“Sorry, what?”
“Misty Rhodes. Not roads. It’s spelled like Rhode Island.”
My new roommate grabbed a pillow from her bed and tossed it at me. “My dad always said he hates misty roads.”
“Great, I’m living with a full time comedian.” I rolled my eyes and slumped down onto my bed for the first time. It was solid like a rock.
“I’m Sabrina. Furlow.” She offered her hand. I shook it. “I’m from Dawson, how ‘bout you?”
“I grew up like a mile away, actually,” I said.
“Really? Why’re you living on campus?”
I sighed. “You want the real answer or the polite answer?”
“Real, if you’re comfortable.”
“My parents are shitheads. They’ve been acting real cold to me ever since I came out as a lesbian. I can’t stand the religious bullshit,” I said truthfully.
“Dang that’s rough,” said Sabrina. She glanced to the right, then the left. “You’re not gonna watch me changing or anything?”
I crossed my arms, feeling my temper rising. “I’m not some kind of pervert. Just cuz I’m a lesbian doesn’t mean—”
“Chill out, I was just joking,” she cut in.
“I’m gonna kill you.” I clenched my teeth.
“Anyway,” she said loudly, pausing for dramatic effect. “So how you liking this place? Southwestern Oaks, what kind of name is that? There’s no Southeastern Oaks. It’s just confusing.”
I shrugged. “The people who built it were high.”
“So, you single?” she asked. “Just kidding. Don’t hate me.”
There was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” I said automatically.
“I’m Kat, the R.A. I’m just checking in on everybody to make sure y’all are getting settled in,” said the redhead girl. Her posture was open and relaxed.
“Yeah we’re doing okay,” I said.
“No, actually we’ve got a problem. The bathroom sink doesn’t work,” said Sabrina.
That was news to me. The two of us followed Kat to take a look at it. The sink was in the bedroom, not the bathroom, like at hotels. When she tried it, however, it worked fine.
“That’s weird, a few minutes ago it just wouldn’t turn on,” said Sabrina.
“I’ll put in a work order,” said Kat. “So do y’all have any questions?”
“Yeah, like where can I get a coke, the vending machine is broken,” said Sabrina.
“Can’t help you with that. Some guy broke it cuz of the superstition.”
“What superstition?” I asked.
Kat sat back on my bed, making herself at home. “The story goes like this. Back in the 60s a black guy dated a white girl, and he got lynched right here beneath our feet, people got up one morning to see him hanging from this huge willow tree. His family wanted revenge so they went and got a witch to curse the area around it. Well in ‘06 they tore down that tree to build Southwestern Oaks, and the curse supposedly transferred to here. Of course, that’s just superstition, so take it for a grain of salt.”
Sabrina was leaning forward on her bed. “But what’s that got to do with the vending machine?”
“I don’t know exactly, but people think the curse somehow makes all the cokes dangerous to drink. Guy probably thought he was doing a favor by smashing it,” said Kat.
I laughed. “Really? If there’s a curse on this place and all it does is make soda unhealthy, I’m afraid they’re too late.”
Kat shrugged and got up off the bed. “Well, I gotta go onto the next room. See you guys at welcome night tonight, 8 p.m, at the storm dome. Be there or be square.”
“Storm dome?” I asked.
“It’s the athletic center. Gyms and stuff.”
I looked at Sabrina, and she looked back.
“This place has got an obsession with weird names. You were destined to come here,” she said.
“Shut up.”
***
The sink was one of those ones where the long handles turn inward, so they can’t both be on at the same time. You either get hot water or cold water and you don’t complain. I was too wrapped up in my first day of classes to notice that when the water coming out of the tap smelled salty. I should’ve paid more attention.
I was coming back to the dorm in between classes to grab a snack because I was starving, when I realized I didn’t have my key. I searched frantically through my backpack, but it wasn’t there. I could’ve sworn I put it in my pocket. Much to my dismay, Sabrina was in class too.
“Hey,” I said to a guy walking through the hallway. “Do you know what we’re supposed to do if we forgot our key?”
The guy stopped to look at me, then smirked. He towered over me, at least 6’, and he was wearing an awful-smelling cologne that reminded me of a rotting log. “You put it in your left pocket, didn’t you?”
“I thought I did…why do you ask?”
“SW Oaks is cursed. You never put the key in your left pocket. It’ll disappear,” he said.
“You’re hilarious, dude.” I rolled my eyes.
“I’m not kidding, just ask the upperclassmen. They’ve been through some real shit. If I were you, I wouldn’t use the sink between 2 and 2:05 a.m. You don’t wanna know why.”
“Let me guess, blood comes out instead of water? How original,” I said, shaking my head.
“It’s your funeral. I’m Dan, by the way.”
“Misty,” I said. His hand was all sweaty and I wished I hadn’t shaken it.
“That’s a nice name. Mysterious,” he said. “Are you single, by any chance?”
“I’m a lesbian,” I said.
“No shit. You’re too pretty to be a lesbian.”
“Goodbye,” I said coldly, heading to the exit without another word. No need to engage with guys like that. Being in the South, there was always some level of homophobia. I learned to ignore it.
The mentions of the dorm being cursed didn’t stop there. On Wednesday evening, I heard a guy and a girl talking in the dining hall.
“A curse? Puh-lease. Our dorm is like 10 years old,” said the girl.
“Maybe so, but the land was there a lot longer. It’s cursed. Ask Jonas, he’ll tell you. He knows all about this stuff.”
“Our RA is a douchebag. I want a refund.”
When I got back to my room, Sabrina was reading a book. Of course, Stephen King.
“Hey,” she said. “You got something on your face.”
I put my hand to my face but there was nothing there. She giggled.
“Do you believe all this chatter about the curse?” I asked.
“I dunno. Could be true. Could be a myth. Could be anything, really.”
“Thanks for your wonderful insight.” I rolled my eyes. “Some guy said not to use the sink between 2 and 2:05 a.m., so guess what I’m doing tonight.”
“Hunting rabbits,” she said.
“Screw you.”
“No thanks, I’m straight.”
“I swear to God, the curse is gonna be the least of your worries, cuz I’m gonna murder you.”
“Yeah, Judge Smith, she said she was gonna murder me.”
“Shut up.”
“Make me.”
I swear, we were starting to become like sisters. Still, I didn’t really trust her.
Our first real test would come that night. I laid in bed trying not to fall asleep before 2 a.m. I knew I had class the next morning, but I just had to know if these superstitions were legit. When the clock read 1:59, I got up out of bed and tiptoed over to the sink. I turned on the small light above it. For a moment, my fingers stopped in place, before I turned on the cold water.
Ha! It was just regular water. I knew it was a joke.
Except…it wasn’t just water. Something came out of the faucet, brown and squishy. I jumped backwards. I told myself to relax; it was probably just dirt. I reached my hand in to take it out and sighed with relief. It was just a band-aid. I tossed it in the trash can and went to turn off the water, but I stopped when I saw another one come out. This band-aid was bigger than the last one, there was no way it could’ve fit through the faucet. It didn’t make any sense.
The next one was even bigger. It was at least two inches long when it was folded up. I fished it out with my fingernails and wished that I hadn’t. The whole thing was covered with blood. Warm and wet, like it was brand new. I came to the sickening realization that that was the source of the salty smell, now more potent than ever.
I reached out and turned the faucet back again before anything else could come out. It was 2:03 now. I watched the clock by my bed, waiting until it said 2:07, just to be safe, and then I turned on the sink again. Nothing. Two minutes passed but it was just water. Another five minutes.
The bloody bandage was gone. I was sure I’d put it right next to the sink, but there was nothing there, not even a stain on the white countertop. It was like it was never there.
I yawned. Maybe it was just sleep deprivation. I had stayed up too long and pushed myself too far, and this was what happened. I told myself that I had imagined the whole thing and crawled into bed. I was an idiot.