The weathered panes on the rundown house could speak volumes of the poverty stricken angst running through the minds and bodies of the people living in this old neighborhood in Boston. The folks here were a tight knit bunch and would as soon as talk to the cops about any of the crime milling around its borders as cut their own throat.
A old woman who looked to be maybe seventy was on her porch as she was every early morning, people watching. She watched her neighbor briefly, through the dirty glass pane, as the young woman pushed the dark framed glasses off her nose and into her equally dark bangs.
She looked as she usually did, hunched over one of the many novels or textbooks scattered around the floor of her sparsely furnished abode... reading by the early streams of the morning sun coming in from the window. She sat in a second-hand rocking chair with her long legs stretched out into one of the two beat up old kitchen chairs that had no dining table to match, flipping the pages. She kept to herself, rarely speaking a word to any of her neighbors.
Just then, a rusted out blue Ford Taurus made its way down the street right on time. A skinny girl with hair like that of wild lion's mane got out and walked to the front door, sidestepping an old lawn mower and broken air conditioning unit in the yard. She knocked at the door, rather rattled what was left of the wooden screened frame that hung from only one hinge now. She didn't have to wait long for her best friend to come sauntering out, as they pretended not to notice the long stares from their disapproving neighbor. The car only moderately protested overturning several times before kicking to life and as they sped off.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T)
Many of the students shifted nervously in their seats as Professor Caputo wrote the last of the notes on the board of a derivative function of finite math for discussion at the next class period.
He turned, running a hand over his once thick hair that now left much to be desired, "I know many of you graduate students can already solve these easily, however, I also put an advanced Fourier system in the main hallway and I'm hoping that one of you will be able to prove it by the end of the semester, and the person to do so will not only be in my good graces, but will also have their picture and name placed in the case outside my door. Former winners include Nobel prize winners, Fields medal winners, Renowned Astro-physicists, and lowly M.I.T professors….
drawing several chuckles from the class…" Class is dismissed, If you have any other questions, I'm sure my graduate TA, John Bennett will be happy to assist." The students shuffled their way to the door at the day's end, some yearning to edge closer to the professor, but he remained aloof.
At the end of the hall, she stared at her reflection in the mirror, as she swiped the mop roughly from side to side in the women's restroom. She looked past her navy work jumper with the cleaning crew logo and the man's name who had worked here previously. Her face though she knew many found it to be appealing... she thought it was too long and too pale, her green eyes always remained listless to others, but her mind was always racing, always thinking, always calculating….
As she made her way down the hall, idly mopping here and there, peering in the empty classrooms imagining what it would be like to sit in those seats for lectures... to learn things that these kids took for granted with their parents money. When she noticed a large chalkboard had been pushed into the hall that wasn't there the day before.
She saw several other kids crowded around it, mumbling nonsensical things…so she continued past only allowing herself a brief glance, as she realized the time and she still had the other half of the first floor to go….it was going to be a long shift. But, before she realized it, she found herself back in front of the chalkboard, the words and symbols branding themselves into her brain. Suddenly a car horn unceremoniously beeped signaling time to clock out.
Sunshine Bar
Later that night, as they ambled into their favorite neighborhood dive, they passed many regulars who welcomed them with open arms. One small, Italian girl in particular who smiled…"Alex, so good to see you again", she moved in for a hug but only caught the side of her body as she quickly pulled back and passed her along to her best friend, who mumbled out "Morello, weren't you here last night?'
"Surprised, you can even remember last night, Nicky, after all the Jager bombs you put down.", Lorna chuckled as she handed them two drafts. This earned the bartender a smile. They grabbed a table near some other friends as Nicky tried and failed to keep from making eye contact with a stringy haired brunette with questionable morals and no mouth hygiene.
"You know…I didn't hit on Doggett last night?", Nicky half told, half asked Alex in surprise. As they noticed her sitting with a couple of their usual crew girls, Gina and Tricia. It appeared it was their turn with her tonight as she currently was in Gina's lap though there were many chairs available.
"Oh yeah, then you weren't as drunk as you usually get"
Nicky wanting to get a rise out of her nemesis shouted out, "Hey Tiffany, how come you didn't give me any of that nasty poochie of yours last night"
"Fuck you, Nichols, and your Irish curse"… Nicky only scoffed as they began to draw attention.
"Like I'm going to waste my time spreading my legs again for you just to get off and then pass out."
A loud chorus of boos erupted at the lack of prowess she was suggesting…"Hey, it's not my fault, you're a frigid bitch", Nicky reasoned
"Yea, yea….just go home and finger yourself and leave me out of it.." Tiffany turned back to lay an enthusiastic kiss on Gina.
"Fuck you, and your Irish curse shit….I don't drink too much…there's no such thing….right?" Nicky looked to Alex for confirmation.
"Besides, she's missing half her damn teeth….plus I've got 5 to 2 odds that Gina's gonna end up marrying her"
Alex laughed loudly nearly spitting out her beer….Nicky continued, "besides there's only so many times you can fuck your friend's future wife, it's just wrong"..…then snickered at the thought of Gina popping the question to a girl that had been handled more than the bar pretzels.
Alex drained the last of her draft slamming the glass down on the table, "I'm out" as she rose to her full height.
"What, fuck you, you're leaving….it's like ten o'clock?!"
"I'm tired", her brisk reply was all Nicky got as Alex left her staring at her back and she was out the door, walking back to her place.
Alex's house
She shifted in her chair, thumbing through an old compilation of the works of Walt Whitman. She glanced at her mattress on the floor, knowing that she needed to sleep before morning, but the math symbols from earlier in the day wouldn't quit swirling in her mind. She looked around for blank paper but found none.
Her eyes landed on the cracked mirror that hung by the front door. Her eyes lit up as she grabbed a sharpie marker and began to drawing the brackets with sin and cos theta symbols, numbers mixed with letters and parenthesis from her memory...going left to right much like a long paragraph.
When night turned to dawn, she rose from the floor, methodically dressed and ate as usual. When she looked at her reflection today, the evidence of last night's work staring her in the face...rather than feeling proud of herself for finally solving it after having started over only once...
She felt resentment boil to the surface...for all the things that never were...then she was smashing the top of the glass with her side of her fist, putting several shallow slices in the skin that began to bleed immediately.
Why did she waste her time bothering...it didn't matter and it would never change things for her...when would she ever learn she'd always be on the outside looking in...but it was better that way...safer, easier...she grabbed an old tshirt and cut the sleeves off making a bandage of sorts.
Nicky must have drank too much last night again, so she walked to the subway. Riding along with her head down, getting off at her stop, walking a little further down to the college...another day, another dollar.
M.I.T
After classes were over, she was waxing and buffing the floors on the first floor, and saw that the problem on that chalkboard was still there, several days later and still no one had put an answer. She glanced around although she knew she was alone, feeling a pit in her stomach as she picked up the chalk.
No siren went off for her handling school property...she laughed at her own nervousness. She put the chalk to the board and began to scribble out the same answer that she had found when working out the problem before. She had just finished when she heard Nicky's horn beep.
