A Simple Life: Chapter 54 (Patreon)

I do cry but only for a little, on the outside at least.  I stagger to my feet, sniffle, and try to wipe the blood and tears from my face.  I look down at my ripped shirt, smoothing it out with my hands though I don’t know why.  “I gotta get changed for work.”  I whisper.  I turn and on unsteady feet shuffle to the table where I stand it back up again.

“Dude.”  Brayden hurries to pick up the chair then starts to clean up the stuff that slid from the table’s surface onto the floor when I crashed across it.  “I got this Avie.”

“Thank you Brayden.”  In a sort of daze I shuffle to kitchen and get some cleaner and paper towels then return to clean the spot on the carpet.  “Gotta do it right away before it stains.”  My voice flat and unstuttering, my mind in cotton, as I daub the blood away.  “Wanna get that damage deposit back eventually, huh Brayden?”

“Sure Avie.”  He says.  “Hey man, you okay?”

“I’m okay.”

“That was fucked up.  I didn’t…I shoulda…I shoulda…”

“It’s okay.”

“You aren’t actually banging Lauren, are you Avie?”

“No.”

“Didn’t think so.  Fuck man.  I thought Jack would mellow once he got hitched.”

I notice my clothes again.  “Oh.  I gotta get changed for work.”  I leave whatever it was I was doing and change from these work clothes into fresh ones.  I was relieved to see that none of my blood had stained the shirt.  A little sewing and a couple new buttons and it would be good as new.  Just is a bit of thread would fix all the damage done.  That’s good.  I find myself in the washroom dressed in fresh clothes.  I clean the bit of dried blood from the tip of my nose and around my lips then brush my teeth to get the red off of them as well.  As I am staring at myself I notice a little bruising at the bottom corner of my left eye.  Darn.  I was hoping it wouldn’t show.  I’d have to pick up some concealer when I was at work today.

As I stand and stare into my blank eyes the fugue begins to lift and the real hurt sets in.  Jack had promised that he wouldn’t hit me again.  He promised.  It was that betrayal of my brother’s word that hurt most of all.  I also felt betrayed by myself.  If only I hadn’t taken that stupid swing at him this never would have happened.  What had I been thinking?  No wonder he thought something was off with me.  This was my fault as much as it was his.

My hands on the sink I lean forward and study the shiner more closely.  It was small but it was ugly.  I hope it heals before Winona sees me again.  She likes pretty things, not ugly things.  Her baby girl would never have something so ugly on her face.

I am shaken from my daze by a light knock on the door.  “You done in there dude?”

“Huh?  Oh, y-yeah.”  I step back then turn to open the door.  There I see my roommate dressed up in his best shirt, tucked in nice, and trousers, complete with belt.  Rumpled though they may be he actually looked not bad.  He was shaved, his hair combed, and while his cologne was heavy for my taste he smelled as good as Brayden ever got.  “I thought you were going out with the b-boys?”

“I’m not in the mood.”  He says.  Standing straight he slaps his belly then thrusts his arms out to the side.  “What do ya think?  Do I look like a shoe guy or what?”

“Actually…yeah.”  I say.  “You k-kinda do.”  In all my life I don’t think I’d ever met anybody that screamed ‘shoe salesman’ more than Brayden did right now.  “You look g-great.”

“Thanks man.”

“Y-You’ll do great.”  I say, genuinely a little proud of the guy.  “D-Don’t bad mouth anybody and y-you’ll do fine.”

“Me?  Bad mouth?  Pfff.  I only spit facts.  If they can’t handle…”

“Brayden.”

“Yeah, yeah.  I’ll mind my mouth.”  He says.  “You want a ride to work?”

“No.  I-I’ll be okay.  Thank you.”

“Yep.”  He says.  “Now out of the way bro.  I gotta piss!”

“Oh!”  I smile and hop to the side.  “There ya go.”

As I hear the stream hit the water, half the volume of Winona’s, he calls through the open door.  “I’m using you as a reference.  Don’t tell them I live with ya, okay?”

“Uh, oh, s-sure.”

Feeling much more myself after that much needed taste of normalcy I head off to work.  I get a couple of questions about the bruise but I brush them off with a story about a stick poking me while I was out exploring.  The day is an odd one.  One in which the bulk of the hours just drone by, my mind a blank as I go through the motions of my work, punctuated by two calls.  The first the low point of my shift, the second the highest of highs.

It was during my lunch break I get the first one.  It was Jack.  He’d been trying to call me over and over for the last twenty minutes.  Knowing he wouldn’t let it go until I talked to him I call him back.  The last thing I wanted was him showing up to my work again.

“H-Hey Jack.”

“Hey there champ.”  He says in that patronizing-remorseful tone he got once his temper had eased.  The slight slur in his voice told me he was already out with the boys.  Probably sitting out in his vehicle.  “Hey…I just wanted to say sorry.  I, uh, I kinda flew off the handle there.”

“Yeah.”

“You know how I get with Lauren.  When I saw you two hugging…I don’t know.  Something snapped, ya know?”

“Sure.”

“She’s got me all wound up.  She acts so funny sometimes, of course I’m gonna start thinking things.  And now the kid on the way…I am stressed man.”

“Yeah.”

“It wasn’t too bad, was it?”

“No.  I-I-I’m f-f-fine.”

“Of course you are.  My tough little bro.”  He says.  “You know how I get with her.  I just love her so much.”

“I know.”

“You’ll understand when you’re married.”  He says.  “Listen.  Let’s just forget it happened, okay?”

“Oh?”

“After thinking about it I realized that she might be cheating on me, but it wouldn’t be with someone like you.  No offense.”

“I d-don’t think she’s cheating on you J-Jack.”

“Well…I’m still getting that test done.”  He says.  “I’ll totally make it up to you bro.  I’ll bring ya something nice.  Real nice.  Help spruce up the place to impress that Indian girl you like.”

“Please don’t.”

“You gotta bring her over.  Lauren and I will wine her and dine her and talk you up so good she’ll think you’re the king of the island.  I’m talking thick rib eyes and Lauren’s potato salad here.  She’ll be putty in your hands Avie.”

“Mmm.”

“You think those people eat that stuff?  We’ll look it up.”

I close my eyes and bite my lips.

“Hey.  Heyyy.”  He says as the silence draws on a few seconds too long.  “Don’t be like that.  Come on.  It won’t happen again.  I swear it won’t.”

“Yeah.”

“A guy can have one bad day.”

“Yeah.”

“Nobody needs to hear about that.  Okay Avie?  Lauren least of all.  Okay?”

“Sure Jack.”

“And don’t tell Grandpa.”

“Okay.”

“You’re the best, little brother.”  He says.  “Hey.  You know I love ya, right?”

“Yeah.”  I whisper.  “I know.”

“I wouldn’t give my first born’s middle name to just anybody ya know.  I love ya Avie.”

“Yeah.”

“Baby brother.”  He prods.  “Don’t leave me hangin here.”

“I…I l-love you too J-Jack.”

“Eyyyy.  My guy.”  His voice brightens as his flash of anger from earlier is totally washed away.  In his mind at least.  “I’m bringin ya something.  Wait until you see.”

I might have argued but what was the point.  Jack always wins.  I sigh.  “Bye Jack.”

“Catch ya later Avie.”

That call might have plunged me into a deep, dark place had the second not come just a few minutes later.

“Winona!”

“Sprout!”

“Wh-what’s up?”

“Nothin.  I missed ya.  Just wanted to hear ya.”  She says.  I was smiling so hard that it hurt.  “How’s your day going?”

“Better now.”  I say, curling up around my phone as if I might crawl right into it.  “How’s yours?”

“Worst day ever!”  She exclaims.  “The garage is coming along good but it’s this god damn paper work.  Poor Dad and I’s heads are spinning.  Thank goodness for Mom.  Even her patience is wearing though.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.  We thought we all had it sorted but yesterday we get this letter.  Ugh!  We’re dealing with five different bureaucracies here and none of them are talking to each other.  We’ve got a tight deadline and of course most of the offices are closed today.  It’s a god damn nightmare.”  She says.  “We NEED this paperwork to go through.  We’ve poured everything into this move.  There’s no going back now.”

“Oh no!”  I say.  “I-If you n-need anything.  Anything!  I-I don’t know many folks but G-Grandpa knows everyone.  I-If there’s someone you need to talk to or…”

“It’s okay Avery.  It’s cool.  We ain’t going anywhere.  They’ll have to send in the marines to haul us out of here now.”

“I-If there’s anything I can do, you tell me.”

“Of course.”  She says.  “Hey, I was talking to Briar.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.  She is burning up to start this campaign.”  She laughs.  “Kayla said she couldn’t even get her moves on because Briar was so obsessed talking about the campaign.  She’s a gamer alright.”

I giggle.  “That must have driven Kayla crazy!”

“Right?  I think she wants her even more now.”  Winona says.  “Anyway, I know I said we’d go on a date tomorrow but what do you think about trying to get the group together.”  She hastens to add.  “We can always hangout after.”

The next worker scheduled for their break enters the room and starts to rummage in the fridge for their lunch.  I turn my back to them and cup my hand near my mouth to try to get some semblance of privacy.

“That sounds nice too.”  I say.  “As long as I get to see you.”

“Awww.”  She says.  “I wish I could kiss you right now.”

“Me too.”  I am SHINING!  “I-I’m sorry but I should g-go.  My break is over.  They’ll be c-calling for me soon.”

“Okay.”  She says brightly.  “Love ya Sprout.  Catch ya later.”

There’s a moment of silence.  “What did you say?”

“Uhhhh!  Nothing.  Nothing!”  Another moment of silence followed by muffled swearing at herself.  “That doesn’t count!”

“You love me?”

“I never said that.”

“You did.”  I gasp.  “You love me!?”

“No I didn’t.  I mean…”  Another pause.  “AHHH!  No!  I mean…gah!  Not like that.  That was just a friendly one.  That wasn’t a real one.  That doesn’t count!!!”  There’s some fumbling then she comes back on the line, her voice low and serious.  “I didn’t mean to say it like that.”

“Winona.”

“What?”

The words flow straight from my heart.  “I love you too.”

“NO!  Don’t…  Sprout!”  She lets out a long sigh.  “Damn it.  That’s not how it’s supposed to…  Damn it!  I fucked it all up.”

“No you didn’t.”

“Okay.  Shit.”  She sighs.  “Listen.  I want to say it properly.”

“Say what properly?”  I tease.

“Avery.”  Her voice softens.  “Please.  I want to say it right.  Can…can we just pretend…we didn’t?”

My soul beaming like the midday sun I say softly.  “Sure Winona.”

There’s yet another pause.  “Avery?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you mean it?”

“Yeah.”

“Me too.”  She whispers.  “I can’t wait to see you again.”

“T-Tomorrow?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely.”  She says.  “I could try to cut out tonight but…err…”

“It’s okay.”  I say.  “I’m gonna go visit my Grandpa tonight.”

“Oh!  That’ll be nice.”

“Yeah.”  I smile.

“Okay.  Well, call me.  Anytime.  Even if it’s just to chat.”

“I will.”  I giggle.  “I will!”

“Ahem!”  My coworker clears their throat, a signal that my time was up and then some.

“I gotta go.”

“Call.”

“I will.  I promise.”  I say.  “Talk to you soon.”

“Yeah.  Have a good one Sprout.”

We each stay on the line for a good thirty seconds, just listening to the other’s breathing, before she at last ends the call.

Chapter 55