A Matter of Health

I recently wrote a short story for my creative writing class. The assignment was to write a story that involved two people fighting over an object, let the object take symbolic signaficance. It may have the same meaning for both people or different. I hope you enjoy it. 

A Matter of Health

By Dustin Anderson

                Tom sat on the couch in his living room watching his girlfriend, Harley, play videogames. Tom and Harley had been going out in an excess of three months and things were getting to a breaking point for him. Three whole months and the most they had done is hand stuff under the covers. Tom looked at Harley, as her thumbs flew nimbly over the game controller, he looked at her in a way only someone as in love as he was could ever look at her. She was a beautiful, blonde, short girl who loved video games and all the other pop culture things that he loved. He had often thought that Harley was way out of his league, so he didn’t want to try fate’s hand by asking for sex. He just wondered if the time would ever come that she would grace him with such a blessing. Harley stared back at him and smiled. She paused her game and as if reading her boyfriend’s mind said, “want to go into the bedroom and watch something?” Tom was stricken by this comment. It couldn’t be the reason he was thinking about, she was probably being nice and thinking about something they could do together. He smiled and nodded in agreement back to her, they then left the living room to go to his bedroom. On this short trip, Tom thought about this more clearly. “She wouldn’t ask me to go into the bedroom just to watch some random show on Netflix when we could do the same thing in the living room,” Tom thought to himself. “No, this is definitely the time I should make my move. Instead of offering it, she is putting the ball in Tom’s court now. As soon as we get in that room I’m going to throw her on to the bed and give her exactly what she wants.”

                The door to Tom’s room opens and as it does Tom looks at his girlfriend as she sits down. He sits next to her, his heart racing a mile a minute, as his brain yells at him for chickening out. She scans through the selections on Netflix and Tom thinks of the right time for a second shot. She turns towards him to ask a question and is met with Tom kissing her. She rolls her eyes and moans a faint sigh of relief. As the two get more and more intimate they start to take things further than they have ever gone as both start undressing and Tom hears a sentence that he has been waiting to hear for some time now. “Do you have a condom?” Harley says in a breathy, erratic way, taking off her final articles of clothing. Although Tom had been waiting to hear these words for some time now, he was completely unprepared to respond with the right answer. He had no condoms anywhere in the house, he didn’t know when he would ever need them. His mind raced for a solution as one came through the front door of his 2 bedroom apartment. Jake, his roommate was home, from another one of his wild nights out on the town. “I’ll be right back?” Tom said as he left his girlfriend confused and naked on the bed. Tom jumped from his room wearing nothing but a towel, completely interrupting Jake, who was kissing a very tall muscular man from his nighttime adventure.

“Hello Tom?” Jake said inquisitively, “This is my roomm- STRAIGHT roommate Tom.”

Tom nodded to the mystery man, who nodded back.

“Jake you mind if I ask you something in private, please?” Tom said impatiently and Jake felt the urgency.

“Could you give us a minute darling? Apparently my roommate is struggling with something. I’ll be right in.” Jake gives his guest a deep kiss, as the guest leaves for Jake’s room. Jake’s guest almost goes in the wrong room but is stopped by Tom and led to the right one, eliminating a potentially embarrassing situation for Harley. “What is it Tom?” Jake said after closing the door making sure that his guest was securely out of earshot.

“I need a condom.” Tom cut to the point abruptly, knowing that Jake had one. Jake was the type of guy to remain very clean when going about town, he wouldn’t be caught dead club hopping without a rubber. He pulls a square shaped package marked “Trojan” from his pocket. In a rush, Tom grabs for the condom saying, “Thanks” before Jake yanks it away saying, “It’s my last one.” A painful silence fills the air.

“Come on man, it’s mine and Harley’s first time together.” Tom said pitifully.

“Aww good for you,” Jake says putting his hand on Tom’s shoulder in a congratulatory way, Tom smiles as he thinks he won the fight early, but Jake finishes, “It’s my first time with him as well.”

“Are you in a relationship with him?” Tom reasoned.

“Nope, but I could be by the end of this.” Jake fired back

 “Really? What’s his name?” Tom replied skepticism surrounding each syllable

“First name: Doesn’t, Last name: Matter”  

“Dude, what do you even have to worry about? He looks clean.”

“So do most needles but if I stuck a random one in your arm would you be ok with that?”

“How do you not have like a million of these if you’re that worried?”

“Fair enough. How do you not have at least one of these if you’re this hopeful?”

Tom sighed as he pulled out his last ditch effort, praying silently that this would work. “ok, Jake. What do you want your godchild to be named? I was thinking I would name him after you but-“ Jake put his hand up to cut his friend off as he rubbed the stress from his eyes. “Fine,” Jake said in a defeated voice. Tom thanked his friend quickly, and disappeared just as quickly as the words left his mouth. Jake entered his room and smiled a half-hearted smile at his guest who was already naked.

“Wanna’ watch Netflix?” he sighed.