by Wiley, John
“I don’t feel that much older,” Gene shrugs.
“Age is just a number,” Erick adds.
“Besides, I’m only 40, so that’s like what, seven – eight years older than you?” He says to Adele.
She glares at him. “I’m 22,” she says icily.
“Oh. Well that’s OK, at least you’re smart.”
“Ooh!” Erick says, reacting like a sitcom audience.
Adele nods with a tight smile on her face. “Yeah, that’s true. And at least I can afford more than one outfit.”
The whole table looks at her, jaws dropped.
“Whoa,” she says, holding her hands up. “I’m just teasing.” She takes a drink of her beer and looks at her menu. “Gene, go get the waitress and tell her I’m ready to order.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re at the bottom of the totem pole, so you have to do the grunt work,” she says with an obviously fake laugh.
“Actually, receptionist is lower, if we’re being truthful,” says Lisa, one of the women at the table. She has light blonde hair and is a few years older than Gene. However, after having several facelifts, she looks several years younger than him.
“My father owns the company; I think you’ll find I’m higher than any of you!”
“Thanks for that,” Erick says, his eyes on the menu.
Adele shrugs and then looks Gene in the eye. “Go. I’m hungry.”
“Excuse me,” Gene sighs. “Can you guys let me out?”
The two people between Gene and Adele, who is at the end of the booth, start to scoot. “Go the other way,” she says, looking at her phone distractedly.
Erick and the guy next to him slide out of the booth to let Gene out. Once he’s out they sit back down. “Why are you being like that?”
“I just don’t like him,” Adele says with a shrug. “I don’t think his type belongs here.”
“You mean because he’s black?”
“No. I’m black too, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“Yeah. So then what’s his type?”
“Homeless.”
“He has a home; he lives with me and Rhys.”
“Speaking of,” Adele says, watching something behind Erick.
He turns around and sees Rhys, Chloe, and Cindy two booths away. “Ugh.” He sinks down a little.
“What?” Adele perks up a little.
“He got fired and isn’t telling me.”
“And now he’s out to eat here?” She asks incredulous. “This place isn’t cheap, you know.”
“Oh hey,” Gene says as he passes Rhys.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” Rhys asks.
“I’m here with some people from work. And Adele.”
Rhys turns and sees Erick force a smile.
“You want to join us?” Gene asks.
“No thanks. I’ll see you tonight, though.”
“OK, enjoy your meal.” Gene walks back to the table, followed shortly by the waitress.
“Don’t you want to say hi to Erick?” Chloe asks.
Rhys shrugs. “That’s OK, I’ll see him tonight.”
“Is everything OK?” she asks.
“I haven’t told him I got fired yet. I was waiting until my interview tonight.”
“Oh.” Cindy puts her menu down and has a serious expression on her face. “I told him this afternoon.”
“Oh Cindy, seriously?” Chloe says sadly.
“What? Why?” Rhys nearly yells.
“He came looking for you and was really concerned that something was wrong, so it kind of slipped.”
Rhys drops his head to the table and covers it with his arms.
“I’m sorry. I thought you would have told him by now.”
Music starts to play from Rhys’ pocket. He sits up and takes the phone out, a confused look on his face when he looks at the display. “It’s Janie,” he tells the girls. “Hello?” he says, lifting the phone to his ear. “What? Are you serious? Shit…No, that’s OK, I’m actually with him; I’ll tell him. Thanks. We’ll be there soon.” He puts the phone on the table and looks like he’s going to scream.
“What’s wrong?” Chloe asks.
“Were you guys ready to order?” the waitress walks to the table.
“No, not yet,” says Cindy, smiling.
“We were robbed,” Rhys says once the waitress is gone.
“What?” Cindy says in disbelief.
“Did they get anything?” Chloe asks.
“No. Jennifer saw them in the apartment and called the police before they could get anything.”
“So they were caught?” Chloe asks.
“I think so.” He gets out of the booth and the girls start to get up as well. “No, you two stay,” he instructs. “I can get a ride from Erick.”
“Are you sure?” Chloe asks.
“Yeah, you’re celebrating,” he says with a smile.
“OK, well, let us know if you need anything,” Chloe says.
“Thanks.” Rhys walks over two tables to where Erick is laughing about something with his co-workers. “Hey, can we talk for a minute?” he asks Erick.
“We’re in the middle of dinner,” Adele says.
Rhys turns to her, daggers in his eyes. “I’m not talking to you!” he yells. “Erick, come on.”
Erick rolls his eyes but follows Rhys across the restaurant to the open area near the salad bar. “What’s so important?” he asks impatiently.
“Janie just called; someone broke into our apartment.”
“What?”
Rhys nods. “Yeah. Can you drive us home?”
“Yeah.” Erick walks back to the table. “Something came up at home and we need to go. You coming, Gene?”
“I can give him a ride later,” Lisa says, “if you want to stay.”
“Yeah, if you don’t mind,” he says to her.
“OK, I’ll see you guys later.” He turns and walks to the door where Rhys is waiting for him.
***
After what must have been a ten-hour silent drive, they get home. They walk up the stairs and see Janie and Jennifer sitting at their bistro table with a police officer. “There they are,” Janie says to the officer.
The officer walks from the table to the edge of the roof where the stairs let out. She has long brown hair in a ponytail and could definitely afford to get her uniform in a bigger size. “You two live here?” she asks.
“Yeah,” Rhys says with a shaky voice.
“What happened?” Erick asks.
“That young lady over there found two men in your apartment; it’s a mess in there, but as far as we can tell they didn’t take anything.”
“How can you tell?” Erick demands.
“Because officers arrived on the scene before they left the apartment.”
“So they got caught?” Rhys says quietly.
“Yes, they’re being held right now.”
“How’d they get in?” Erick asks.
The officer hands him an envelope. Erick opens in and sees Rhys’ keys in it. “Those were left in the door.”
Erick throws them at Rhys and walks back down the stairs. “Where are you going?” Rhys yells down to him.
“I’m staying with Annie tonight.” He gets in the truck and drives away.
Rhys @RhysHesPNutbutr 3m
burgled. Hope they didn’t take anything! #leftkeysinthedoor #whenitrainsitpours #fml
***
Rhys walks in the apartment and sees the kitchen cabinets emptied onto the floor, along with all of the book shelves. He shuts and locks the door behind him and walks into his room where the drawers have all been dumped on the floor. He falls face first onto his bed and cries himself to sleep, unaware of the message flashing on the screen of his phone.
Liam Hollingsworth @boyinavest 1m
@RhysHesPNutbutr sorry you were robbed! life is about learning to dance in the rain #SayingILove
***
“Hey,” Annie says when she opens her door. She
hugs her brother and leads him into the small common area of her campus apartment. “So what happened?”
“We got robbed.”
“Oh my gosh. Did they get anything?”
“I don’t know.” Erick walks to the couch and sits down on it. “I didn’t even go in it; I was too angry.”
“Yeah, it’s always upsetting when a stranger goes through your belongings.”
“Not because of that. I’m angry because Rhys left his keys in the door and that’s how they got in.”
“Oh.” She gets two bottles of water from the kitchen and sits next to her brother. “Is he OK? He called me earlier; it sounds like he’s had a rough day.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“What? Why’s that?” she asks.
“He hasn’t told me about it.”
“Why?”
Erick shrugs. “I found out from our neighbor.”
“I can’t believe he hasn’t told you.” Annie says.
“I can’t believe he told you and our neighbors and not me. He probably even told Joey.” He pulls out his phone and dials Joey, putting it on speaker phone.
“What are you doing?” Annie asks.
“Finding out if he really did tell everyone except for me.”
Annie sighs and reaches for the phone. “What good is that going to do?”
“Helloooo?” Joey answers the phone. “The screen says that this is someone called Erick but I don’t think I know any Erick’s. I used to have a roommate called Erick but I haven’t heard from him for, like, three months.”
“I’ve only been gone a month and a half,” Erick says.
“So you are alive!”
Erick sighs. “You’re drunk.”
“No Sherlock shit!” Joey says before bursting out in laughter. “I mean no shit…shit, what’s the end of it? I think I just said it, didn’t I? Jeremy! How’s the no shit saying go?”
Erick sighs. “Did Rhys tell you that he got fired?”
“I don’t know. Did he tell you?” Joey says. “I told him to tell you.”
Erick hangs up. “So there you go. I’m the last person to know that he got fired.”
“Do you know why?” Annie asks.
“Cindy said he accused someone of rape. But I don’t believe it…”
“Well that’s what he told me too.”
“I’m sure he accused someone of it, but I doubt it happened. Let’s be honest, Rhys is a bit of a drama queen and exaggerator.”
“That may be, but I don’t think he would make such a serious claim if he didn’t believe it was true. Especially after he saw how upset Cheryl was when she was raped.”
Erick shrugs. “Maybe.” His phone starts to ring; the display tells him it’s Joey. “Hello?”
“Did you hang up on me?”
“No,” he says before hanging up again. He powers the phone off and sits it on the end table. “I think I’m going to get some sleep, though. I’m exhausted.”
“But it’s only ten. Do you at least want to watch a movie or something?”
“What one?” he asks while yawning.
She walks to the DVD shelf and pulls off Duck Tales: The Movie – Treasure of the Lost Lamp. “Something from when we were younger? I think you could use something light tonight.”
“Sounds good,” he says, curling up on the couch. Annie puts the movie on, but Erick is asleep before the title card even makes it to screen.
***
The next day Rhys wakes up to Gene knocking on the front door. He looks at the clock and sees that it’s half past nine. He walks to the living room and unlocks the door for Gene.
“Thanks,” Gene says, walking in and going straight for the bathroom.
“Were you out all night?” Rhys asks. He walks to the kitchen and makes some coffee.
“Yeah, those lawyers can get crazy. We went to about five different bars and clubs, and then they went to someone’s house. I’m getting way too old for that stuff,” he adds with a laugh. He sits down on the couch and puts his feet up on the coffee table when he notices Erick’s bedroom door is open. “Is Erick up?”
“He didn’t come home,” Rhys says, leaning against the counter and watching the coffee pour.
“Why?”
“We were robbed…” Rhys motions to the mess all around.
“Oh, that makes sense.”
“What?”
“The mess, I mean. I was wondering what happened last night.”
“So he was upset someone broke into the apartment? That’s why he didn’t come home?”
Rhys sighs. “He’s mad that I left my keys in the door…”
“Oh.”
Rhys pours his coffee and sits on the chair next to the couch. He reaches for the remote and flips through the channels, settling on some baking challenge show.
“So do you know if he’s coming home?”
Rhys shrugs.
“It’s just that he invited Adele over for a date tonight and I was supposed to cook for them.”
“Oh. He didn’t say anything to me about that.”
“He just decided yesterday when we got to work; swept away by her beauty I suppose?”
“Ha,” Rhys rolls his eyes. “I don’t like that woman.”
“Me either. But you do what you can for your friends.”
Rhys: You coming home at all today?
Rhys: Gene says you have a date coming over tonight?
Rhys: I’ll make sure I’m not home to give you privacy
“So what are your plans for today?” Gene asks with a yawn.
“I dunno,” Rhys says. “Guess I’ll go look for a job some more.”
“You’re quitting the coffee shop?”
Rhys sighs. “I got fired, but I really don’t want to talk about it.”
Gene nods. “Well, I’m going to get some sleep. Wake me if you hear from Erick, will you?”
“Sure.” Rhys turns off the TV and goes in his room with his coffee to watch TV and get ready for the day.
***
Erick is fast asleep on Annie’s couch when a bang in the kitchen wakes him up. He sits up and sees Annie picking up a text book and putting it on the dining room table.
“Good morning,” Annie says.
Erick turns his phone on. “You’re studying already?” He looks at his phone again. “It’s 9:30 on a Saturday morning and you’re reading a text book.”
Annie shrugs with a smile and walks to the kitchen where she grabs a bottle of orange juice from the refrigerator and a bagel from the white box on the counter. “That’s why I’m the smart twin,” she says, sitting down next to him and handing him the breakfast.
“Thanks, but I’m not hungry.”
“I went out at 7:00 this morning to buy this when I could be studying, and now you aren’t going to eat it?”
“Fine,” he sighs. He takes the juice and opens it.
“So are you planning to go home today?”
“Yeah. I invited a girl from work over for a dinner, so I guess I should head home and get the mess cleaned.”
“You’re going to cook for a girl? What’d she do to make you so angry?”
“Ha ha,” he says with his mouth full of bagel. “Gene is cooking. He used to be a fancy chef apparently.”
“Well anybody is a better choice at cooking than you,” Annie grins at him. She gets up and goes back to her reading. “Stay as long as you need, but I’ll be studying all day.”
“Thanks, but I’ll probably leave once I eat.” He grabs his phone and responds to Rhys.
Rhys: I’ll make sure I’m not home to give you privacy
Erick: Ok. I’ll be there in about a half hour to help u clean
***
“Get up!” Cheryl yells at Joey.
“What?” he moans from under a mountain of blankets.
She opens the curtains and the room is illuminated by the midday sun. “It’s almost 1:00 Joey, it’s time to get up,” she says in an annoyed tone.
“Why can
’t I sleep?” he asks, sitting up in bed.
“Because,” she says as she pulls the blankets off of the bed on throws them on to the floor.
“Oh OK, Mom…” He rubs the sleep from his eyes but falls back on to his pillow.
“It’s not right that you can get wasted every night and I have to go to school and study.”
“Every night?” He sits back up and scoots to the edge of the bed. “Last night was the first time I got that drunk in a long time.”
“You got pretty drunk the night that you graduated.”
“You’re right, I’m sorry I got drunk twice in the past month and a half.”
“And when’s the last time I got drunk?” Cheryl shoves books in her bag from the desk in the corner of their room.
“Every night your first three weeks of summer classes,” he mumbles.
She shoots him a look of annoyance. “Do you even know why I’m taking summer classes for all three summer sessions?”
He shrugs. “Because you’re a nerd?”
“Because I felt bad that you were waiting around for me to graduate and put off moving out west with your friends, so I’m doing everything in my power to graduate early! If it all goes to plan I’ll graduate in December. Why I’m pushing myself so hard, I don’t know. You clearly don’t give a shit about me.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Well, yeah…I am.”
“But I still don’t know why you’re getting so upset just because I got drunk last night.”
“I’m mad because I was out really late studying and I come home and step in vomit on the front porch. I was wearing flip flops, Joey!”
“Oh…yeah, I do vaguely remember getting sick, but I didn’t think it was the porch…”
“Then I come inside and you’re passed out on the stairs – upside down!”
He looks around the room. “How’d I get in here then?”
“I dragged you up the stairs. Jeremy helped me get you in bed.”
Joey pulls a regretful face. “Well, I really am sorry about that.”
Cheryl rolls her eyes and looks in the mirror hanging by the bedroom door. She pulls a hair tie off of the hook next to the mirror and puts her hair up. “I’m going back to the library – I’ll see you tonight.”