Pierce the Marrow Through the Bone

(Cheyenne, 1987)

I thought that I'd enjoy seeing both Nikki and Gizmo. I thought I was telling myself the truth, but while Gizmo would have been welcome to stay, but midday, I was ready to send Nikki packing.

It was around one o' clock when I ventured to ask him if he was the one who was trying to find a place to stay.

"Yes, I am," he snapped at me, "and no, I haven't found one yet. I'd rather not live in the same neighborhood with a man who is obsessed with my girl."

"Go home," I said.

"What?"

"Go home. I am barely holding it together here, buster, and you keep making rude remarks. At least two dozen today, and I don't see any end to the supply you seem to have so handy. So get lost."

He frowned, and said, "If I've offended you, I'm sorry."

"Thank you very much. Very sincerely said. Goodbye."

"I'm not leaving."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not. Stop being childish."

"Get the hell out of here!"

"If it were just for your sake, believe me, I'd go. But I promised Puck I would stay with you."

"If you don't get out of here, you won't have to worry about it. By the end of the day, I'll want to kill myself!"

"That's a horrible thing to say!"

"You're right, it is. And I accept that as the highest plaudit from the Master of Horrible Things to Say! Excuse me while I go make a note of it in my special Horrible to Nikki Sixx Diary! I keep it in my special Make Tribute to Nikki Sixx Shrine Room! Be right back--maybe!"

I stomped off into the bathroom and shut the door with a bang. I locked it and turned around.

Someday, when I am very wealthy, I am going to build a house with a bathroom that will allow a person to have a snit fit in it in true comfort. I wasn't wealthy that day.

I looked in the bathroom cabinet for something that I could break without feeling bad. Nothing. I sat down on the edge of the tub, head in hands.

I heard him walking quickly down the hall. His gait sounded odd to me. I forgot about that when I heard him take hold the doorknob and try to turn it.

"Don't you dare try to come in this room!" I shouted.

"Come out of there now!"

I took hold of a towel, stuffed it in my mouth, and screamed into it.

"Are you screaming into a towel?"

It almost struck me as funny. Almost.

"Open this door," he said.

I didn't answer.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Don't ask me if I'm all right, you insincere bastard," I said. "You don't really give a shit. I'm tired of taking crap from you. I'm tired of  everything!"

I heard him walk off, then walk back.

Suddenly there was a loud bang, and the middle panel of the three-panel bathroom door splintered into pieces as a long-handled flashlight came crashing through it. Outside, Gizmo was barking.

Nikki's hand reached through the hold in the door and unlocked the doorknob.

I stared up at him, in amazement as he opened the shattered door.

"Why in God's name did you do that?" I asked.

"I wanted to apologize."

It hit me first. I started laughing. He started laughing. I nearly lost my perch on the tub.