To Will Another Day

Diary,

Yo was the best I could come up with. Three years of friendship, two years of love ,and not a hi, or a call.

A strange message to his girlfriend, Ada ,would have been better, considering we took the same classes, met up for lunch every Tuesday, and were convenient best friends. "Yo" would probably be a word to use if he and I were still friends. 

It was funny to write after his last message that was two months ago, and for it to just be "yo". I try not to dwell on it, but I've never been good at starting a conversation, much less skilled at knowing how to act around my ex, Will. 

It's creepy having your best friend date the ex you're still pining over.

It's creepier having your mom as a therapist, but she's so cool; I could admit to my doctor, my mother was stressing me out. And I couldn't share my nightmares or visions. I thought I'd try this now. Better late than ever never. 

It's been six weeks since my first vision, a clear picture of Grandpa Eddie choking on his medication. He died on a Sunday, choking on a glass of water instead of the box of juice I had seen in my vision.

Another three weeks since my second and my third. My pet dog who died exactly as I had seen in my sleep. And Martha, my lab partner. It took me a while to free myself of the guilt, but I still see her in my dreams. How was I to know, that she would be on a road trip with her friend; a trip I had refused to accompany her for?

It didn't help that I had seen a ticked calendar in my vision, dated a month prior to her death, and her head lined up against the wall of her room. It took months to pull myself out of my self pity. It came at a huge cost of strange therapy sessions, and a failed Anatomy exam. Didn't stop me from wondering. 

 Why get visions if I can't stop the deaths? I had never altered one. Why see what I can't undo? Deaths of these people left me with a hole in my chest, and constant visions of them everywhere, begging me to save them after they were long gone. 

So when I saw Will in my vision, in a black T-shirt that read Forever Young and Air Jordans , writhing on the floor with a knife in his chest and begging me to save him, I knew I couldn't let him die.

I loved him, and I still do. At least enough to know I didn't want him to die, forgetting the miniscule detail that he had ended our relationship over a text, stole our pet dog, and introduced me to his girlfriend - my friend at a bus stop a week after. 

After small talk, he suggested we meet at a bakery. It was a cool place, new and full of divine aromas. I fidgeted when he came in with the black T-shirt from my vision, struggling to act normal. I had asked to meet up with my ex-boyfriend , who currently had a girlfriend, at 10:30 pm on a Friday night, thirty minutes away from home. Nothing unusual. 

I didn't know if to hug him or not, so I stretched my hand, swallowing when he held it longer than necessary. Will looked fresh ,still sporting the beards I loved to scratch. He was apologizing, telling me how sorry he was for the way we ended, when I told him he was going to die. He said he probably deserved it,considering how he treated me. 

I was frantic, trying explain what I really meant when he laughed it off. He had thought it was a joke. I was asking, prodding. Did he have new friends? Did he offend someone? He laughed it off, calling me Patbear for being so worrisome. We shared an ice cream plate and ate meat pies. I had already formed a plan in my head. Wills would take me home, and I would lock him in my room to explain that it was best he wasn't at his place.

When we finished, I let him pay the bills, noticing how reluctant he was to leave, constantly checking his wrist watch for the time. He was looking out the window more often,  asking about my parents and I indulged him, living leaving out the part where I was now seeing my mother for appointments,as well as my visions; when armed robbers walked in, sporting guns and face masks.

I screamed as a gun shot hit the glasses on the counter and we followed instructions, lying flat on the floor. Wills nudged me ,whispering that I stay quiet. A woman was shot in the head after placing a call, and I laid beside her, the blood from her head flowing to my face. 

Beside me, Wills was pushing for me to roll over, to move away from the blood and move under the table. We started an argument ; me asking him to put his phone in the tray that was passing around and not attempt anything stupid,he insisting he knew what he was doing.

I felt my eyes water as I realized, yet again, that I had underestimated death. I knew it. He had already dialed a number. Will would play the hero, and he'd die here instead of his bedroom floor.

The cashier at the counter was a sobbing mess, insisting she had no idea where the money was, save the night's sales. I turned to look at Will again, begging him to stay quiet when one of them gripped me by my braids. He pulled me up roughly, knocking the side of my head with the butt of his gun to convince her that they would kill me , causing me to slide on the blood beside me.

 She sobbed again, pointing to a door and giving him a key. A shot rang out and I heard her whimper, watching her hand bleed. 

I fell face flat, sobbing when I heard Will scream, try to reach for me. It was so fast. I was struggling to wipe the blood away from my face with the sleeve of my shirt .Will was reaching for me when I saw the one of them behind him. I screamed for him to look out, not minding the liquid that dribbled down to my lips.

Just then the sirens started, and I saw the robbers rush out of a room, screaming that they had gotten the cash. It would have been less messier, more comforting they were leaving, if Will wasn't fighting off the only one who'd stayed behind, a knife in hand.

A gun shot rang out from one of the masked men admist their fight, and I saw Wills drop to the floor. I crawled towards him,my face a mix of tears, blood and catarrh. 

They were making for the exit when the police barged in. They shot the one with the bag ,who tried to make a run for it. I was holding Wills, sobbing, when I realised there was no blood, and he was staring at me. He raised his shirt, which told me all I needed to know. State Police, Uyo District. 

I watched the robber who was shot fall to the floor, examining his clothing and spotting his White Air Jordans.