Safe Space (500Words, Weed 2, Day 4, 12/18/17)
“Don’t touch my fucking drink!”
The whole room went silent with all eyes turned towards Frank. It was as if the scene was frozen, the director had called HOLD, and all the actors were awaiting their next cue.
Frank stared at the onlookers with contempt and said “Fuck you all. I’m not getting dosed tonight, no matter what you all have planned” before he strode out of the house and onto the beach. It took a moment for everyone to recover and for the room to be filled with nervous chatter. When it happened, though, it happened in earnest as if each new conversation that started was of the utmost importance.
Frank didn’t care and wasn’t around to hear it. He had left with his head held high and didn’t stop walking until the tips of his leather shoes kissed the water, daring it to muss their sheen. He hadn’t worked as hard as he had to be toyed with like that, and there was no way he was going to take their bullshit. As he stared out over the water he uttered another “fuck them” into the wind.
“All of them?”
Frank whipped around to see who was talking to him and was shocked to find little Marco. “Excuse me?” was all he could manage in the moment.
“Well, you said ‘fuck them’ and I want to know if you meant all of them or only a select few, or, ideally, only one.”
Frank stared at Marco, trying to discern if he was being fucked with or flirted with by this little man.
“Fuck any and all of them who wanted to mess with me.” Marco folded his arms across his chest as much out of defiance as out of protection.
“Why do we use it like that?”
“Use what like how?”
“Use ‘fuck’ like it’s a bad thing. Why do we do that?”
“Because we’re all fucking puritans at heart, Marco. Fucking is bad, especially if you enjoy it.”
“Well, I refuse to buy into that. I like fucking and only do it to or with people I enjoy. I refuse to use it as a strike against someone.”
“Awesome. You do that, ok? You reclaim the word. I’m going to stay over here telling assholes to fuck the fuck off and trust that they know I’m not inviting them to some sort of orgy.”
“Fair enough. We’ll agree to disagree on this fair point.”
Frank turned away from Marco and resumed contemplating the water and the invisible horizon. Marco watched him for a moment before asking, “So, what did they do to earn your wrath?”
“Tonight? Tried to dose me. I don’t play with that shit.”
“Of course not. I understand how that would upset you.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Frank spun around again to face Marco. “You understand how that would upset me? Well thank goodness for your understanding! What ever might I have done out here all by my lonesome without your support and understanding? I might have whithered away into absolute nothing! Bless you for watching out for me.”
Marco took the heat from Frank calmly and almost welcomed it. “Frank, dosing you or anyone is not ok. You are within your right to be upset.”
“Thank YOU, Marco, for giving me permission to be upset.”
“I’m not giving you permission. I’m reflecting your feelings.”
“OH! So sorry that wasn’t clear to me from the beginning.”
“Look – you’ve had your trust violated and that’s something that tends to shake people to their core. You’re lashing out at me because I’m here, and I’m both prepared for this and ok with it. You can vent your spleen on me for as long as you’d like. If, when you’re done, you’re curious about where to go from here, I’ll be happy to work with you.”
* All 500Words are fiction. Any resemblance to people or events is strictly coincidental. *