Turning Tables

chapter twenty three

Elizabeth closed her eyes tightly, not knowing whether she wanted to come clean about her own troubles but decided that she had to. If Anita knew that she had been through a similar affair then it may get her to trust her quicker, it may allow her to see that they had more in common than they thought. It might make the Puerto Rican realise that she needed help and this girl was the only one who could be there for her, the only one that truly understood her problem. "Because they took care of me after the same thing happened to me."

"One of them? One of them hurt you...?"

"No, it was a different gang. Boys who were here before you. Look, I understand the pain that you're feeling. I will never have the same pain as you but I'm the closest thing you've got to it."

"You said that Riff was not yours?"

"I think I was lying to myself; Riff will always be mine and I'll always be his."

"Bernardo is dead, he killed Riff and then Tony killed him. He killed your love and now, now you're here to kill me." She attempted to push the door shut, not wanting the girl to be anywhere near her because she wasn't ready to die, not on the same frightful night as her love.

"No, I'm not." Elizabeth said sternly, pushing on the door so that it remained open and spoke as firmly as she could so that the other girl would listen to her. She knew that this was a big risk to take but she knew deep down that they needed each other, that they could get through this if they stuck together. "What happened at the rumble, what happens between those gangs – that's nothing to do with us. We don't want that and we don't need it either, we don't need more boxes to tick, we've got enough problems on our own."

Instead of slamming the door shut, Anita moved sideways and allowed the girl into her home; it wasn't the end goal but it was a big step and Elizabeth nodded in appreciation for the gesture. They stood in the kitchen, Anita leaning on one of the dining chairs as she asked. "What do you want?"

"To stay with you tonight. The first night is the worst, the rest will be bad but the first night is the hardest."

"Who was with you?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow because if this girl was being honest then she should be able to answer every question easily; if she really understood how she felt after the ordeal then she needed to offer as much information as possible.

"Valentina." Elizabeth said softly, thinking back to her own nightmare where the old woman took care of her like a daughter; ensuring that she was properly taken care of before returning home. In other circumstances, the girl would have stayed longer with the old woman but with highly strung parents, she had to return to the apartment before they began searching for her. "She took care of me and I wanna take care of you. Just for tonight and if you still hate me tomorrow then I'll leave and never come back here again."

Anita glanced up at the girl and had to laugh which made Elizabeth raise an eyebrow, not understanding what was so funny then she explained what was humorous. "They would hate this, us talking to each other."

"They could have been with us if they had only realised sooner."

"Realised what?"

"How similar they were, how similar the things that they wanted was." She explained, thinking about how terrified both of the men looked when they were fighting, neither of them wanted to die and neither of them wanted to kill. If only they had realised this sooner, the rumble wouldn't have happened and they could've both been alive. They could have settled their differences in another way, worked out an agreement and learned to live with each other but there was nothing that could be done about it now. "Let's not dwell on what could have been. We can grieve together and we can get through this pain together, even if it's only for one night."

"No. No, no, no." Anita shook her head dramatically, acting as though this was a problem before attempting a smile to the girl that seemed to be her only friend in that moment. "You'll need to come back for your dress." The sentiment was more than Elizabeth could wish for, knowing that that statement was hard to make but it meant more to her than anything she had heard in a while. This was the start of something new, the start of an unlikely friendship between two rivals who put aside their differences to see the bigger picture.

"Get out of those clothes and I'll run the bath, I brought magazines and snacks." She sent a small smile to her friend as Anita slowly walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Elizabeth began moving around the apartment, sliding the chairs under the table and picking up fabric that had fallen to the floor, quietly she began humming a familiar tune. "There's a place for us, somewhere a place for us." She placed the fabric in the drawers and reached her hand up to touch the pendant that rested on her chest, squeezing her eyes to stop herself from crying. "Peace and quiet and open air, wait for us, somewhere. There's a time for us, someday a time for us." Feeling overwhelmed with emotion, she took a seat next to the window as she sang, looking out at the city. "Time together with time spare, time to learn, time to care, some day!"

Elizabeth had always felt like the best place for her was the city, she had friends there and she had a love there but now it seemed like she had neither. She could never forgive the Jets for the crime that they had committed that night and she had lost Riff, never getting him back. Perhaps the city was not where she should be. It always made her feel free but now she was being restricted, unable to breathe without feeling as though the world would crash around her. It was a feeling that she never expected to have here, this had always felt like home and now she wanted to get as far from it as possible. Meanwhile, in the bedroom, Anita rested her head against the back of the door, barely able to stand in the bedroom that she had once shared with Bernardo. Now, everything inside that room reminded her of him and the fact that she would never see him again, she would never hear him again, she would never feel him again.

"Somewhere." She sang softly, tears running down her cheeks. "We'll find a new way of living; we'll find a way of forgiving. Somewhere..."

"There's a place for us, a time and place for us." Elizabeth saw the face of her love, she felt him in the room. It was as though Riff was stood right in front of her, smiling and listening as she poured her heart out through song; he would have told a stupid joke rather than sing along himself. She could picture him holding out his hand just as he always did, wanting her to take a leap and have an adventure with him. What she would do to take that leap now but she would never get the chance, instead she held out her hand as if he was there but felt nothing. There was no warmth holding her hand, there was simply an empty room. "Hold my hand and we're halfway there."

Both of the women now sung, in different rooms and singing about different men but having more in common than they ever thought possible. Both of them imagining their loves in the room with them which only made the truth harder to swallow. "Hold my hand and I'll take you there."

"Somehow." Anita cried, her eyes shining with more tears as she pictured Bernardo leaning against their bed, waiting for her to join him. Elizabeth took a deep breath, her hand gripping the pendant as she wished for her love to return. "Someday."

They were in different rooms, they had lost different people and they were in completely different circumstances and yet they were both feeling the same thing as they sang loudly, they were feeling a small glimmer of hope as they extended the final note. "Somewhere!"

a/n: i'm so sorry that i didn't update yesterday, i moved back into my uni house & it basically took me all day 😬 anyway, this was the last chapter of the book & i'll publish the epilogue tomorrow 😭 thank you all so much for sticking till the end, it means so much to me!!🥰 -lizzie ⭐️

date published: 03/05/22