Onions Go With Everything

Left turn, right turn, right turn again, left turn. Cane doesn’t know how long she’s been running in this maze, but she knows who she’s running from. 

“Come out here, Cane!” Cane hits a dead end. She turns around and there she is, Vena. Cane looks into her angry, glowing eyes and turns away in shame.  

“I’m sorry Vena. Please, I’m so sorry.” She backs up until she hits the wall. Cane closes her eyes as Vena starts walking closer. Cane cowers into the corner and slides her back down the wall until she’s curled on the ground. Vena reaches a hand out and Cane tense’s her body preparing for the pain. 

Her body jolts back into reality. She takes a sharp breath in and clutches her sheets making sure she’s actually in her home. As she exhales her body finally softens. It was just a dream. She sits up and takes a pencil and a small notebook off her night stand. She flips the pages until she finds the one, she's looking for. She adds a tally mark to the other collection of tally marks on the page. 

"Morning Cane. Want a pancake?” Gerald stood over the stove with a spatula. 

“Morning Gerald. No thanks, I’m not very hungry.” He turned to her, studying her expression. 

“How about I make you scrambled eggs with onions in it?” He tried to sound uplifting. 

“Maybe later.” Gerald knew this was serious if she was turning anything that could have onions on it. 

“Bad dream again?” 

“Yeah.” She rubbed under her tired eyes then took a seat and grabbed a small banana off the counter. “I was in a maze this time.” Gerald became concerned for his twin sister. 

“How many times is that now?” She peeled back the banana and took a bite. 

“That was the eighth time.” She answered in a nonchalant manner. 

“Why are you acting so casual about this, I think you should really consider therapy. Your guilt is eating you alive. You have to forgive yourself, Cane.” She rolled her eyes. 

“I’m fine. Plus, we can’t both go to therapy and keep this apartment. It’s too expensive.” He sat down next to her and sat his plate down in front of him. 

“Are you sure you’re fine?” She took another bite of her banana. 

“Yep, and I’ll be better once I go to the carnival.” She smiled with a mouth full of banana and he smiled with a mouth full of pancake.  

“I’m excited too.” 

Once they finished breakfast, Cane went back to her room. As soon as she closed her door she sat on her bed and thought about her dream again. This one was different from the other ones. This time Vena actually caught up to her. Usually, Vena will chase her through places like a mall or a crowd of people at a party. And one time Cane had to swim away from her. She throws her head back on the bed and she thinks about all the other dreams that she’s been chased in. I’m tired of having these dreams. Every time I think I’m finally over it, it happens again. I take ten steps forward then ten steps back.  

She thought back to the first dream. 8 months ago. In the dream she saw Vena at a party and immediately started running the other way. Vena chased her through an ocean of people until Cane woke up in a frenzy. This was also around the time when Gerald got diagnosed with depression. He started losing friends quickly because they thought he didn’t want to talk to them anymore, but Cane knew better. It hurt her to see her twin go through so much and end up losing his friends in the process. It made her think of how her and Vena stopped being friends. Vena must hate her.  

There’s a knock at her door.  

“You almost ready?” 

Almost Ready? How long have I been sitting here? The clock says 4:30. She’s taken aback by how long she’s been sitting there thinking on the topic.  

“Yeah, I’ll be ready in 5 minutes.” She throws herself out of bed and hurries to put on the clothes nearest to her. 

“Alright, I’m heading to the car.” Gerald says on the other side of the door. 

They arrive at the carnival and park the car. They planned to split ways and hang out with their own friend groups. 

“Who are you going to be with tonight?” Cane asks as they unbuckle. She knows that he’s lost quite a number of friends. 

“Just me and Matty tonight. It would have been more but, I don’t really know where I stand with the rest of the guys now.” Cane grows concerned. 

“I can hang out with you guys if you want. We could be a trio.” Gerald throws his head back laughing. 

“You don’t even know Matty, plus what about your friends, they’ll miss you.” Cane puts on a sympathetic smile. 

“I’m sure they’ll be fi-” 

“It's okay, Cane.” Gerald interrupts. “Matty’s lots of fun and he understands. He’s stuck around through a lot.” Cane thinks about how she should've been more like that when she was younger. But she lets go of the argument. 

“Okay then. I’ll see you after.” 

At the entrance they go their separate ways. Cane with her group of friends and Gerald with his one friend. Cane and her friends make their way through the whole park. They ride every rollercoaster, play every game, and by the end of the night, everyone is hungry.  

Cane’s friends head to the food booths. They all go to different stands and plan to meet up after. Cane decides she wants to go to the hotdog stands. 

“Can I have one chili dog please?” 

“Sure. And can I have your name?” 

“Cane.” 

She pays for her food and stands to the side waiting for her named to be called. She couldn’t think of a better way to wrap up the night. She spent the day with her friends, she got to ride a bunch of roller-coasters and now she gets to eat a carnival hotdog. She looks into the booth to see if she can see her hotdog being made and she can. The girl standing over the hotdog carefully places the wiener in the bun and then grizzles the chili over the bun. Canes mouth starts to water looking at the food. But then she looks up at the girl who's still preparing her food. Is that? Vena?  

Every ounce of hunger in Cane’s body leaves and suddenly she feels small. No no no no, this can’t be happening to me right now. Is this a dream? 

“Chili dog for...” Vena stops as she looks at the name on the receipt. Cane turns her back to the voice she hears and braces herself. Please don’t say my name. Please don’t say my name. 

“Cane? Cane. Chili dog for Cane.” Cane doesn’t turn around she wraps her arms around herself and starts to slowly walk away. Before she can even get a few steps away she feels a hand on her shoulder. 

“Hey, here’s your hotdog.” She turns around and is met with Vena looking down at her. The last time she seen Vena they were the same height. How does anyone grow passed the age of 18? And upon closer inspection, Vena got new frames for her glasses.  

“Oh, thanks.” She says in a sheepish voice. “I guess I didn’t hear you.” 

“You were standing right in front of me though.” Vena’s face looks puzzled.  

“Oh...” The atmosphere quickly becomes awkward. “Okay well I have to go now. See ya.” She turns on her heels and speed walks in the other direction.  

“Cane, wait!” Vena yells from behind her. But Cane ignores it and starts running now. She doesn’t stop running until she meets with her group of friends. When she gets to their table, she sits her food down and folds over trying to catch her breath. 

“Cane what's wrong?” One of her friends ask. 

“Nothing. I just saw someone I used to go to high school with.” They look around at each other still confused. 

“Is this someone who used to bully you?” 

“No Vena...” She takes a deep breath. “Vena was never mean to me. We used to be best friends.” 

“What happened then?” Cane stiffens. She hates telling this story. She doesn’t want her friends to think any different of her. 

“Our senior year we planned to go the same college near home. But before we graduated, she told me she committed to a college across the country. She said it was because she wanted to be as far away as she could from her parents.” She fights back tears. “I told her she was selfish and that I never wanted to talk to her again. I didn’t understand why she would want to move away so far. She was already stressed enough and I just added to it. I should have been there for her. Now she probably hates me. 

She feels a hand on her shoulder. She looks up to see a soft smile on her friend's face. 

“It’s ok Cane. You just didn’t understand. You made a mistake, but at least you learned from it. That person from 4 years ago doesn’t even sound like you now.” All her friends can agree to that, they all met her in college and they know her to be kind to everyone.  

“Thanks guys.” 

“Why don’t you eat your hotdog, then we can go home.” 

“I would but I’m not very hungry anymo-” She looks down at her hotdog. There are extra onions on it. I don’t remember asking for onions. Did Vena...  

She takes a bite of the hotdog and she swears it’s the best hotdog she’s ever had and finishes the whole thing. 

Cane drives her and Gerald back home because Gerald had too much to drink, but she’s happy he had fun with Matty. She gets him to bed and then lays herself back in bed too.  

The next morning Cane wakes up first to make sure Gerald is okay. She searches through the cabinets to find him an Advil, but she can't find any. Okay, no big deal, I’ll just head to the store and pick up an Advil before he wakes up. She throws on some clothes and looks for her wallet, but she can’t find that either. Where did I have it last. She thinks back to the hotdog stand. Oh no.  

She hears a knock at the door. Oh no. She looks out the window and there she is. Vena? Why is she here? At my apartment? Well, she can’t get in if I don’t open the door, I’ll just wait it out.  

She knocks again. “Hey Cane, it’s me Vena. I have your wallet.” Noooooo. Maybe she’ll just leave it at the door. “I don’t want to just leave it here.” 

“Cane!” Gerald voice groans down the hallway. “Open the door.” It felt like all the world’s forces were working against her today. Left with no other option she opens the door. 

“Oh, hi Vena.” she plasters on a tense smile hoping Vena won’t be able to see the true shyness. 

“Hi, you left your wallet at the stand last night. I tried to call after you but you were walking really really fast.” She extends her hand and gives Cane her wallet back. 

“Oh sorry.” It becomes awkward again. “Well, thanks for bringing my wallet back. See ya.” She slowly starts closing the door. Before the door hits the latch, Vena’s hand catches it. 

“I’m sorry, but can I ask you a question?” Cane is shocked. 

“Um. Sure.” Vena rubs her hands. Something Canes seen her do before when she's really nervous. Vena opens up her mouth again but keeps her eyes glued on the ground. 

“Why did you run away from me last night?” Her voice comes out small and low. Cane freezes and tries to look for the words, but can’t find any. 

“I... umm.” 

“Is it because you hate me?” Cane is stunned by her words. She thinks that I hate her? 

“What? No, I don’t hate you. Why would I hate you?” 

“Because of what happened when we were younger. When I told you last minute that I wasn’t going to West Wave University. I know I should have told you sooner, but I was so nervous.” Vena is rubbing her hands harder now, but Cane doesn’t understand why she’s saying this. 

“No, that wasn’t your fault. I should have been more understanding of what you were going through. I was being selfish. I should be the one apologizing. If anything, you should hate me.” Vena’s jittering stops. She doesn’t understand why she feels like them not being friends would be Cane’s fault. 

“I don’t hate you, Cane.” Cane is stunned by the words. She never imagined Vena saying that.  

“I don’t hate you either.” Cane looks up and gives her a small smile. Vena smiles back too. A silence washes over them. “A lso, thanks for the onions on my hotdog.” 

Vena covers her mouth in an attempt to smother her laugh. 

“I was hoping you still liked onions.” 

“Yeah, it was really good.” The tension eases and Cane takes the opportunity to asks the question she’s always wanted to know. “So, how’s school at Vermont University.” 

“It was fun. I liked it a lot.” 

“Was? Did you stop going?” 

“I actually graduated last year.” 

“Wow, congrats.” I can’t believe I missed such an important moment. 

“Have you graduated yet.” 

“No, I still have a couple semesters left.” 

“Oh, okay.” Cane wants to keep the conversation going. “So, how are you and your parents.” As soon as the question left her lips, she regretted it. 

“I haven't really spoken to them in a while. But it’s better than it was before though. I actually came down to spend the weekend with them and a friend of mine asked if I could volunteer at the hotdog stand.” Oh, she’s leaving soon. 

“Oh, are you going back to Vermont?” 

“No, I only live an hour from here and I work at a really nice restaurant. I make appetizers.” 

“Wow, just like you always wanted.” 

“You remembered.” Vena smiled. 

“Yeah, of course.” Silence settled over them again. Cane couldn’t think of anything else to keep the conversation going. 

“Well, I have to go. I drive back home tomorrow and I need to pack.” Cane was a bit sad to end it here. There was still more she wanted to talk about. 

“Okay.” Vena heads down the steps. “It was nice talking to you again, Vena.” Vena turns around and gives Cane a big smile.  

“It was nice seeing you too, Cane.” Vena waves, and Cane slowly closes the door. She exhales when she’s finally alone. I actually did it, and I didn’t run away this time. A big smile creeps on her face as she praises herself for being brave. Her moment is cut short though as she hears another knock on her door. She turns around and opens it. 

“Hello?” Its Vena again. 

“I wanted to give you our business card. Just in case you ever find yourself in the neighborhood and you want to eat something with onions.” She shoves the card into Cane’s hands in a nervous manner. Cane looks down at the card and smiles. 

“Wow, thanks. I can’t wait.” Vena can hear the sincerity in her voice. Then Vena drives off and Cane starts planning when she can go get her next onion dish.