I put the hand brake on then stared in front of me. Through the glass of my car, at the tip of the bonnet, was the driveway to my childhood home. I needed to see Steven, the feeling in me was strong and I couldn't comprehend why. I lit a cigarette between my teeth but didn't touch the whiskey bottle by my side; I wanted to stay sober for now.
I rung the front bell, I'd been away for so long I didn't feel I had the right to just walk in. I waited for a while, took extra drags on the cigarette before throwing it into the dirt beside the step.
A small, middle-aged woman opened the door. She had short black hair and dark skin. She had an apron around her middle, like she'd been baking. I had no idea who she was. I wasn't aware Steven had a girlfriend, or a maid or anything like that. This woman was a mystery to me.
"I need to see Steven." I said to her. I started to look behind her, standing taller to do so, but all I could see was a dining table where the sofa should be and a rug that I'd never seen before. There were potted plants everywhere, which was unusual because Steven hated plants indoors - he said they were made for the outside, that the inside was our space not theirs.
"There's no Steven here darlin', I think you got the wrong place." She explained. She was wrong.
"I lived here all my life, I know my home when I see it." I retorted. "Can I please just see Steven?"
"There ain't no Steven here, I already told you."
"Stop lying to me!" I said, my voice raising slightly. I hit my fist onto the wall beside me out of frustration. My head was starting to swim, as if I had in fact drunk from that whiskey bottle. I felt drunk out of frustration.
"Please leave now." The woman said sharply, slamming the door shut in my face.
"Where is he?" I shouted, but it was in vain. She didn't come back. So, I slunk away back to my car and drove away with my foot pressed to the floor.
I didn't know how Icould find him, but I had an idea who might. So I drove back to the campus tofind him.