porn star -part 2 (bathroom photo's and plato)

this post is part of a series which started here.

on one side of marie's room there was a rather large bulletin board. it was covered with photo's of public restrooms. they told stories, through the spray painted words, the rusty stall doors, the broken mirrors, the phone numbers printed or carved into a stall doors. they had girls in them, holding a cigarette in one hand, lipstick in another, standing in front of mirrors, oblivious to the world.
"why the bathroom pictures?" marie looked over at me and smiled.
"cause i don't have any family pictures."
"so what's the deal with your family?" i asked her, laying on her bed, looking up at the poster on the ceiling, thinking that i should really make her take it down, since dorm rules claimed, nothing on the ceiling.
"what's the deal with yours" she spun around slowly in her chair, sipping her big blue raspberry slurpee. (her favorite drink)
i didn't talk much about my family, at the time, we were not exactly close, and for the most part, i kept anything personal out of my conversations, and tried to focus on the other person. marie was the first person to ask about my personal life.
"mom, dad, 2 brothers,there are some issues right now, i don't really want to talk about it." i never really showed much emotion, much less sadness, and marie had never seen that part of me.
"well, if you ever want to talk about it, you know, i'm here, or if you ever need anything to help you get through, i can hook you up, it's no big deal." this was marie's way of loving me, if i ever needed anything, she would be there, with out question.
there was a silent pause, and marie was never fond of silence.
"oh, sh*t you asked me about my family. " she came over and sat at the edge of the bed.
"well my dad is a real a** hole, he left when i was 10, or 11 i don't remember, don't care, haven't seen him since."
"i'm sorry" i said in response, not know what else to say.
"for what? there are jerks in the world, who should go to hell for what they do, they get off in this life, maybe karma or something will get him one day, right?" she looked at me, and seemed angry with the entire discussion.
"what about your mom?"
"oh, she's a real bitch, we don't talk much, only when we have to, she could care less."
"sorry" i just looked up at the ceiling...
"let's change the subject" she smiled, and plopped down on the floor.
"plato, the allegory of the cave" she pulled out an worn paperback from her desk.
"sounds good" i smiled, and sat up.
we talked about plato for hours that night.

we had hundreds of conversations like it, ones that were deeply intellectual, or deeply spiritual. we'd stay up, and talk, we'd fall asleep next to one another.
we were the oddest of friends.
we would walk to meals together, laughing, talking, and people would stare.
no one really understood why i was friends with her.
but really, i never understood why marie was friends with me.

continue reading part 3