"THUMP"

Stomping her feet on the floor, Marti threw piles of clothes on the mattress she once called her own. Infuriated as she was after giving Frankie the rent money she owed, he made matters worse by asking her to leave the premises at a specific time.

Thus, Marti no longer cared about how much noise she made, for the condominium was no longer her problem. She didn't care if the neighbors complained. She was moving out, and any disturbance was now Frankie's responsibility. He didn't respect her, so she figured that she should start doing the same for a change. Marti didn't like to be rude, but since Frankie continued to press her buttons till the very end, she knew she had to retaliate.

"Become a stronger woman," was what her friends would tell her. And now that's what she intended to do. She thought that revenge was a dish best served cold, but to Marti, it's the aftermath that can taste bitter. Thus, she still felt guilty for becoming a train wreck.

And Marti had a hunch on why Frankie was acting up, as he might be jealous of her new lifestyle . From the start, Frankie always wanted to 'change' her into a 'straight' woman. It sounded crazy, but she was wondering if her parents secretly paid him to keep her from experimenting with the lesbian lifestyle. They wasted their time and effort, because it didn't happen. Martina was Marti and that was that.

In those prior months, she was confused on who she wanted to be, but after meeting her soulmate in a party she worked as a disc jockey, Marti finally knew that Frankie fooled her for months. And since his plan had foiled, she figured that was why Frankie retaliated.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The luggage Harley lent her remained open; it had empty pockets that needed to be filled. Marti was ready to put her clothes inside when a knock on her door startled her. She didn't expect anyone except for Frankie to come by. He had his own key to the room, but he barely knocked.

"Come on in! Door is open." Marti shouted from where she was standing. She no longer cared if someone barged into her room unannounced.

Once the knob turned, a brunette excitedly ran inside to hug her. Turning around to see who it was, Marti was flabbergasted as her face became flushed. She returned the favor by kissing her girlfriend on the cheek.

"Nice to see you Harley! I'm surprised to see you here. How did you get inside?"

"Hello to you too, my love! Frankie let me in, so here I am!"

Disgusted after learning that "the landlord in waiting" was already there, Marti bit her lip and tightened her fist.

"Damn it, he's already here to watch me burn! I wish I could chat, but I have to pack up before noon, before Mr. Big Shot opens my door."

Marti didn't want to disappoint Harley, but she was stubborn as a mule who needed to get things done before anything else.

Sighing, she continued on with the conversation by asking Harley if she wanted to help out.

"Sorry sweetie. Do you want to assist me in getting this job done faster?" Marti tried to smile as she stated this, but her hatred for Frankie was still on her mind.

Harley nodded and started folding the other clothes on the mattress. That is until she sat on the bed and laid on it. She wanted to fool around.

Harley grabbed a curl from her hair and twirled it. Patting the empty space, she motioned her partner to sit down.

"You know Marti, you need to stop being uptight. Have some fun once in a while. You know, we have some minutes to spare, so we can ...".

Marti put her foot down and interrupted her girlfriend by putting her hand on Harley's mouth.

"Don't even think about that now Harley! You know I would love too, but time's a wastin'. It's now 11:30, so I only have thirty minutes to wrap things up. We can do whatever we want when we get to your place."

Harley frowned.

"You're no fun. But it's what I expected."

Marti stopped what she was doing and put her hands on her hips.

"And what's that supposed to mean, Missy? Am I too uptight?" She looked at her digital wristwatch that read 11:31 pm.

"Never mind. Look Harley, I don't have time to argue, are you going to help me or not?"

Her partner took a long look at her as she messed up her curly hair as she groaned.

"Fine!" Harley sighed as she got off the mattress.

"And don't give me that sour face." Marti got used to Harley's attitude by now.

Both women laughed as they couldn't stay mad at each other. Even though their attitudes were quite the opposite of each other, the two somehow created a strong mutual bond.

They started throwing the clothes at each other instead of putting them in the suitcase. But before she knew it, Marti heard the alarm on her watch go off.

Catching one of her t-shirts, Marti put her hand up. "Harley, we gotta stop this. I'm serious now."

Her girlfriend winced and picked up the clothes that fell on the floor.

"Listen, Roman's outside waiting in the truck, so I'll have to tell him that it might take some time before we're all ready, babe."

After several minutes, Harley looked at the folded clothes that were now in her suitcase. It included two motorcycle jackets, rock band t-shirts, four pairs of denim jeans, some family photos and other accessories.

"Marti, is that all you are taking with you? Don't you have other stuff like the scarf I gave you?

"Oh yea, I put that in my secretive vault. Let me get it." Marti replied.

"You have a vault? I'm flattered that the attire I gave you is even there!"

Marti put her finger toward her mouth to silence her partner.

"Shush, Harley. I don't want him to hear. I put my secret stash there cause I can lock it up. When I'm gone, I feel Frankie comes into this room and looks inside my drawers." Putting her hands in the air, Marty moaned. " Simply no privacy! However, he doesn't know I bought a vault. And I always bring the key with me. I deliberately asked that it wouldn't include a locker combination cause anyone with peering eyes could guess what the code would be."

Warming her hands together with delight, Harley laughed.

Once everything was packed, everything would be stored in Roman's beat-up truck. Martina was finally moving out of Frankie's condo for good. 

But before Marti and Harley could leave, Frankie caught up with them.

He touched Marti's back letting her know that he still wanted to talk to her.

"Martina, can I talk to you for a sec, before we say our goodbyes?"

Marti was about to say something, but Harley beat her to it.

"Whatever you say Frankie to Marti, can also be told to me!"

Astonished by her girlfriend's outburst, Marti decided to tell her to go to her brother.

"Sweetie, I think it's best if you just wait for me in the truck. I'll let Frankie have his last say in private. And don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

With Marti's assurance, Harley left with the suitcase and waved goodbye to Frankie.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

As soon as the door closed, Marti turned her back towards Frankie. Her face remained firm and crossed her arms. She knew she couldn't let him see how damaged she was due to what he did.

"Okay, I'm all ears, Frank. So, what is it that you want to tell me?"

Now a bit frightened to continue with his question, Frankie croaked.

Putting her hands next to her ear, Marti motioned him to speak louder.

"What is that? I can't hear you?"

Frankie started to mumble.

"Listen Marti ... I'm sorry for how I treated you. You're a nice girl. And I'm a nitwit. But can I ...?

Marti had an inkling on what he was about to say, but she wanted to hear it out loud.

"Spit it. I'm not gonna bite."

Frankie smiled due to her reply.

"Can I have one last kiss before you go?"

Marti slapped his face hard with her right hand.

"You gotta be one crazy dude! No, but my slap can be your remembrance of me!"

She walked away carrying her vault and slammed the door behind her.

He smiled and yelled his final last words, "Martina, one day you'll come back to me! Mark my words!"