CHAPTER ONE
EZRA
"Swing low, sweet charrriiiooottt! Coming for to caarrrryyy mmeeee hhoooommme!" Hardy sang out at the top of his lungs. The silly stupid grin he'd been wearing all afternoon never once left his face as he carried one end of Ezra's worn out leather couch and directed him as he walked backwards toward his new apartment. He continued whistling the annoying Bible hymn as if he was an indentured laborer, forced against his will to help his best friend move into his fresh life.
Agitatedly, Ezra used his shoulder to push backwards into the apartment. The moment his feet hit the wood floor of his living room, he unceremoniously dropped his end of the sofa, watching in satisfaction as Hardy yelped in sudden pain as the couch was ripped from his grasp.
"What the hell, man?" Hardy barked. He lifted his fingers close to his face to check for any permanent damage, though Ezra doubted he caused even a paper cut. "I offer my services, without asking anything in return, and this is the thanks I get?"
Ezra rolled his eyes and kicked a few boxes out of his way as he made his way into the kitchen, aiming to swipe a water bottle from the fridge. Leaning back against the counter, he groaned with relief as he took in over half of the bottle in one gulp.
"Why did I think it'd be a good idea to get wasted the night before moving?" he moaned.
Hardy chuckled in response as he pushed past him to grab himself a water bottle. "I tried to talk you out of it, remember? But once you're there, man, you're there. Nothing stops you."
Ezra rolled his eyes at Hardy's ludicrous comment. "Oh, yeah? Pushing another shot towards me when I told you, multiple times I might add, that it was time to go home was talking me out of it? I'll remember that for next time."
Hardy just smirked in response and shoved his shoulder against Ezra's as they leaned against the counter in the kitchen. "Speaking of next time…"
"Oh, no," Ezra immediately snapped, cutting him off. He shook his head vigorously and pushed off the counter to deposit the now empty bottle in the recycling bin.
"What? I didn't even get to tell you what I was thinking!" Hardy snapped back.
"You don't need to tell me, I know what you're going to say and the answer is no."
Hardy pushed himself off of the counter, tossing his now empty bottle towards the trash with an air-like Jordan swoosh. Ezra intercepted it and glared pointedly at him before tossing it into the recycling after his own bottle.
"Come on, Man. It'll be like the old days. Just one little party is all I'm saying. We gotta break the new place in!"
"As I seem to recall the last time we 'broke a place in' it involved police, a few angry neighbors, and a couple of different fines. No thank you."
Hardy collapsed dejectedly on Ezra's couch, letting out a dramatic huff. "Whatever, turn into one of those old, grumpy guys that everyone loathes. But don't think you're better than us other young adults just because you've found yourself a stable job. Life doesn't stop unless you want it to, Ez."
Ezra didn't respond to Hardy's critical comment, choosing instead to busy himself with unloading the push dolly they'd loaded up with boxes a few trips ago.
This move was the start of a bright future for himself, Ezra could feel that. He'd just recently graduated with his master's degree in education and been offered a job teaching at Rosewood High, a private preparatory school that seemed to cater only to those kids coming from an inheritable wealth. With that type of demographic, there was sure to be an intense level of drama and prestige, especially from those kids whose parents are able to push the biggest checks. Needless to say, Ezra was scared out of his mind for the start of the semester. He was hoping his prejudices would be wrong, none the less.
He reached over and pushed Hardy's legs off the arm of the sofa, effectively forcing him to sit up, albeit with a groan and glare shot his way. "Come on, we still have a few more boxes. I want to be done before sunset."
Ezra led the way out of his spacious, one bedroom flat to where Hardy's truck sat parked just outside at the curb. He'd really gotten lucky with this new place. The apartment was a two story, two bedroom dwelling with direct access to the street from the front door and a small enclosed back yard, shared only by the unit directly next to him. He'd had to pay a pretty penny for the place, but it was a thousand times better than any of the small studios he'd rented in the past. Ezra could see himself actually starting his adult life here.
Jumping into the back bed of the truck, Hardy started handing Ezra boxes, counting out each parcel in a sing-song voice as he did. Ezra rolled his eyes at his friend's antics, the work tunes were starting to get on his nerves.
When the last box had been unloaded, Ezra reached up a hand and helped Hardy down. Turning to make his way back towards the apartment, he almost ran smack dab into an older woman who was power walking with her toy dog down the side walk.
"Excuse me, Dear. I almost didn't see you there," she apologized as Ezra stumbled back a few steps. Hardy's hand stopped him from tumbling back off the curb and into the street. The woman sized up both Hardy and Ezra for a minute or two before turning a seductive face towards them both.
"You must be new to the neighborhood, I'd have remembered seeing such dashing young men before," she said with a wink. Ezra internally cringed, immediately put off by the flirtatious tone she'd addressed them with. The lady then took notice of Hardy's hand, still placed against Ezra's back from when he'd saved him from a tumble. She suddenly adjusted her posture, standing up straighter, and morphed her flirty grin into an understanding smile.
"I'm sure you've both been too busy to really get acquainted with our little town, but I'm sure it will be more than accommodating for two men such as yourselves."
A bright blush filled Ezra's cheeks as he picked up on what she was hinting at. He instantly stepped away from Hardy's grasp. "Oh no, we're not-"
"It's not my place to judge, Dear. But you should know…" she quickly looked around and lowered her voice before taking a step closer so that they could hear her better. "This town is very, very conservative and unfortunately, also judgmental at times. So it's best to be… discreet. If you know what I mean?"
She looked at them like she was doing them both a favor, causing Ezra to want to smack the tiny smile off of her face. Hardy, though, went with it.
"Absolutely, Ma'am," he responded with a giant smirk. He wrapped his right arm around Ezra's shoulders and pulled him tight to his side, though Ezra was sure he could feel the intense level of instant hatred rolling off of him in waves. "Thank you for your kind help. Hopefully we'll run into you again."
The lady tipped the bill of her visor at them and shot another smile their way before continuing her walk down the street. Ezra harshly pushed away from his best friend, sending a glare his way before grabbing the handles of the dolly and pushing it towards the apartment.
"Come on, Honey. We still have a few more boxes and then you need to start cooking me dinner."
"How is it possible that you have this much junk to move?" Hardy whined as they collapsed on Ezra's couch an hour or so later. Nursing the cold beer in his hand, Ezra shrugged in response before leaning his head back tiredly against the plush leather cushions. "I mean, dudes are supposed to have a total of like one suitcase full of clothing, a futon and a flat screen TV. You owe me one for this."
They sat in silence for a moment or two, staring yearningly towards the flat screen television that hung on the opposite wall. The cable wouldn't be hooked up until next week and both men were too exhausted to pop in a movie. Feeling in his pockets for his cell phone, Ezra sat up after a minute, setting his beer down on the coffee table before standing.
"I think I left my phone out in your truck, I'll be back in a minute."
Hardy shot an uncaring wave his way before collapsing further into the sofa cushions. Ezra would bet his first paycheck that his best friend would be passed out by the time he got back.
Shoving his feet into his used pair of sandals, Ezra made his way towards the front door, pausing for a moment to snag the truck keys off the island in the kitchen. The rich coolness of the nighttime air was a welcome reprieve from the hot sweaty mess that had consumed him during the moving process. He'd definitely be hopping in the shower soon.
Ezra had just made his way down his front steps when he caught sight of a tiny figure reaching up on their tiptoes to open his mailbox. He furrowed his brow in confusion as he made his way over.
"Hey there, can I help you?" Ezra asked when he was close enough not to yell. The child instantly fell back onto their feet at the sound of his voice and turned around to address him. Appearing to be no older than five or six years of age, Ezra was met face to face with a tan, brown haired little boy. He sported mismatching socks with no shoes and was missing two of his front teeth.
"I'm sowry, Sir," the little boy responded in a hushed whisper. He shot a quick glance back towards the condo adjacent to Ezra's before continuing. "I'ze was tryin' to mail tis letter."
The boy held up a crumbled piece of paper for Ezra to see. Ignoring the fact that the letter was neither in an envelope or marked with a postage stamp, Ezra kneeled down to properly respond to him.
"Who's your letter for? I can mail it for you if you'd like."
"Iz for my daddy," the little boy answered, vigorously shaking his head. He clutched the letter tightly to his chest. "I'ze been mailing him letters cuz I miss him."
Ezra was silent for a moment, unsure of how to respond. The little boy's answer seemed to come with much more of a backstory than just mailing a letter to his father but he didn't want to pry. Ezra let a soft smile cover his face before extending a hand to the child.
"I don't think I introduced myself. I'm Ezra. What's your name?"
The boy hesitated for a second before reaching out and timidly shaking Ezra's hand. "I'm Noah," he whispered quietly. He pulled the letter away from his chest and looked hesitantly up at Ezra.
"I'll tell you what, Noah," Ezra said, reaching gently for the paper. "If you let me, I'll make sure your letter gets mailed. Whenever you want, ok? Just knock on my door and I'll help you."
A bright smile covered Noah's face and he eagerly shoved the letter towards Ezra whilst nodding his tiny head. "Ok, tank you very much, misser."
With one last glance towards Ezra, Noah took off towards the house next door. Ezra stood after a moment, glancing towards the home to make sure the boy wasn't watching before uncrumpling the paper to see what he'd written. The unintelligible scrawls of a kindergartener caused a bright smile to overcome Ezra's face. He wasn't sure what the child had written but he would make sure that he helped him deliver his message.
I owe everyone here a huge apology for taking such a long hiatus. Over the last few months I've focused solely on graduating with my Master's degree and that consumed everything I did outside of work. I'm very happy to be back, though, and I hope I haven't lost any followers! This is a new idea that I came up with and wanted to try out. Even though you probably don't know what's going on yet, I'd love to hear your input! Reviews of all kinds are welcome so enjoy reading and please let me know your thoughts!