Chapter 3– I Only Came To Help Her

           It was 6 o’clock or so when I reached Terka’s house. I stopped as if there was a concrete wall in front of me. I didn’t even notice that it wasn’t raining anymore and the city had been overwhelmed by darkness. Fear was sneaking into my mind, the fear of what I could see in the house. I felt anxious and confused. What if her Mom was at home? What should I tell her? My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by barking of Terka’s dog. I saw the door fling open and Mrs. Pilarová stretching her head forward to see who was coming.

        ‘Oh, Ase, come in, it’s raining out there,’ she shouted with her high-pitched voice. Before I managed to react their dog had run into their house. Mrs. Pilarová went after it and let the door open for me to come in. I slowly started moving towards the door, still thinking and trying to calm down. When I got in I heard Mrs. Pilarová fighting the muddy dog and slipping on the wet floor. 'I came to help her...,' I paused thinking, then finished: '...with her homework.' 'Oh, great, she's in her bedroom, make sure to come down here to get some snack later!'

I went upstairs and stopped in front of Terka’s bedroom. There were signs and notices on it. Some of them we made together. I reached the handle. It was cold. I opened the door and was illuminated by sunbeams of the sun peeking through the gray and black rainy clouds. ‘Mie scattering,’ I whispered to myself. Half-blinded by the sudden tide of sunshine I started looking for Terka. And there she was lying on the floor balancing a bottle of vodka in her left hand. Fortunately, she was moving. She lifted the bottle and gesticulated something which I didn’t understand. Then she finally spoke: ‘Get ouuuuttt! Get out from herrrre!’ ‘Good, you’re speaking,’ I said, ignoring her attempts to discourage me from helping her. But I realized she hadn’t opened her eyes yet. I opened a window to get some fresh air for her.

        ‘You girls up there?’ cried Terka’s Mom. ‘Shut up you-,’ I put my hand on Terka’s mouth: ‘Are you crazy?’ She started vomiting on it. ‘Oh no... That’s disgusting! Terka stop!’ I said with an absolutely serious voice. I guess that was what made her Mom go upstairs to see what was going on. ‘You girls okay?’ we heard her footsteps approaching to the bedroom. ‘What’s up?’ she asked as she was almost at the door. I would never forget the expression in her face when she saw us. I immensely got up to wipe my hand but forgot that I had opened the window and bumped my head so bad that I immediately fell unconcious.

        From what they told me I know that Mrs. Pilarová called an ambulance and before it had arrived she found a package of sleeping pills. And cleaning up the mess took her hours. And who told me this? The police.