Morning Travel on the Compromise Line

A Story by AR Neal

There are times when fear can take us into the very dark spaces of superstition and once there, we find more than we bargained for.

Belfry bats and sharp bowling balls aside, Annisa was odd. Evelyn loved her, but even she struggled to keep up with her friend’s latest phobias, quirks, and fears. To say Annisa was strangely fearful was a blatant understatement; her daily rituals and mantras designed to ward off evil spirits were legendary. The girl couldn’t make it from her apartment to the subway entrance without watching for and avoiding anything that even remotely looked like a crack, even though her mother had been deceased for eight years. The snow made her especially slow in reaching the subway and Evelyn was pissed about waiting. Oblivious to her friend’s anger, Annisa made her way over to hold tightly to Evelyn’s arm as though nothing was wrong. Evelyn settled down and they picked their way to the platform, careful to not bump anyone (another Annisa pet peeve). All was well until the doors opened and Annisa saw the small tabby standing in the car. Evelyn thought her coat would rip under the pressure from Annisa’s nails as she tightened her grip, eyes wide. The cat hunkered and squinted at Annisa; he seemed as off-put by her as she was by him. Evelyn guided her friend to a seat at the back, “C’mon, girl; that cat don’t want you,” she admonished; under other circumstances, the comment would have at least received a snort of laughter from Annisa, but as it was this morning the wisecrack came out too loudly and sounded harsh as the words bounced off the walls. As the women moved to the far end of the car, there was a hollow silence. The three of them were the only ones in this car, which was unusual for the time of day, but the lack of other riders could not have caused the lack of sound: there was something else. It was obvious that Annisa felt it since despite Evelyn’s attempt at distraction she was solely focused on the gray and white feline; they were intently watching one another, each with eyes fixed on those of the other. Evelyn gently removed Annisa’s hands from her arm and again attempted to find humor in the situation. “Nickie,” she used her friend’s pet name, “just leave that cat alone. You know you shouldn’t stare them in the eyes like that; it makes them attack.”

Without humor, Annisa replied, “That’s what happens when you stare at dogs.” She glanced quickly at Evelyn and moved away to the other side of the seat.

Evelyn felt the sudden chill. “So what’s wrong with you now? You mad because I got my superstitions mixed up or something?” There were days when she had little patience for Annisa’s weird beliefs.

Annisa held her tongue, despite the strong desire to blurt out what she knew to be true. The time was not right, but things were set in motion and soon enough she would spring her trap. She took a deep breath in through her mouth and let it out through her nose, which she knew also annoyed Evelyn, who at that moment decided she’d had enough. As Evelyn drew her coat in closer to her ears, Annisa returned her focus to the cat. In the few moments that had passed, he seemed to have made himself comfortable right in front of the doors leading to the next car. He was licking his paw in an absent-minded sort of way but kept one ear cocked in their direction. She didn’t like the silence in the car and wondered if Evelyn had notice it; she was too upset to ask her and instead decided to meditate until the moment arrived. As she took a few more deep breaths, she noticed the cat as he stretched, circled, and balled himself into a round puff; above the strip of his tail, his eyes remained alert as he continued to observe both women.

The gentle rocking of the subway car had lulled Evelyn to sleep, which was also unusual; she often tried to distract Annisa from her many superstitious compulsions that popped up during their ride into the city by regaling her with naughty tales of her bar-hopping exploits. Annisa loved Evelyn too, which made her even angrier. How could she do this to me? She thought, gritting her teeth. As she replayed moments from the many years of their sisterhood-friendship, Annisa noticed that the train had slowed; she could not see clearly out the window since they were engulfed in white. The snow that had been falling as they’d walked to the station had suddenly gotten very heavy, or so it seemed. She glanced at her watch and by the amount of time that had passed reasoned that they were still about a half-hour outside the city. She and Evelyn often joked at the fact that they lived on Compromise Avenue and that they had to take the Compromise Line into their respective offices every day; in sing-song fashion they would rhyme “Another tear, another dime/life and work on the Compromise Line.” It at times seemed a fitting moniker for the sitcom that was their lives: two single young women on their own, working their way up similar but different corporate ladders, and each having various issues�"she with her fears, Evelyn with her wild streak�"that kept causing them to make concessions and (they always laughed about it) compromises just to keep their heads above water.

The train stopped, breaking her from her thoughts. The cat sat up, blinking; he seemed to nod at her. She imagined if he could speak, Go on, he would say in a most cat-like way, wake her up and tell her. She looked over at Evelyn, who was still dozing, blissfully unaware of the horror into which she’d stepped this morning. Annisa removed one glove and pulled her smart phone from her coat pocket. She thumbed quickly through the photos until she came to the one she needed. First she looked at the one from her visit to the Tasseomancy shop; she’d dreamt of a cat, not unlike the one at the end of the car, and after reading the tea leaves the diviner had gone into a trance. In a ghastly voice, she’d told Annisa about Evelyn: how her dearest and closest friend had slept with the man she had a crush on. Annisa had only told Evelyn how much she liked Matt, how she secretly checked him out when they were all in the cafeteria, how he was friendly in a way that seemed like he might want to get to know her more, how she was working up the courage to ask him out for a drink. Evelyn had encouraged her and coached her until she’d done it; Matt had accepted and she’d become instantly afraid. She’d told Evelyn that also, admitting she’d never been intimate with a man. As a good sister-friend would, Evelyn volunteered to be at the bar first and would serve as back-up if needed. They’d even come up with hand signals and a rescue conversation script. It seemed perfect and all was going according to plan; the night went well and the script was not needed. The next day she and Evelyn had talked about it all the way to work; Annisa tried to ignore how many times Evelyn said she thought Matt was gorgeous. The diviner had at first said dreams of cats were a sign of betrayal. Annisa had cried then, but not as much as she had when she saw Evelyn and Matt having drinks at the same bar she had taken him to. Taken them to. She’d cried more but took photos of them as proof. Another trip to the Tasseomancy shop and she’d been given everything she needed to correct matters.

“What happened? Are we there yet?” Evelyn sat up, wiping a bit of saliva from the corner of her waking lips with a tissue. Annisa remembered seeing another tissue with that shade smeared on it one day when she’d seen Matt coming from what he said had been a good lunch meeting. “What’s going on? Why is it so quiet?” Evelyn looked around and noticed the thick white snow falling outside the window; the cat was still there and the car was too empty and too silent for the morning rush. She looked at Annisa and realized that something was wrong. The cat leaped up and came quickly toward them “Ah!” she squeaked, startled as much by the cat’s sudden motion as by the lack of any reaction from Annisa. The cat jumped into Annisa’s lap and they both stared at Evelyn, confirming her fears that something was terribly wrong; for as long as she’d known her, Annisa had been extremely superstitious and the last thing she would have allowed was a cat anywhere near her person. She dashed to the door at the opposite end of the car, intending to put as much space as possible between her and whomever this was that looked like her best friend. She reached the door and it would not open; as she tugged on it she looked into the next car and saw that it too was empty. From what she could tell, the car beyond that was empty also.

“Life and work on the Compromise Line.” Evelyn whirled around as she heard the words and found Annisa standing in the middle of the isle, a sharp-looking dagger in her right hand. The cat had taken up residence on a nearby bench and seemed to be enjoying the show. Adrenalin rushing, Evelyn threw up her fists in preparation for an old-school brawl; she was not going down without a fight. Annisa raised her left hand, in which she held the smart phone; the photo of Evelyn and Matt was displayed and she held it steady so Evelyn could get a good look at it. The cat licked his paws contentedly as first blow from the dagger smeared what was left of Evelyn’s lipstick.