||Living with the Enemy|| Bill Kaulitz ||81||

For the past four days I’ve been getting my sleep from tiny naps here and there throughout the day; I’ve started a night running regime two days ago that I usually start around midnight to two in the morning, that way I know that there isn’t going to be any judges observing me. I kicked out my foot and shook it around a few times to get the blood flow moving. I did the same to my left foot and started jogging slightly. Thump, thump, thump. I wish I had my iPod with me, but I traded it off for seventy Euros; which brought up my stolen savings to three hundred ninety Euros. Stop slowing down! I swung my arms faster and forced my legs to do the same. My calves burn like Hell, but I can’t stop.

I watched as my breaths puffed out in front of me, listening to the pounding of my feet; stay focused. There’s no point in pointing out that I am breathing through my mouth; it should be pretty damn obvious. I stumbled over an uneven curb and nearly made a faceplant on the sidewalk. I suppose this running is giving me some balance.

Out of nowhere a sharp stabbing pain hit me like a bullet under my right ribcage; I gasped and pressed my hand to the area. Run—through—the—pain! I released my side when the pain lessened. I smiled to myself, that’s it woman, run through the pain. I can’t wait until I tell Angie about finally running through the stitch in my side.

Two days ago, during the day I was sitting at an empty bench in an empty park, when this woman ran by me a couple of times. I guess I was staring at her strangely because she approached me and started talking to me, in German obviously. At first it was hard hearing her speak to me, but she let me know that she’s trying to lose forty pounds before her twenty-second birthday. She’s the one who encouraged me to start running for longer; I only ran twenty minutes or something on my own. I suppose you could say that I’m getting use to living on my own, I’ve floated through three parks in four days—I groaned doubling over in pain.

I crashed myself onto my ass and breathed in deeply and greedily; running with my body is like running with a car on your back. My lower back is sore, and I’m not going to bother thinking about the searing pain in my calves. I guess I’m done for tonight, well this morning. I checked the watch again, the watch belongs to Angie, it’s only twelve fifty-five. I shut my eyes disappointed, “S-s-scheisse!” I didn’t even last an hour. I’m guess I’m not eating today.

I shook off the throbbing in my left arm; and blinked back the tears that were forming in my eyes; enough tears woman. If you have the energy to cry then you have the energy to run. I might as well get my fat arse from the ground and head to Angie’s place for a quick shower. I don’t want to smell like a hobo! I snorted, I’m finally realizing that I’m a dumb chick; who goes and bothers someone at two in the effing morning?

I stood up slowly and stretched again; I need to train my body to stop being so lazy. Time to speed walk back to where I started!

`*`

I drank my low calorie orange juice unenthusiastically; it tastes so bad, watching Angie as she went around her tiny apartment cleaning up her invisible mess; she barely has anything in this place, just a toilet, shower, bed and kitchenette. Apparently her cousin Katherine is coming over with some new magic pill that will help shave off excess fat. I doubt that it can though, but I’m in no position to say anything.

I checked the time on Angie’s watch on my wrist and groaned; I would have been napping right around this time. It’s quarter to four. I jumped at the loud banging at the door. Angie noticed and laughed as she went to go answer her door. Why am I even here? Honestly, I don’t know this Angie person, at all! It’s because I’m desperate for interaction. Ich bin ein Dummkopf!

I heard the kind of greeting that made me cringe inside. Girly and sweet, just how I hate it. Angie returned with another girl who was just as thin as her. Why are they even trying to lose weight? I’m the blimp over here.

“Kat deiser ist Ritz,” Angie stated, “Ritz deiser ist Kat.”

“Hallo Ritz,” Katherine greeted.

I nodded silently and watched as Katherine looked over my person; everyone who meets me has to judge me. Lord, I never knew I was so terrible in my weight. Damn that Mellany for lying to my face. My eyes prickled and I huffed to control myself. Bitch.

I watched as they spoke to each other in rapid German holding my emotions at bay; these girls are blunt about pointing out my flaws, I guess I need it this way. Finally after almost eons Angie turned to me saying, “Kat has solution.”

I guess I wasn’t listening enough to their conversation, “Was?”

“Laxativ Ritz.” Katherine replied sitting on the other end of the sofa.

Laxative? What the heck does a laxative do? I’ve never heard about laxatives in my entire seventeen years of living. It must have shown on my face because Katherine gave this look to Angie to which Angie shrugged. I sighed, “Was ist ein Laxativ?”

“Es ist ein Pille.”

I held back the urge to roll my eyes; I know that much from Angie’s statement about the magic pills. What I need to know is what the pills do smartass! Calm down Rit. I breathed in deeply through my nose and sighed. That’s better. “Was macht es?”

“Helps digestive.”

Hmm. So it helps with the digestion of food does it? That seems healthy enough. It’s not like zapping fat out of the cells or any crazy shit like that. It’s not going to hurt to try. I nodded. I’ve got nothing to lose. I gulped down another mouthful of crap orange juice and waited for them to say something.

I am not going to start talking if I don’t have to. That’s my new rule. Speak only when spoken to; otherwise keep the lips closed. I don’t want to start mouthing off about my past. I shook my head. Forget it Rit. It’s been six days since I last saw them. They’ve moved on. I’ve m-moved on. I bit on my lower lip. It hurts to think about that fact. If they cared I would have heard something on the internet, but nothing. Just article headings of their first concerts in America. Fuck America.

“So?”

I looked up from my lap and to Angie who spoke, she grinned, “Ja oder nein?”

Yes or no what? I raised my left brow and shrugged.

“Want pills?” Katherine offered; her German is heavily noticeable more than Angie’s.

I nodded slowly and Angie clapped her hands, making me flinch back slightly, it’s way too familiar for my comfort. She sat down in the middle of the sofa stating, “Wilkommen zum klub.”

“Warten, es ist fünfzig Euros für ein Flasche,“ Katherine indicated quickly.

Fifty Euros! Is this girl on drugs? Does she think I can pull money out of my arse? Fuck! That’s more than fifty dollars Canadian! Are these illegal drugs? Damn it. Now what? What if these laxatives don’t work? Then what? Scheisse!

“How many are in es?” I inquired.

“Fünfzig," Katherine responded, “Eine Euro für Eine Pille.“

I sucked in my lower lip between my teeth; that does seem reasonable. One dollar per pill. It would be great actually if it worked. Hmm, but how many pills would I need to take per day? Whoa. I can’t believe I thought of that. Way to go Ritz! I nodded to myself.

“How many do I take per day?” I asked, turning to look at Katherine.

“Was?”

“Wie viele ein Tag?” I restated in German. I almost forgot that they don’t understand that much English.

“Ah, eine oder zwei,” She answered, “Eine ist genug.”

I felt my left eyebrow rise again; that’s odd. Shouldn’t it be a prescribed amount? Maybe it’s a non-prescription medicine. Ah well. I’ll be taking one a day to save it for longer. I snorted; I haven’t taken my One-A-Day Women’s Multivitamin in like four months.

“Was wenn es nicht funktionen?” I lamented.

That’s the main thing. What if it doesn’t? Then I will be fat and broke. I shook my head. Disgusting!

“It will,” Katherine stated loudly, “Wenn nicht; money back.”

“Okay,” I decided, “I will buy.”

Angie clapped her hands again and I stood up and walked over to the tiny table near the kitchenette; I placed my cup still filled with yuck juice and got down to my knees to retrieve my Jansport bag from underneath the table. I just tossed it under there earlier. I unzipped the front pocket and took out my makeshift wallet with exactly fifty Euros in it. I keep the rest of my money on myself and in the bigger pocket. Just in case someone tries to steal. I snorted; if someone wanted to steal from me they would accomplish it. I’m a pushover.

I stood up and cleared my throat, “K-Katherine come here.”

She came over and put the bottle on the table; how do I know if there are fifty pills in that bottle? I need to make sure. I forced a tiny smile to my face and looked at her, “Count them.”

“Nein, es ist closed,” Katherine pointed out, showing me the seal on the bottle.

Oops, well that was dumb and rude of me; I was insinuating that she was trying to rip me off. Yikes. I picked up the bottle and saw the number of pills in the bottle. Fifty it is. I nodded mumbling, “Es tut mir leid.”

“Es ist okay,” Katherine laughed patting my arm.

I handed her the money and put the bottle into my bag. Time for me to leave now; I don’t stay at Angie’s place for too long, I only take a shower and then stay and chat for a while before leaving. I don’t want to be seen as a leech.

I slung my bag over my right shoulder and turned back to Angie, “Tschüss Angie.”

“Bye.”

“Auf Wiedersehen Katherine,” I added.

“Tschüss Ritz,” Katherine smiled.

I waved and left the apartment; once I was out on the street I let out a loud yawn. Thank goodness it didn’t come out back there. That would be so bad.

When do I start taking the pills? Do I have to take it with water or with food? Or is just whenever? I guess should start taking the pills starting tomorrow since today is almost over. Ja, das macht gefuhl.

I guess I should go sleep before my run tonight. I checked the watch on my wrist for the time; it’s fifteen minutes until five. I sighed. Oh well. I sighed. Time is nothing when I’ve got nothing to do.