt’s person got shot.

“It’s, uh, been a few months. Listen, I wasn’t sure how you were gonna take it.”

“Everyone’s different.” Luc remarked, twisting his controller and growling as he got shot.

“You don’t have to worried about it here.” Dillon grinned as he got blown up. After a while they left, Dillon shook Luc’s hand again and gave fists to Matt.

Rain began coming through the window and he shut it. His shoulders were slouched as he put things away and rested on the couch.

“What am I going to do….”

As the days went on he came and went. Worked on papers until early morning. He seemed to grow more frustrated and unhappy. One day he layed on his couch and didn’t move for days except to eat and go to the bathroom. He stopped making food. People stopped coming over. The rooms became messy. I was so hungry I hurt. The windows hadn’t been opened in a long time and the bugs were gone. But I still learned a lot from the tv, even though he didn’t watch it. His stubble turned into a beard and he mostly slept. Luckily a few stray bugs got caught, but it wasn’t often. I ate them quickly, it still didn’t feel like enough and I grew weaker as the weeks went by. Dillon lost a lot of weight, his belly not as round. He cried a lot too, alone. When that thing buzzed he didn’t pick it up. And if he did, he said he didn’t feel well.

One night he was crying and shaking. I didn’t understand what was upsetting him. He saved me once, but now I didn’t know how to help him. He stormed to the kitchen and grabbed the knife he used to cut veggies. He sat on the couch shaking, sobbing loudly as he held it in his hands. I saw him now. He was being pulled into that black hole, like I was so long ago. Except there was no one to grab him to pull him out. I wondered if he felt like he was drowning too…

He held the knife to his wrists. Tears falling down his face as he gently pressed. He stopped then, everything went quiet. Then he yelled, really loud and defiant. He sounded like he was in agony. He threw the knife to the floor, got up and stormed to his room. He came back with more paper in his hands and a metal thing. Up to the wall he started slamming the paper to it. The noise hurt my ears and he slammed paper in different spots around the living room. There were people on these papers. I didn’t recognize most of them, but I saw Matt and Luc. I wondered if they were trapped in there. When he came closer to me I think I startled him.

“Billy.” He said after a moment wiping tears. “You’re still alive…. God I bet you’re hungry.” He went and opened a window, the bugs flew in seeking the cool air against the heat outside. Dillon continued to slam papers on the walls. I was never happier to eat the mosquitos. He stood looking at the papers, tears still coming down his face. He particularly stared at a woman with wavy blond hair. He picked up the buzz thing and started pushing buttons.

“Hey Aunt Kimberly,” He wiped his nose on a tissue. “No I stubbed my toe, you know how I’ve always been a bitch about that. Do you think you could come over tomorrow? I, uh, need some help cleaning. Yea, it got out of hand. That’s a perfect time. Thank you so much. What? Oh, I’ve… been better. We’ll talk more tomorrow, I have to use the bathroom.” He hung up and went to the bathroom. He came back wet and shaved. He continued to look and the papers on the walls. And cleaned up a small bit before going to bed.

The next morning there was a knock on the door. Dillon opened it to the same wavy blond hair woman that was trapped in the paper. She gave him a tight hug.

“Hey Aunt Kimberly. That’s for coming out.”

“It’s been forever since I seen you. OH! Your apartment! You didn’t say it was this bad.” Dillon put an awkward hand behind his head and gave her a weak smile.

“It kinda got away from me.”

“Kinda? Well I bought cleaning stuff, let’s get this place up and running.” They began their work, lavender smell filled the air.

“I can’t believe you let your kitchen fall apart. You know pictures are supposed to be framed, right?” She shook her head.

“I kinda like them like that, gives character and all. There was another knock on the door. Dillon opened to see Matt and Luc.

“What are you two doing here?”

“Your Aunt got ahold of us and asked us to come ou- Holy shit man, what happened to your apartment?”

“I’ll explain, come in.”

“We’re here to help,” Luc commented.

As they cleaned together they chatted. They took a break and sat on the couch.

“Look guys, I’m sorry I shut you out. Things the last couple of months have been really hard.” Dillon apologized.

“You dropped out of law school.” Aunt Kimberly stated calmly. “That kinda stress will drive anyone nuts.”

“Mom and Dad are really pissed. I lost my job too. I’m just a disappointment now. But… I’ve decided…” The other three leaned forward. “I want to go to culinary school.” Aunt Kimberly jump to her feet and squealed.

“Ahhhh! Ha ha!” She gave Dillon a tight hug. “I’m so excited for you! I love my sister, but she can stick her feelings up her ass!”

“It’s about time!” Matt grinned. Aunt Kimberly gasped.

“Do you need stuff? Knives, spoons? I can help you out!”

“Us too,” Luc said. Matt rested his hand on his.

“We’re here for you man.”

It was the first time in a long time I seen Dillon smile. Smile like he meant it.

“Aunt Kimblery, I hate to ask this much of you, but I kinda need a place to stay…”

“Say no more! Oh I’m so happy.” She took him by the shoulders. “This is your talent, your dream. You go for it and you go for it hard. I’ll support you anyway I can.” They all hugged and spent the rest of the day cleaning.

“Oh! Spider!” Aunt Kimberly jumped when she saw me.

“Don’t touch Billy! He pays rent.”

“You’re ok with a spider living in your living room? Doesn’t he scared you?”

“Oh hell yea. But people are so easy to kill what they don’t like or understand.”

In the next couple of days they were going back and forth moving things, the last things to go are a few boxes. My hero is happier and I am content. My time is coming to an end and I won’t see him leave. But I’ll remember him. I know he’ll do great, he’s got the skills, the passion. Passion, hard work, and support is all he needs. Goodbye, my hero.