Free Kittens

by David McGhee

  Chapter 13: What a lucky chapter number! Yay me!

  Josh had not yet fully accepted Malcolm's offer and instead tried to reason with Garrick about letting him stay. Garrick had expressed that he was not going to have some fucking junky live in his house. He was the sole proprietor on the lease and he could of been arrested when those cops found his stash. At least that is his story.

  Josh brought up the fact that Garrick is also an addict because he drinks so damn much. Garrick's defense was that it was legal, and none of Josh's damn business.

  The words became scathing and fists were threatened to be thrown. Josh would of done something stupid if his own self preservation hadn't stopped him from trying to outmatch the six five, two hundred and thirty pound man. What Josh was good at was words, which Garrick knew little about. He was able to convince him to let him come back and get what he could from the kitchen that was his. Garrick reluctantly agreed and began hitting a pint of McCormack brand vodka. In an attempt at good will he offered some to Josh. He accepted and they each had half a bottle.

  Josh not being the drinker he is, he got pretty damn tipsy on the half pint while Garrick, being bigger and a much more accomplished alcoholic, had just gotten a little buzz. This started up another fight where Garrick accused Josh of taking too much, even though it was him who had offered it to Josh in the first place.

  Josh couldn't handle it and left. Using the directions Malcolm had given to him at the hospital he walked down to his place on Boulder and Platte, he was unsure whether or not he should do it though. That guy gave off a really weird vibe, but his options were next to nil.

  With a sigh and a moment's consideration he walked into the building and went up to Malcolm's floor. He stared at his shoes as he walked to Malcolm's door and knocked on it hard three times. He waited for a few moments and knocked again. Frustrated he got out his phone and called him.

  Malcolm had come through with his promise to kill Daniel's family. The wife was a lot of fun but the kid broke his heart. He had wanted to kill the boy in his sleep or maybe drug him into a calm over dose. But he broke his own rules and drank his blood. He was hungry and he'd already used Daniel's gun to kill Samantha. He couldn't drink on a dead person because once the heart stops there's no flowing blood anymore. And he had the hankering for something warm and viscous.

  Malcolm had gotten a little of the red stuff on his new jean jacket. It looked like a ketchup stain so it didn't bother him much.

  He took the keys from Samantha's purse and locked the house up when he left. Just as he was getting into his car two blocks down the road he heard his cell phone go off. Annoyed he picked it out of his pocket to see who the damn hell it was.

  It was Josh. That did a complete turnaround to his mood. He smiled and answered it.

  "Hey man! What's up?" Malcolm laughed.

  On the other end Josh let out a guttural groan. "You said to come over anytime. I'm at your place and you aren't home are you?"

  Malcolm felt a little guilty. "Well, I was visiting a friend downtown and things got a little out of hand. I lost track of time. I didn't expect you so soon."

  "Well I'm here." A moment of silence followed. "I need to stay with you I guess. That asshole is just too assholey for me. Plus he thinks that my problem out shines his." Another pause "Fucking drunk."

  "Well I can be there in about fifteen, twenty minutes if that's cool. Maybe I could take you out to lunch?"

  "What little money I have I need to save for whatever may come up until I get a new job." Josh sighed.

  "Well..." Malcolm hesitated for a second for dramatic effect. "It's my treat, to celebrate being new roomies."

  Josh groaned. "Don't call us that. It sounds gay."

  "OK..."

  "But it would be cool I guess. Where do you have in mind?"

  Malcolm started up his car. "I was thinking Sputniks. Have you ever had their grilled cheese sandwiches?"

  "No..."

  "Well they are awesome. Plus they have sweet potato fries that are just killer! I like getting the teriyaki dip with them."

  "OK. What am I supposed to do in the mean time?"

  Malcolm checked his blind spot and pulled out of his terrific parallel parking job. "Well, you can always go to Paris On The Platte and wait for me there. Maybe we can get some coffee before hand, although Sputnik has it as well."

  "I don't care man. I'm not in the best of moods so anything will be exceptional." Malcolm could hear the disappointment in Josh's voice. It broke his heart a little to hear a person who he had deemed a good person to be upset.

  "Give me fifteen / twenty minutes man. Wait for me there."

  "OK." Josh hung up before Malcolm had the chance to reply, Malcolm hit his left hand hard on the steering wheel in frustration. He didn't want to be around any negativity but he felt an obligation to make Josh feel better. Josh feeling better could open him up a little, if he did then who knew what might happen. This thought brought a smile to his face.

  They met at Paris on the Platte but left immediately for Sputniks on Ellsworth and Broadway. Malcolm became irate when he couldn't find a close parking spot and voiced his frustration vocally. It nearly frightened Josh due to Malcolm's intensity. He'd never heard a human growl like that before.

  Finally they found a spot three blocks away. Josh opened and closed his door lightly while Malcolm slammed his shut. He stood there for a minute huffing at his bad luck and Josh immediately saw himself at a disadvantage if this man were to ever turn on him. He kept his thoughts to himself and hoped that Malcolm would soon calm down.

  They walked the three blocks and the exercise seemed to be working wonders on Malcolm as he was soon joking around at the two block mark. This made Josh feel a little better but the sour taste of his tantrum gave him a feeling of unease. He played along though.

  They reached Sputnik and found it to be a little crowded. Malcolm wondered if maybe they could go next door for sushi instead, but Josh voiced his dislike for the stuff.

  "Have you ever tried it?" Malcolm asked, standing outside of Sputniks with Josh.

  "Just the King Soopers stuff." Josh wished he had something to smoke and looked around nervously. "I suppose you're gonna tell me that what I had wasn't real sushi aren't ya?"

  "Well," Malcolm began "it isn't to be truthful. What's the worst that could happen? If you don't like it then they have fish steaks and other cooked meats."

  "Well... Do they have booze?"

  "I thought you didn't drink?"

  "Well, now that I'm sober and in a particularly bad space I think I need a few whatevers." Josh leaned against the blue brick wall outside of Sputnik. A very inebriated man who just walked out of the door commented on how cool Josh's blue hair was. Josh said thanks and was a little self conscious about it because it was fading pretty badly. It had taken up a light sky blue effect and he wanted badly to dye it dark blue again. Maybe red this time, but he knew that he had to save money and if his hair went back to blond then that was just tough shit for him he supposed. Josh sighed.

  "I guess we can go next door. Although as I said I'm not a big oriental food fan." Josh said looking down at his black Converse white tipped shoes.

  Malcolm looked back into Sputnik through its front window. He noted that there were a few seats available but with that much going on in there it would be hard to have the conversation that he desperately wanted from Josh.

  He looked over at Go Fish, the sushi restaurant next door and saw that it had only a few people dining there. Malcolm smiled and held out his hand as if he wanted to lead the way for Josh. This confused Josh and he sneered at him for even thinking about such a thing.

  "Let's just go there." Josh snorted, starting toward the other restaurant. Malcolm stood where he was for a second and found himself becoming sad and angry at himself. He was starting to get the idea that maybe Josh didn't like him all that much. He decided to push it out of his mind and followed Josh to Go Fish.

  When they entered a nice young A
sian man escorted them to their seats (a nice little table with a white cloth cover over it next to a man made water fall.) and gave them their menus. When asked what they wanted to drink Josh looked longingly at Malcolm for his input.

  Malcolm smiled. "Just order whatever man."

  "OK..." Josh stated. He looked up at the waiter and asked "What do you have that's alcoholic?"

  The waiter smiled and nodded. "We have many drinks. Would you like the suggestion sake?"

  "I don't know." Josh said hesitantly. "Do you have vodka?"

  "Yes we have much vodka." The man's smile appeared to be surgically sewn onto his face.

  Josh sighed and picked up his menu. "I suppose I'll have a Coke and vodka. Double."

  The waiter nodded. "And you sir?" asking Malcolm.

  Malcolm thought for a second and decided that he might as well come off nice to his good friend. "I'll have the same."

  "Very good." The man nodded again and left them by themselves. Josh leaned against the back of his chair and cracked his knuckles. Then he cracked the individual joints in each of his fingers. Malcolm winced at the sound seeing as his hearing had forever been amplified since turning when he was nearly dead at twenty one. It was one of the more annoying parts about being immortal.

  "So..." Josh began "what's good?" He looked at the menu but it might as well be written in Swahili.

  Malcolm opened his menu and a piece of paper fell out with a list of available sushi pieces that one could order. He remembered the deal of the day outside that advertised that you could get three rolls, salmon, California, and unagi (eel) for thirteen bucks. He looked at the prices of the individual pieces and couldn't help but cringe.

  "This shit is way expensive!" Josh said. "Are you sure you want to eat here?"

  Malcolm looked up from his menu and said "If we get that deal they have outside the window I think we'll come through alright." Malcolm put his menu down and locked eyes with Josh. This made him a little uncomfortable and he looked away.

  "I need to call my girlfriend and let her know I'm OK." Josh said, staring at the waterfall next to him. He could feel a slight coolness emanating from it that gave him goose bumps on his arms.

  "OK." Malcolm said quickly and looked over his shoulder at the sushi bar. The waiter was already on his way to the table with the drinks. When he arrived he placed each one before the two men and nodded, he had the same smile he did when they first came in.

  "You want order now?" The waiter said kindly.

  "Yeah." Malcolm said. "We want two of those sushi deals that you have outside."

  "Three roll?"

  "Yes." Malcolm turned to look at Josh, who was perusing his phone for something. "Is that OK with you Josh?"

  Josh did not look up. "Yeah, whatever man."

  Malcolm looked back toward the waiter and smiled. "I guess our minds are made up dude."

  The waiter smiled and nodded again and took the menus from the table. Malcolm looked back at Josh, who was still looking at something or other on his phone, and he felt himself get a little temperamental. He wasn't being paid attention to and that irked him to no end. Especially if his affection was being lost to some girl that probably had small breasts and treated him badly.

  "What's her name?" Malcolm asked, trying to be civil.

  Josh looked up and cocked his head a little. Then he smiled. "Her name is Cindy. She's really cool. You'd like her."

  I fucking bet I would, Malcolm thought to himself. He put one arm on the table and balanced his head on it. He began to lightly drum on the table with his other hand's fingers. Josh saw that his extremities were a little disproportionate and wondered if he should ask about it. Josh was certain that the man had to have some sort of growth disorder or something.

  In the end curiosity won him over. "Hey man, don't mind me asking, but do you have some sort of growth thing or something?"

  Malcolm could have been angry at him asking such a stupid question but he felt like it was the first personal thing that Josh had asked him. He was more than happy to oblige, even if it was a rude thing to ask.

  "I think I have hand-foot-genital syndrome." Malcolm said, still balancing himself on his arm and drumming his fingers on the table. He looked back behind him and saw the sushi chef working hard on something. He hoped it was their food. Malcolm had not eaten human food in about a day and that was a separate hunger that needed to be quenched aside from the one that really sustained him.

  "What's that?" Josh asked, taking the first sip of his cocktail.

  Malcolm sighed and looked back over toward Josh. "It's when your limbs and shit get long and you get tall. That coupled with it coming with extreme thinness pretty much excludes me from most people who think I look weird."

  "I don't think you look weird per say, but you are pretty tall and everything on you seems long." Josh took another sip and placed his drink on the table. He looked back up and grinned like a madman. He had to ask, "does that include your dick too?"

  Malcolm smiled, now they were getting somewhere! "Yeah. I have a really huge cock." He was beaming with the thought that Josh had asked this in hopes of seeing it sometime.

  Josh laughed. "I bet all the chicks like fucking you!"

  Malcolm's smile disappeared and was replaced by a long frown. "Actually I don't get much play because of it. It's mostly guys who want a bigger penis, not the other way around. Girls (and guys, he thought to himself) tend to not want me because I hurt them too much."

  Josh cocked his head again and had an expression of bewilderment. "I bet it's still nice though, having a huge dick and all. I'm sure girls secretly want it."

  Malcolm sighed and drank half of his cocktail in three long gulps. He sat it back on the table and wiped his lips with his forearm. "No. They don't. Do you have a small dick or something? Is that why you're so interested?" It was Malcolm's turn to ask a humiliating question. He savored the shocked look on Josh's face. He knew that he had asked it in reference to what he thought girls wanted and him even suggesting that when he was in fact into Josh made it all the more frustrating.

  Josh was blushing something bad after a few seconds of hesitation. "No... I've been told I am a good size. I'm not going to win any ribbons but I've never had a complaint." Josh took a big sip of his drink and could feel the alcohol working its way up to his brain. "Cindy seems to like it."

  Malcolm let out another long sigh and was trying desperately to think of something to say that wouldn't make this any more awkward than it had already become. He finished off his drink and tried to act more manly by letting out a long masculine burp. All that came out was a quick and thin sounding belch. Immediately he wished he had kept it in.

  Josh took another drink and then burped himself. It was longer and louder than Malcolm's and he felt a little inadequate as far as his manliness was concerned compared to Josh. He had the feeling that the guy could win points for being as heterosexual as he was. Malcolm hated himself for being so attracted to the guy but kept a straight poker face in light of his feelings.

  Finally the food came. "Here you go." The waiter said cheerfully as he placed the two large sushi platters before both Josh and Malcolm. Malcolm was relieved and hoped that a change of subject would surely ensue.

  Josh looked down at his plate like it was full of bubonic plague carrying rats. He looked back up at Malcolm for guidance. "What is all of this stuff?"

  Malcolm smiled and took out his chopsticks and broke them into two long pieces. He pointed first to the California roll. "That's called a California roll. It's crab meat with avocado and carrots." Then he turned his attention toward the salmon. "This is a salmon roll, it has salmon and avocado." Josh didn't seem too disgusted but he looked a little uneasy. Malcolm continued. "This is the eel roll." He pointed to the rice roll with brown meat inside and covered with teriyaki sauce. Josh made a gagging gesture that made Malcolm a little nervous that maybe he should have gotten him something more American. He persisted and ignored Josh. "It's called unagi. It has t
he taste of chicken but the texture of fish. Try it! It's really sweet and it goes down easier than you'd think."

  Josh poked at it with his right index finger and then took out the chopsticks from its paper container. Malcolm smiled and shook his head, laying down his own chopsticks next to his plate.

  "Eating sushi with chopsticks is actually an American thing." Malcolm said, picking up a piece of California roll with his fingers. "In Japan this is all finger food."

  Josh seemed to let out a sigh of relief. "Good. I can't use these things worth shit to save my life." He put them aside and picked up a piece of unagi roll. He looked at Josh as if he were going to barf but he bravely stuck it in his mouth and started chewing. He swallowed it and Malcolm wasn't sure if his face showed neutrality or disgust. To his surprised Josh gave a crooked little smile. "It's not too bad I guess. A little sweet for me but not too bad."

  Malcolm was pleased that he had made a new convert. "I told you so." He began eating what was on his plate a little faster than Josh was. Malcolm showed him what the soy sauce and wasabi was for. Josh liked the soy sauce but coughed violently when he added wasabi to one of his pieces. Malcolm was amused that it brought tears to Josh's eyes.

  "I'm not sad," Josh said sarcastically. "I swear I'm not. I just got something in my eyes!" He smiled and Malcolm laughed. "So what are the other examples of things that come along with this syndrome?"

  Malcolm was concentrating on his plate and wasn't quite sure the question deserved an answer, but he did anyways. "Little feet for the height one stands."

  Josh looked puzzled. "Like what?"

  Malcolm wiped his mouth with the cloth napkin that had been set aside for him and he answered. "I wear size nine and a half to size ten shoes."

  Josh laughed. "Man, I am way shorter than you and I have size eleven."

  "Yeah... Sometimes keeping my balance is hard but I've learned to deal with it. Also there is a risk for tall people having bad hearts due to the increased work load."

  "So you're afraid you are going to die or something?"

  Malcolm grinned. "Not anymore I don't. Thanks to self denial I'm going to live forever!"

  Josh cocked his head again but smiled none the less. "We should get another drink and toast to our immortality." He got up and went to the sushi bar to get the waiter. Malcolm stayed behind and paid him no attention, finished the last of his California rolls. When Josh came back he looked like he wanted to ask something but didn't know what to say.

  "What's up?" Malcolm said with a mouthful of sushi.

  "What is sake?" Josh asked.

  "Japanese rice wine. Good stuff." He paused. "Was that something you ordered or was it something that he suggested?"

  "He did."

  Malcolm sighed. "Well just to let you know for future reference that the serving sizes are very small. If you want to get drunk you may want to spend my money a little more wisely next time by getting a double whatever and lay off the small stuff." Malcolm caught himself. "But it IS pretty strong. I don't know how your system works so I'd just wait and find out I suppose."

  The waiter brought over the saki in two tiny little hand cups and nodded as he turned around to leave. Josh looked down at the serving size with disappointment. He sighed and picked up the cup and took a sip. His mouth immediately puckered and he placed it back on the table. It was both sweet and very bitter at the same time, an odd combination.

  Malcolm smiled and took a sip of his. He immediately knew why Josh had reacted the way he did. The stuff WAS strong. "Might just be the brand I think." He offered as he took another heavy sip.

  Josh completed his drink with two big gulps and put the small cup on the table, he looked like he was going to gag but stopped himself from doing so. "So do you really think you have this thing? Are you sure you're not just tall and hung?"

  "I don't know... From what I've read about it, it sounds like me. Although Wikipedia uses terms that I can't understand and I'm not sure if a urethra means big or small."

  "You've never looked it up?"

  Malcolm felt a little stupid for not doing so; he just faced toward his food and concentrated on what was left of the meal. "I always mean to but I haven't yet. This is just a recent theory mind you. Another possibility is Marfan syndrome."

  "What does that mean?"

  "Tall everything. And it has the most ripe conditions for heart problems."

  "Well wouldn't you have gotten seen by a doctor when you were little? Couldn't they have tested you or something?"

  Yeah right, Malcolm thought, test me for what exactly in the seventeen hundreds?

  Malcolm snorted. "I was raised on never going to the doctor. My parents and the people around me told me that God would take care of me if I believed hard enough."

  Josh looked confused. "Isn't that child neglect?"

  "Not where I come from. Are you going to eat the rest of that?" Malcolm pointed to the eight pieces that Josh had left.

  Josh shook his head. "I'm so fucking full man." He said and pushed his plate toward Malcolm. Malcolm took it and put the remaining pieces onto his plate and set the empty one aside.

  Josh took a deep breath. "Do you think I fucked up my probation by not meeting with the officer?"

  Malcolm was halfway through chewing his food and had to take a second to finish it before answering. "They told me that as long as you show up tomorrow with your discharge paperwork then you'd be OK."

  Josh looked relieved. "Cool. How about we get another drink?"

  As he stood up to go back to the bar Malcolm interjected. "Make it a double something. Don't get any more sake!"

  That night Josh slept on Malcolm's futon. He didn't want to be in his ex-roommates room for reasons he just couldn't justify. The futon folded out into a bed and he spent the better part of trying to go to bed watching Sunshine. The movie made him a little uneasy because of its atheistic undertones. Something like the sun would never really die out, would it? He thought that humans had their place in the universe and something had to create, commandeer, and look after everyone and everything. Josh remembered in school learning about how the sun would die out in ten billion years. What scared him most was that they said in a mere fifty million years the sun would convert a ton of its hydrogen into helium, causing it to glow brighter and basically stripping the planet of its water and atmosphere.

  Could we really have only that much time left? He thought sadly. Where was God in all of this? He wasn't a practicing Methodist anymore but the ideals still kept with him throughout the years. What disturbed him most about Malcolm was the idea that he might be homosexual. He knew deep down that a person can't control it but in his heart he felt like God would punish such a person as referenced in Leviticus. He didn't want to be around when such a punishment was given, especially if he ever got emotionally attached to the person.

  Plus he just didn't like the idea of a gay dude hitting on him. He felt like this would violate his manhood.

  Josh thought briefly about calling Cindy over for some companionship but he thought against it because he had not asked Malcolm seeing as this is technically still his home. He cried a little at his isolation and eventually falling asleep sometime after the movie had ended.

  He did not dream that night.

  Malcolm couldn't sleep so he decided to come out of his room and check on Josh. He was sleeping with only his bright red boxers on and had no blanket over him. Before Malcolm did anything he stared some at Josh's toned body. It made him sad that he was so skinny. When he was alive he may have been imposing but he couldn't fight worth shit. If he could maybe he would had died a natural life instead of succumbing to that mob of angry Protestant assholes.

  To imagine that it took three hundred years for things to change where homosexuality wasn't punished but embraced by most industrialized countries made him a little angry at being born during such a time. And that he had fallen in love with a black man made things that much worse at the time.

  Malcolm didn't want to thin
k about it. He looked Josh over once more and went to his closet to find him a blanket. He found a nice big quilt that depicted scenes of Japanese customs and geisha girls in white. It was a neat little thing and he admired it for a few moments before he left back towards the living room.

  Josh was snoring by the time he got there and he couldn't help but think of it as the cutest thing. It wasn't loud but sort of like a soft diesel engine that had been on for a few hours. Malcolm spread out the quilt and placed it on top of Josh's nearly naked body. As he did so the snoring stopped and Josh sleepily opened his eyes.

  "Hey man..." Josh yawned.

  "Hi." Malcolm adjusted the quilt and stood back. "Just thought you were a little cold is all."

  "I guess." Josh closed his eyes again. Malcolm took this as a sign to leave but Josh said something to him that he didn't quite catch.

  "What'd you say man?" Malcolm turned around and asked.

  "I was asking you if you had a shitty childhood too."

  "Oh..." Malcolm couldn't divulge his past but he had constructed a fake one for just such occasions. "It wasn't too bad I suppose."

  "Oh OK." Josh turned on his back and stared at the ceiling.

  "Why? Did you?"

  "It wasn't too bad I suppose." Josh said blankly.

  "You want to talk about it?"

  Josh placed his hands in the back of his head. "Nah. Maybe some other time when we get to know each other better."

  "OK." Malcolm made a move to leave the living room but Josh stopped him again.

  "Hey man..." Josh turned back over facing Malcolm. "Are you sure all of this is cool? You know what I have done in the past?"

  "I have a good idea." Malcolm replied softly, almost as if he were a caring mother.

  "And you're cool with me staying here?"

  Malcolm shrugged. "I suppose we are friends. Friends help out friends. I care for you a lot as a person."

  Josh blinked stupidly. "I got to ask you something."

  "Yes?"

  "Are you gay?"

  Malcolm sighed and debated on whether or not to tell him the truth. In the end he felt like he owed Josh a legitimate answer. "I'm actually bi."

  Josh rolled over on his back and took a deep breath. "Do you like me in that way? It's cool if you do, just understand that I can't be anything more to you then what I am right now I suppose."

  Malcolm sat down on his knees and traced an outline of a circle in the shag carpeting. "I think you are cute, yes. But I know that you are who you are and I hold no ill will towards that." Malcolm sighed. "But I'm not attracted to you per say. I just think you have something cool to offer me within my life."

  "Oh..." Josh was momentarily out of appropriate things to say. When it came to him he said "It's cool. Just as long as we know each other's place."

  "I suppose." Malcolm said sadly.

  Josh turned back over again. "I think you are cool. I have never tried sushi before today and I just think that was cool of you, seeing as you brought me there, bought the food, and bought me some drinks."

  Malcolm smiled. "No problem man. As I said I'm just trying to help a friend out."

  Josh returned the smile, albeit weaker than Malcolm's wide grin. "Thanks."

  Malcolm got up. "No problem..." He said softly and without emotion as he turned around to go back to his room. Halfway there he turned around, expecting Josh to say something more, hoping he would, but he had his eyes closed and Malcolm could see his expansive chest heaving up and down with a sort of slow rhythm, as if he were breathing to a metronome. Malcolm felt sad and he went back to his room and closed the door.

  He took off his shirt and pants and lay on his bed over the blanket. Hugging the single pillow he had in the room he began to cry dryly. He hoped that the relationship would get better but he was starting to have his doubts. He still wanted Josh around and wanted to help him.

  That is... If he could help himself.

  Then the real tears came and he cried until he finally fell asleep. Like Josh, he had no dreams that night.

  When Malcolm awoke the next morning his first thoughts were on the kittens in the box in the living room. Had he fed them yesterday? He was sure he had. It was such a busy time for him what with helping Josh out and all.

  He arose wearing nothing but his boxers and staggered to the bathroom adjoining his bedroom and urinated. Something about all that vampire lore bullshit said that vampires do not make waste. How was that? Does the blood they drink magically disappear inside them and go away into nothingness? Malcolm cringed at all those movies and books which suggested this. He in fact enjoyed having to use the restroom. It signified to him that there was still a little bit of humanity left in him.

  The only thing he didn't understand about himself was:

  a: Why he had no heart beat, yet he could still bleed and pump blood throughout his body.

  b: Why in the hell did he crave and / or need blood so badly? He's never tried to go without it and wondered what would happen if he did. There had been a little experiment during the American Civil War that he had done where he abstained for a week. The result was pain and aching all over his body. The idea of death intrigued him but also the thought of going through so much pain deterred him from ever trying it again. Besides, when he killed someone right after the fasting it tasted better than anyone's blood had tasted ever since. It was like someone who was dying of thirst in the desert finding a Starbucks and had gotten a complimentary Venti cup of ice water.

  Malcolm was at least happy about the fact that he had no reason to shave, although his pale skin bothered him a great deal. He normally told people that he had a rare form of albinism. Although he was pretty damn pale when he was alive too, his father and mother had come from Europe right before he was born.

  What made him think that he had some sort of disorder in reference to his height and other bodily abnormalities was because his father was only five seven, and his mother five two. He certainly didn't get it from them. In fact one of the things his father teased him about was the size of his penis, which he had saw when a dog had ripped his pants apart because Malcolm was carrying some dried meat to town while walking with him. His words hurt him and he supposed that his insecurities about his anatomy came from the comment that he would never obtain a wife with a penis that big. Or if he did, on his wedding night she would refuse to sleep with him.

  Like a good Christian he abstained from sex until he was married at age sixteen. His wife had had some trouble getting it into her (Like him, she was a virgin as per customs at the time) but after a while she grew to enjoy it. This bothered Malcolm a great deal because enjoying sex was supposed to be sinful. If God created it to be fun to do then why would he make it such a sinful activity? He supposed one reason for the chastity thing among the church was because you had to pay them to get married. It's all about the money now that he thinks about it. In fact in the olden times you were told you would go to hell if you did not give your weekly tithe. The church had many of such money making schemes including Indulgences. These were where you paid to take off a certain number of days you would spend in purgatory while your soul was being cleansed and prepped for heaven.

  Wait… No, that was Catholicism? Right? Well anyways, his church at the time indulged in that sort of rip off.

  Malcolm growled and went for the bathroom cabinet to get his tooth brush. He'd had his teeth whitened a few times because they got so yellow from all the blood he drank. Sometimes they would be made to look dark and blackish for a while if he let it sit there and settle.

  He brushed his teeth and washed his mouth out with some peppermint Scope. After he spit he drank a little of it since the main ingredient was alcohol. It's not the best way to catch a buzz but it worked.

  He had also always thought about how in the hell he could react to such drugs like alcohol and pain killers. Malcolm could see the allure in being a heroin junkie but for the life of him he couldn't figure out why someone could give up everything they had for a
shot?

  Stupid people...

  He walked out into the living room to check on Josh. Upon first inspection of his futon he did not see him there where he had passed out the night before. He went into the kitchen and saw a box of cereal open on the counter and one of his white dishes, with a spoon, in the sink soaking up some soapy water.

  Malcolm decided to check out Harold's old room and walked back into the hallway. He put his ear to the large wooden door and tried to hear any sort of breathing or snoring that would be emanating from the room if he was in fact in the bed asleep. But nothing was heard. He opened the door slowly and found the bed still made up and everything was still untouched as it had been the day Malcolm had cleaned the room in hopes of attracting a new roommate.

  Malcolm closed the door and leaned against the hallway wall. He put his hand on his head and sighed in frustration. He had the thought that Josh may be out scoring drugs (or maybe over at that slut, Cindy's place). What he hoped though was that he was either looking for a job or even reconciling his position at the Jumping Bean coffee shop. That would be cool, but he wasn't about to give a junkie the benefit of a doubt.

  He would be able to tell what had gone on during his time away when he got back. Either his eyes would be pinned or he'd smell like pussy or coffee. He wanted the latter to come to fruition because the very idea of him getting high or fucking some stupid chick made him ball up his fists and punch the wall beside him, leaving an indentation on the white paint.