Of course, before I could go there were a lot of practical things to attend to.
First thing that occurred to me was the phone company. I called them and got them to keep my number active as just a mail box, and changed my greeting message to let my clients know that I've gone on a half-year trip and should be back sometime in the new year. That ought to give me enough time and people won't forget me that quickly. I also put a payment down for that time. I'll forget for sure if I don't pay stuff ahead.
Next up was hiring a U-Haul and getting a spot at a storage place. Easy peasy although the U-Haul isn't available until tomorrow. That's good actually, I need to box all this crap up. Oh, speaking of which…
"Hey, Riku!" I said cheerfully into my cell. "What are you doing tonight and tomorrow?"
Getting ready for a trip. Why? What an odd coincidence.
"Oh. Because I'm going on a trip too and I was wondering if you and Sora could help me box up my stuff and put it on the U-Haul." There was a laugh on the other end.
Sure if you help us do the same. Too bad you didn't mention this earlier, maybe we could have gone together on the storage unit. Wow, now that's a surprise. Sora and Riku are leaving for long enough that they're getting a storage unit too?
"Have I forgotten something important again? Because I sure don't remember hearing about this." I'd have thought I would have remembered, but maybe not. Riku laughs again.
No, you haven't forgotten anything. We haven't told Roxas yet, but our business here hasn't been working out. We're not even sure where we're going.
"Wow, that is such a weird coincidence! I don't know where I'm going either. Maybe we should all go together?" There's a thoughtful pause at the other end and I suddenly wonder. How exactly does freelance writing not work out due to location? But I've always caught a whiff of bullshit when they told people what they do for a living. Then again, that's not my business if they're male escorts or something.
That's an interesting thought. Can you come over to our place? Sora should be back soon and we can start moving things and discuss it.
"Excellent! I'll be down there shortly." I hang up the phone and head on down, grabbing my motorcycle and heading through traffic with what looks like total recklessness. It's not really, I'm just a damn good driver, but Roxas always hated it when I did this. Then again, he was the passenger so I guess he had a right.
Riku's and Sora's place is a little cottage in the bad part of town. It looks pretty run down too, the paint is peeling and there's some garbage in the yard. It's kind of funny, I embarrass Roxas but Sora doesn't seem to. Maybe it's because they're not lovers, or because Sora's such a sweety. There's a U-Haul parked out front and Sora opens the door when I knock, beaming.
"Axel!" He says happily, and I feel my heart melt a little. If only Roxas could be that happy to see me. I wouldn't be leaving. "How are you?"
"I'm doing okay, Sora. How are you guys?" Sora frowned a little, then smiled again. Aw, he's so cute.
"Not too bad! We're packing up fast though, let me show you the packing stuff." There's something a little odd going on here, but I'm not sure what. He's really happy to see me but bothered by it? Oh wait, what am I thinking. Roxas is his brother, of course he's bothered to see me here.
"Hey Riku!" I greet the silver hair and he looks up, smiling at me. We've always gotten along really well, despite how different we are.
"Hey Axel. So where are you planning to go?" Riku asks as he tapes up a vase in newspaper. I grab some paper and start working on the pile of plates he's got on the table.
"I'm not sure." I admit as I start taping. "This will probably sound stupid, but I was just going to take my camping stuff, pick a direction and go." All the stuff I need would go on my motorcycle easily. It's a touring type, from back when I traveled all over the place, so it has capacity. Riku looked thoughtful, exchanging a glance with Sora. Sora looked distressed, I noticed.
"Axel, I need to be blunt here. Sora and I are in a bit of a fix." I blinked at him and he grimaced. "I can't give you details but we need to get out of town fast. I really hate to ask you this but… I know your brother Reno has an auto shop and a lot of motorcycles." I nod. Rude's a collector, everyone knows that. "Can Sora and I borrow a bike? He can't drive them, but I can."
"?!?" Well, I sure wasn't expecting that! I think about it for a moment. "Probably, if I'm going with you. If not, Reno won't like it." Having me with them would be some insurance that he'd get his bike back. "It'll be one of his cheaper ones." There is no way Rude would lend him the jewels of his collection, but what do they care if they're just trying to get around? Riku nods.
"Anything would do. Our car, uh, broke down." Woah, my bullshit meter just went off the charts. But what could've happened to their car that they'd need to lie about? Interesting. Could they be into something dangerous? I'd like that, I really would. It's been years since I the last time I got into real shit. I should have another adventure before I die. "Uh… Axel, this could be dangerous." Riku looks almost depressed and Sora looks wretched. I just laugh.
"I'm getting the idea! You guys owe money to the mob or what? That's what happened to Reno." Poor Reno had a passion for slow horses in those days. Well, he would have said it was fast horses but his winnings at the race track said otherwise. Fortunately, he'd managed to get past that although we'd both lost our inheritance saving his balls. "Well, whatever it is I don't care. It's been too long since I've had danger in my life." I can feel a bit of a thrill already. Sora looks surprised and Riku laughs.
"You're a fruitcake. Roxas has no idea what he's losing. Oh, have you mentioned this to him yet?" Sora winces at that and I shake my head as I start packing up the wrapped plates.
"Not yet. I was going to tell him tonight over dinner. Sorry Sora, I know he's your brother and all but I'm sick to death of his attitude. Ya know?" Sora nodded sadly.
"I know. I told him he was going to lose you if he kept acting like that, but he told me to go away." Well, that's a bit of a surprise. But Sora's a sweety, so maybe it's not so surprising he'd try to straighten out Roxas. "It was hard to listen to him talk to you like that, sometimes." I winced. It had been that obvious? How mortifying. "Don't tell him we're going with you, okay? We want to handle that ourselves."
"Sure." Sora and Riku's relationship with Roxas was their business. For the next couple hours we worked really hard and before you knew it, the whole place was packed up and in the U-Haul. "Whew! Want to go get something to eat and take a break before we hit up my place?"
"Definitely." We were all exhausted. We walked over to the local Taco Bell and got some ersatz Mexican food and some really good diet coke. By the time we'd finished eating we'd gotten our wind back.
"Yo Quiero Taco Bell!" I managed a decent impression of the Taco Bell dog, and Riku laughed as Sora almost choked on his drink.
"You've already got it." Riku pointed out as I grinned, unrepentant. Riku smiled, eyes warm. "I have got to say, Axel, I think I'm going to be glad to have you along. You're comic relief."
"Ouch!" I laugh at that. It's too true though, that's my role in life. A good thing I like being a flake or it might be depressing. But making people laugh is just so damn fun, how could I resist? "Oh hey, I should call Reno, I bet he's done work." I pop out my cell and give my fellow redhead a quick call.
Hey Axel, s'up? From the background noise he's at the bar already.
"Well, I'm about to take it on the lamb 'cause the pigs are after me and I wanted to know if I could borrow a touring bike for my partners in crime?" I grin as there's a brief silence.
What, are you serious? What the hell did you do? Oh shoot, he's worried.
"No, I'm not serious. I'm just breaking up with Roxy and want to get out of dodge for a while. Riku and Sora are in some kinda trouble and they want to come too. Do you have any crappy tour bikes they could borrow?" There's a sigh of relief on the other end.
That's a bit better. Sure, I think I've got something perfect. Riku drives but Sora doesn't, right?
"Right." Riku is glancing out the window a lot, I notice. What is after these two? Oh well, not really my business. Not yet anyway, I might have to pump them both later.
Okay, I'll do it for you. But tell them they damn well better bring my bike back in one piece. I grin, although he can't see me. I knew Reno would come through for me after the way I came through for him over the horse race thing.
"Great! Thanks a zillion Reno. We'll come by later, okay?" I get an affirmative and hang up. "He's got a bike for you, we can go pick it up after we get my place packed."
"You think we'll have finished before Roxas gets home?" Sora sounds worried and I bark a laugh.
"You kidding? He won't be home until six or seven. Maybe eight. We'll have it all taken care of, no problem." Sora winces but nods, and Riku frowns.
"Doesn't he usually go to work at like six AM?" Riku sounds a little concerned and I nod.
"Yeah, it's been that way for a while." Riku and Sora exchange a glance, but I just shrug. I'd already had my fights with Roxas about his schedule a year ago. Nothing had changed and I gradually got used to it. "Doesn't matter now. He can do what he likes."
"Oh, I see. Well, lets get over to your place." Riku looks upbeat but Sora seems sad. I eye him a moment as we're leaving.
"Sora, something wrong?" He just looks away for a moment, then sighs.
"I almost feel like I'm betraying Roxas." I wince and he sighs. "I know I'm not. You'd be leaving even if we weren't helping you, but I'm not sure he'll see it that way."
"He'll be fine. It's not like we've been close for a while." I wasn't totally sure about that, though. I wonder if Roxas knows how much he's been driving me away? He ought to, we had plenty of fights about it before I just gave up. I hate fighting with him, I really do. It never accomplishes a damn thing and I'm just not an argumentative sort of person. It drags me down. Oh well, I'll find out soon.
It doesn't take long at all to get my things together. The only furniture I take is the second bed, which was mine before we met and we've been using for guests, an end table and the small TV, which was also mine. There's a lot of stuff we've bought together or I bought for the apartment that I leave. I won't really need it and it was partly a gift to Roxas anyway. I take the worst dishes, a single frying pan and a pot, the bare essentials for my own place. And my personal crap, of course. We get done the whole thing in a couple more hours and we're really bushed now. So we head over to Reno's to get the motorcycle.
"Beautiful!" Riku runs his hands over the motorcycle appreciatively, and I grin. He probably thought when I said a crappy motorcycle it would be a rusty clunker. Hah, as if. Reno doesn't bother with anything like that. But the motorcycle Riku is fondling is a rather generic Yamaha, in perfect shape but not expensive or unusual.
"It's alright. It'll get you where you need to go and sit two easily. Not to mention carrying a fair amount of gear." Reno said and Sora beamed. He and Riku had brought duffle bags and they were going to easily fit into the hard cases. The tent in mine was a two-man pup tent, which would be a little crowded with the three of us but doable. No privacy, of course, but I could just take a long walk if they decide to get it on. Or join in depending on how kinky they are. I suspect that Riku is plenty kinky but keeps it vanilla for Sora. "Now Axel, you make sure this comes back in one piece, you hear? Or you'll be paying for it." I laugh at the threat. I know for sure he won't follow through; he owes me a lot more than the bike is worth.
"Don't worry Reno, we'll take care of it for you." I do mean it though. I'd never want to damage his property on purpose. He grins and claps me on the shoulder.
"Ah, don't worry about it. Go on, have fun, clear your head and when you get back tell me all about the orgies you got into." Sora is blushing and Riku is grinning. Yeah, some kinky in that one.
After that we all decide to head on over to the pub. We're ready to go but it's way too late to make a start out of town. That's for tomorrow and Riku has some ideas.
"See, I think we should go here." Riku shows us both his pocket map. "This direction, down to Colorado Springs then on to Albuquerque. Then we can either head over to Phoenix or go down into Mexico." Mexico? That idea catches my attention. I speak fluent Spanish so Mexico is an interesting idea.
"Haven't the drug wars been getting a little rough down there?" I remember reading about a tourist couple who got kidnapped and terrorized recently. Not a fun time. Riku seems to think that's funny though.
"Don't worry about it Axel, me and Sora got it covered. And don't you have a gun?" I give him an annoyed look. I do have a gun and a concealed carry permit, but it's not something I like people to know. It's a bit hard between state lines, too. And Mexico is out of the question.
"Yeah, I'm not bringing that along with me. Do you know how fucked up the laws are between states? And if they caught me with a gun in Mexico I'd be in jail. They don't let US citizens take guns there." I read up on it last time I went into Mexico on a trip. A stint in jail would have really cramped my style. Well, for that anyway, I don't mind going to jail for something really awesome. But forgetting about the gun laws would just be lame.
"Oh. Well, we'll manage." I sigh but let it go. I want danger anyway. Mexico it is!
"Okay then, we have a plan. Straight down to Mexico like the common criminals we are." I rub my hands together as Sora giggles and Riku grins. "That should help make the money stretch too." The exchange rate kicks ass. Riku nods.
"Right. Well, we have a plan." He puts away the map and I order us another round of beer. We're talking and joking when my cell phone rings and I sigh at the familiar tone. Is Roxas home early?
"Hey Roxy?" I say as I flick it open.
Hey Axel. I just want to let you know I'm going to be home late tonight. I grimace. He would pick tonight of all nights.
"How late is late? Because I need to talk to you but I have to get to bed early." I'd planned to stay over at Riku and Sora's, actually. No way am I going to try sleeping with Roxas right after breaking up with him, that would just be cruel to us both.
Probably not until midnight. Don't wait up for me, Axel. Oh really. The phone goes dead before I can say anything and I glare at it. Roxas has always had terrible phone etiquette. I glance up and see that Sora's staring at the table and Riku's frowning.
"What did he have to say?" I explain and Riku winces. "Oh. What are you going to do?" We're going to be leaving bright and early tomorrow, but I don't want to chance missing Roxas in the morning. I don't know how he survives on so little sleep.
"Uh… fuck." I didn't want to end it this way. I wanted to cook him dinner and break the news as gently as I could. But Roxas has fucked it all up. "I'll have to leave him a letter. It's a shitty way to break up but what can you do? Cell phone is worse." I hate talking on my cell at the best of times. It's for necessary messages, that's it. I sure as hell don't want to have a breakup over it. Riku nodded slowly.
"It might be for the best. Just don't tell him you're with us, please." I nod. It won't be hard.
"He probably won't notice the letter until tomorrow after work." Unless I put it on the bed, and that would be a little… I dunno, wrong somehow. He'll find it when he finds it. "Let's have some more beer. Hey, want some potato skins?"
"Sure!" Riku is always hungry and so am I, for that matter. High metabolism or something. Sora watches enviously as we go to town. He has to watch it or he starts to plump out a bit. After the food we head for home, Riku and Sora riding the new motorcycle.
It's a good start to the adventure of a lifetime.