Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsider.
I had come so far to give up now, but these stairs look like they would collapse under the slightest bit of pressure; sending me downward into a big heap of wood fragments and self-pity.
But maybe that was the price to pay in order to reach to glorious findings at the top. Well, maybe not glorious, if the room above this gruesome garage looked anything like these stairs, I was in for a major disappointment.
The weathered wood on each and every step of these stairs was sagging significantly. Also, each step had collected a great amount of dust, which with every new step would rise up into a cloud of fury and get sucked in to my lungs.
To add to this already horrible situation, on either side of the stairs there were no handrails, just one lonely wall to its left. This wall was covered with all sorts of trinkets, a few rusty old license plates, various tools that to my dismay seem to all have sharp pointy edges of some sort; also a few very inappropriate posters that I assumed belonged to my brother.
This was his garage, after all. Sadly, I was kinda happy to see these; it showed that he was still the same old James that I had known and loved from when we still lived with our parents.
He was so carefree and reckless back then; always getting into trouble and coming home with a bruise or too, either from a fight or his latest girlfriend. I had always wished he would grow up, but secretly hoped he never would.
But when he answered the door earlier looking all grown up and mature I knew I had thought wrong. He and his wife, Karen, had been very kind. They offered us sandwiches and thanked the boy for bringing me over before they left.
We talked for a bit; just James and I while his wife went to go attend to Lana. James was very eager to find out what had happened to our sister and to know why we weren't here together.
After I told him the details, he then told me that before he left he had made her promise to take care of me and that he had also given her money so we could get the hell out of there if we needed to. Things became more relaxed after the conversation got off the subject of my sister; but after Karen got back things became more formal.
That conversation ended up being longer than I liked and all that really came out of it was that they were going to let me stay under a few conditions. First, I had to get a steady job to help pay the bills. Second, while I lived in their I house I had to follow their rules. I knew I wouldn't have a problem with that.
Once I agreed to these conditions, with a smile, they told me to go take a look at my new room above the garage while they put Lana to bed. So now here I am, standing helplessly in front of these 7 lowly steps that rest in my way of reaching my new room.
With a deep breath I decide to chance it and throw my self up the stairs. Everything went by in a blur as I raced up the creaking steps. As soon as I reached the top my bony hand locked its little fingers in a death grip around the door knob before throwing the flimsy door open.
My fear struck body landed on the carpeted floor with a thud. I grunted before heaving myself off the floor. Smoothing out my dress I began to look around.
The room didn't contain any furniture except an old mattress that was propped up against the far wall. A musty burgundy colored carpet covered the floor giving the barn like atmosphere a little touch of elegance.
All of the beams had been left exposed; the wood's dark color giving the room a warm homely feel. I nodded in approval and I spun around in circles , taking in its every angle.
It wasn't perfect but it was close.
If you didn't consider its major lack of furniture.
