by H. T. Night
“Yeah, I’m great, Tommy.” Josiah stared at me with a look I had never seen in his eyes. Not even when we had our professional fight against each other. “I have never been better. I’m going to take a shower.”
Now, I was certain he knew and we were going to have to discuss it. I turned to Lena but she had already bolted to the room she was staying in.
Oh, shit! This was not good. I had totally fucked up. I had to tell Josiah how minor everything was. Hopefully, he would understand on some level what I was dealing with. I heard Josiah start his shower. I walked over to the bathroom door and knocked.
“Yeah, who is it?” Josiah hollered.
“Hey, Jo, it’s Tommy! When you get out, I want to talk to you.”
Josiah didn’t say anything. Then about twenty seconds later, he calmly said, “Sure. Give me a minute.” He took another minute, and then he opened the door and said, “Where do you want to talk?”
“We can talk in the living room.”
“What about Lena?” Josiah said, walking out into the hallway wearing a towel. He seriously had bulked up his body.
“She went to the guest room.” I walked back into the family room and sat in the recliner.
Josiah came in after me, wearing a towel. “What’s on your mind, Tommy?”
I paused and began rubbing my hands. He needed to know to what extent this had become out of hand. I took a deep breath, and looked Josiah straight in the eyes. “I think I’m in love with your girlfriend.”
After a moment of disbelief on Josiah’s face, he said, “Did I hear you right?”
“You heard me, Josiah,” I answered.
“How?” He was confused and needed answers.
So, I gave him the answers he sought. “Over the past month, I have fallen for Lena. I feel horrible about it. I can’t figure out why I even allowed it to happen, but it did, and it’s fucking me up inside.”
“How did it happen?” he asked.
“Josiah, when you left, none of us knew how to act around each other. Yari and I messed around for a while, but she’s not the type of girl you keep that up with. God knows what she does when she leaves here. I don’t ask her because I don’t want to know.”
“Did you tell Yari how you felt? She’s not just a fuck toy that you can bang and then toss to the side.”
“I know that,” I said, feeling offended. I didn’t need Josiah to go completely holy on me.
“Do you know that?” Josiah continued. “Yari has more depth than either of us will ever know. She’s saved both of our lives and never asked for a damn thing from us.”
“I know that, Josiah,” I said. “I care about her also. But she has dark fucking secrets that scare the shit out of me. There’s a little too much going on with her.”
“So, let me get this straight.” Josiah was now on a soapbox for the ages. “You realized you didn’t care about Yari, so you decided to fall in love with my girlfriend instead?”
I shook my head. “Nothing is that simple, Josiah. Do you think I pounced on Lena the second I knew she was vulnerable and missing you?”
Josiah walked over to the main window in the family room. He started messing with the panels. “I don’t know, Tommy. I don’t know how you think. You do things that I would never do. You cross over the lines that are beyond my imagination. You’re a different breed than me in more ways than one.” Josiah pointed down the hallway. “That right there, Tommy! That’s a line you never cross.”
“Why, Josiah? Because you’re the fucking Chosen One, and God forbid that anyone crosses you?” I knew I was wrong, but the kid needed to stop preaching at me.
“No, you dumbass! It’s a line you don’t cross because we’re best friends! Because we’re brothers. We’re more than brothers! We have a connection that is beyond this world. At least, I thought we did. But you fucked everything up! You don’t allow yourself to develop feelings for your best friend’s girl.”
He was right. I’d fucked up. I’d fucked up bad. “I didn’t plan on it happening. My emotions got the best of me.”
“Have you acted on it, Tom? Have you?” he shouted.
“Yes, I have,” I said, and my heart started racing. I was feeling a tad horrified. Maybe Lena hadn’t told him everything.
“What happened?” he asked.
“I kissed her. We were at the beach, just hanging out and I told her I was having feelings for her.” My mind was cloudy about how it had exactly happened. “I didn’t want to act on them because you mean too much to me.”
“You told her that?”
“Yeah.”
“You manipulative motherfucker!”
“What does that mean?” Josiah was starting to cross my line.
“It means you played the, ‘I’m in love with you, but I want to do the noble thing’ card. You’re a fucking douche bag. You forgot you taught me everything you know, Tommy. That was ‘lesson one’ in the ‘Tommy getting laid’ handbook!”
He had it all wrong. “It’s not like that, Josiah. That’s not it at all.”
“But yet, you still waited for an opening, didn’t you? You waited for the right moment to stick your tongue down her throat!”
I was quiet out of self-disgust and appalled at the lack of understanding from my best friend. He acted like I’d had sex with her.
“Am I right? You played her good, didn’t you? Did she bite, Tom? Did she nibble on the line? Did she kiss you back?”
He deserved to know some of the truth here. “Yes and no.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“It means that, in the moment, she went with it, but only in the moment; within seconds, she regretted it and felt awful.”
“What about you? What the fuck did you feel?”
“I felt bad, but...” Josiah was making my brain scramble.
“But what? There is no ‘but.’ You are lucky we have a history, Tommy.”
Did he seriously just say that to me? “Why, because you would kick my ass otherwise?” I wanted to laugh.
“No, Tommy, I’m not going to threaten you. You’re not worth it. To threaten you would mean I give a shit about you!”
Wow, that was insane. I couldn’t believe he was throwing our friendship away so easily. “What are you saying, Josiah?”
“I’m saying that you stepped over a line that can’t be fixed.”
“Okay.” I was quiet. “So, that’s it? You and I are done?”
“I’m sorry that it even started.”
I nodded at Josiah. This went as badly as it could have gone. I was pissed at myself. I was pissed at Josiah for not understanding. I was pissed at Lena for running away and making me explain alone what had happened.
I transitioned into my werewolf form. I wasn’t exactly sure why, but my anger had led me to do this. I wasn’t going to hurt Josiah. If I was going to hurt anyone, it would be myself. In my werewolf form, I jumped through the glass window, shattering it. I had cuts and glass all over my face and body. I didn’t care.
I just wanted to get the fuck out of there. Away from my shame.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I needed to transition back into a human or I would have some serious explaining to do to the authorities. The last thing I needed was some dog catcher trying to take me to the pound. I was so large in my wolf form that I had a better chance of being shot on sight. West Hollywood wasn’t exactly wolf central.
The first unoccupied alley I came upon, about half a block away from Yari’s condo, was where I decided to transition back into my human form and get dressed. There were a lot of homeless people in West Hollywood and it was a miracle that I had found an alley devoid of any inhabitants. There were so many people who came to California with big dreams and small bank accounts. The problem was, there were too few dream jobs and too many people trying to fill them.
There was a bus stop out front so I decided to take the bus back home to Riverside, because my ride had been Josiah’s truck. So, that wasn’t exactly an option. It
took all day to travel back home, because I was so lost in thought, I kept missing my stops and had to hop off and rework the route to my house. When I finally reached the darkened house, I was so exhausted I went straight to bed and crashed without even taking off my smelly ruined clothes.
The next two days were hard. No calls from Josiah. Nothing. I kept reminding myself when it came to love, my friend was very young. Yes, he had risen to the challenges in other aspects of his life, but when it came to love, my friend was a kindergartener.
I was feeling a variety of emotions, and I wasn’t exactly proud of some of the feelings I was having. So, I decided to walk out to the nearest shopping center. It was only two miles away. I wanted to buy Josiah a gift. This shopping center didn’t have a lot of choices. There was a smoke shop, a leather store, a car parts store and a Denny’s.
I went with the leather. I’d bought us matching leather jackets. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. I just liked the cut of the jacket so much, I bought myself one. I picked up some food to-go at Denny’s and I headed home.
It was evening and I was watching TV. I decided that instead of fast-forwarding my DVR through the commercials, I would do pushups and sit-ups during each commercial break. I had been doing this for nearly three hours while watching The Big Bang Theory, Impractical Jokers, and Two and a Half Men. I was going for a fourth hour, watching the latest Big Brother episode, when my doorbell rang and interrupted me.
It was dark out, so it could have been anybody I knew. I was hoping it was Josiah. It would mean a lot to me if he came over, but he wouldn’t ring the doorbell when he had a key. There was only one way to find out who it was. I stood up from doing a set of pushups and I was sweating profusely, so I grabbed the towel I had draped over a chair. I headed over to the door and looked through the peephole. I should have known who it would be. I opened the door and let Yari in.
“You look like shit, Tom. Have you gained twenty pounds in the last three days?” she asked, patting my soft stomach.
“It feels that way.” I rubbed my tummy. “What brings you by, Yari?” I was presuming it was for a booty call and I could seriously use that right now.
“I’m worried about you, Tom. I heard about what happened.”
“Which part?”
“I presume all of it.”
“Well, I guess I’m an asshole.”
“Honestly, Tom, I think Josiah needs to chill out. You just kissed her.”
“So, you’re on my side?” I asked.
“I’m on no one’s side. I just think Josiah needs to relax and consider everything you two have been through.”
“What do you mean? What has he said? Why does he need to consider anything? What has he been saying?”
“He’ll get over it, Tommy. He’s immature and dealing with something like this for the first time. Allow him some time to process it in his own way. You two will be back to sucking each other’s dicks in no time.”
I laughed. It was crude, but that was Yari for you. “So, is that it? Is that the only reason you came by?”
“What are you implying now, Tommy Jenkins?” Yari asked in a suggestive tone.
“I don’t know,” I said. I wasn’t in the mood to flirt and if this was going to happen, I wanted us to just get on with it.
“Well, truth be told, I was hoping for a little midnight rendezvous, but frankly, you’re a mess. You smell ripe and you have stains all over your clothes. I’m not exactly wanting to tear off your clothes.”
“That’s fine, anyway.”
“But if you showered... maybe I would reconsider.”
I looked at Yari and she did look hot. Her body was as tight as ever, and my testosterone was peaking. “Okay, deal,” I said.
“Well, get on with it, my dear.” Yari motioned for me to go take a shower. I must have been horny or I usually wouldn’t allow any woman to boss me around like that.
So, I took a quick shower, and Yari and I fooled around for the next two hours. It was pretty intense and I released some serious tension. She was one passionate female when she wanted to be.
Then something odd happened. Yari spent the night. She lay with me in my bed all the way through the evening. We made love half a dozen times. It was great therapy. I still felt like shit, but for the record, sex was great therapy for anything. Even a groin pull.
Yari had flown here last night in her hawk form. So, she transitioned into that form and headed on home.
I was left to my own devices for another evening. I decided to look at the bus schedule. I needed to see Josiah. I know he wouldn’t answer my call. Unfortunately, I had no vehicle with me.
I hadn’t ridden the bus so much in my life. This was all very new to me. There were a lot of unusual characters and personality types on the bus. There was a multitude of passengers. All going to work, to visit someone, shop or play. They were mostly courteous and avoided conversation. Then there were people who spoke to themselves or to the people they perceived as being next to them. The seats next to those people were usually empty. No one wanted any part of crazy. Then, there were the people talking to the Bluetooth devices in their ears. Sometimes it was difficult to discern them from the crazies. Mostly, the Bluetooth talkers were clean-shaven and wearing clean, professional-looking clothes. It was enough to make me think I was losing my mind along with listening to all of them speak to each other.
The fastest route took me through Griffith Park to get me as close as I could to Yari’s place. The bus broke down near Griffith Park. One minute we were driving along, and the next, the engine made a loud clunking noise and died. The bus driver did an amazing job of steering the bus over into the emergency lane without getting us killed. He pulled out his cell phone and reported the breakdown to his boss.
“Well, folks,” he said to us, “headquarters is sending a bus to pick us up. It will be about a thirty-minute wait. We apologize for the delay and the inconvenience.”
“Thanks,” I said, getting out, “I can walk from here.” Then I headed into the park, thinking it would be the closest way to get to Yari’s pad. I had been walking for nearly an hour when the worst thing that could possibly happen happened.
I was suddenly surrounded by a dozen vampires. My natural instinct was to transition into my werewolf form. I ran away from them and they were circling me. Taunting me. I didn’t know what to do. One by one, they came at me, attacking me and biting me all over my body. They were just toying with me. They were injuring me pretty badly, nonetheless. I needed help and I needed it fast. I did the only thing I could. “Josiah! It’s Tommy! Can you hear me?” I said in my mind, sending my message directly to Josiah’s mind.
As I tried to fight off these fuckers, I recognized them. These vampires were Krull’s crew from a few weeks back. “Josiah, help! I’m surrounded by Krull’s Mani.”
“Where are you?” Josiah quickly asked.
“Griffith Park!”
“I’m coming!” Josiah responded in my mind. “Try to hold them off as long as you can. I’m just east of the observatory.”
I ran up a steep hill to my left to buy some time.
“Tommy, I’m here!” I could hear Josiah in my head.
“I’m exhausted,” I said. “They are taking me to town. I’m fighting them off, but I’m injured pretty badly.”
Josiah came flying in as the eagle. He landed and quickly transitioned into his human form. Krull looked at Josiah and smiled. Then to my surprise, he transitioned into a black raven and flew away.
“Tommy, leave!” Josiah yelled loudly.
Was he kidding me? “Fuck no, I’m helping you,” I said in my mind.
“Leave, now! I don’t need your help!” he yelled out loud for all to hear.
“I’m staying, Josiah!” I yelled back.
“I thought you said you were hurt.”
“So what! These fuckers are going to pay for hurting me.”
“Well, remain the werewolf. You’re a lot stronger as the werewolf.”
; I leaped forward, tackling the biggest vampire. He was a beast. It took all I had to pin him down to the ground in my wolf form. The moment he was on the ground, I suffocated him in a reverse triangle. One of my favorite submission moves in the MMA.
“Go to sleep,” I said.
I looked over at Josiah and he was in rare form. “Come and get me, fellas, I’ll make a great trophy.”
They all attacked Josiah at once and he flew up in the air, causing them to all run into each other in a comedic way.
“Don’t kill him!” Josiah yelled at me.
“Why? These guys were trying to kill me before you arrived,” I thought in my head.
“They weren’t trying to kill you. They used you to get to me,” Josiah responded in my mind.
“So, what do I do, just cripple him? That’s worse,” I thought to Josiah.
“I don’t care what you do, just don’t kill him.” Then Josiah began fighting off the vampires that were swiping at him.
Josiah screamed at the vampires, “Why are you here? Why have you come here to fight us?”
“We don’t answer to you!” one of the idiots yelled.
“Well, you’d better because you’re going to have one of two options. Either stop this madness, or leave and go back to Krull and tell him that Mani-on-Mani attacks need to stop. If you continue to fight us, I will take it as a threat on my life and the werewolf’s life. I will have no choice but to see that you don’t leave here alive.”
Josiah was owning the situation like I’d seen no person do. Before now. He continued, “Those of you who don’t want to be here, you need to leave. This skirmish isn’t worth dying for. Krull has made you believe in a lie. He knows his days are numbered and he is trying to take as many Mani down with him before it’s over. This army of Mani men he has assembled is never going to reign over this world. It’s a lie! So, leave now and spare your life!”
Then to my surprise, a bunch of them turned into ravens and flew off. I still had my guy pinned to the floor under me.
“Tommy, ask him if he wants to leave,” Josiah yelled at me.
“Fuck you!” The guy under me spit in my face.