Chapter Nine
"Hey, Kai, can I-" I began as I came through the door. However, I cut myself off almost immediately when I saw he was sitting at his desk with his back turned to me. Although I was surprised to see he was actually working for once, he was apparently on the phone with one of our customers or maybe another salesman. He didn't even seem to notice me until I set his mail on the desk, and only then did his eyes flicker back to meet my own. He mouthed the words, 'Give me a sec,' but I was already preoccupied with looking around the tiny space by the time he even bothered to open his mouth.
Unlike our coworkers and myself, Kai seemed to have an unusual compulsion to plaster every inch of the beige walls with travel advertisements. The locations ranged from local joints to places further south like Rio and the Caribbean. Some of the places were extremely familiar to me such as southern France or Spain, but others like Laos and Cambodia were completely foreign in my mind. I knew they were in Asia, of course, yet I didn't know exactly what business, if any, he might have there. Since he was already a rambling sort, I guess it was really no surprise he'd be drawn to an unfamiliar place or two... preferably far from the cold and bitter winters we had around here.
"Sorry about that," he apologized abruptly as he set the phone back down next to his ever-bobbing hula girl. "That was one of our suppliers, so I couldn't exactly put him on hold," Kai explained. He didn't glance up at me while he jotted down a few notes, but I didn't really mind. After all, it was good to see him taking his job seriously for once. "Now... what was it you needed to ask me?"
"Oh, right..." I began stiffly, unaccustomed to him speaking so formally. Must've still been in that 'sales pitch' mode of his. "I need a place to stay since I've got... uh... some unexpected company, and-"
"Did you really forget already?" he asked with a raised brow and a soft smile. "Eve's living with me these days." I could only blink at first, but when I thought back a little, I remembered that he had indeed mentioned something about her staying at his apartment for the time being. Even so, I could only guess that I'd brushed the news aside as if it was just more of his usual nonsense. It wouldn't be the first or the last time I'd missed one of his more serious moments because of my misunderstanding that he was, in fact, capable of being intelligent.
"Are you really serious about this one then?" I pressed, not daring to look him in the eye. You see, if my gut was right, he was just toying with her, and that didn't sit quite well with me. Even from the beginning... I hated that about him. They way he just threw women aside once he was finished with them, it made my blood boil just to think about it, and when he bragged about it, it was I could do not to slug him one square in the jaw. I knew that wasn't my place, though.
Better to have the girl beat the shit out of him for what he'd done to her if you ask me.
"Not really," he confessed with a sigh, "but as long as it keeps her away from the likes of him, then that's all that matters to me in the end." Ah, so he thought he could justify his coldness towards her with chivalry, did he? Too bad I wasn't so easily convinced that his methods were by any means acceptable... "Besides," he continued, a smug look on his tanned face, "she's pretty good in bed, you know."
"Kai, I don't want to hear that... especially coming from you of all people," I grumbled which stopped his laughter. He stared at me for a moment or so, his jaw rigged with either thought or uncertainty, but I didn't say anything more. I usually wasn't all that stern with him, but after spending the last few nights sleeping on the floor, I wasn't all that willing, or even able, to be patient. "I was only asking to come over because Dan's hiding out at my place, and I've got no where else to go."
"You're kidding me?" he chuckled, leaning back in his chair and putting his idle hands behind his head. That cocky smirk of his returned, and just the sight of it put me even more on edge. "I can't it surprises me, though, since Eve was the one to pay the rent all this time."
"Was she?" I asked, somewhat stupefied. Sure, I'd had my suspicious that was the case, but I was still a little taken aback. After all, that meant my worthless cousin might be staying with me...
Indefinitely.
"Of course we could always make room," my friend assured me. "I don't know what we'll do about Kuu, though... My building doesn't allow pets which is kind of funny when I think about it. I mean, Rick has-" Kai stopped mid-sentence as the phone began to ring again, but I'd already quit listening long before. My mind was clearly elsewhere, and as I stood there at his window, staring out onto the street only steps away, I just to ask myself what I was even doing there to begin with.
--
As soon as I came home, there was a note waiting for me on the door. Not surprisingly, I found Dan's usual scrawl telling me that he'd 'be out for the night' yet again. Although I knew I should've been disgusted with him, I just accepted it as another one of his particular... quirks. I'd leaned that, like Kai, there was really no point in trying to change him, so I could only accept these things as they came.
Instead of worrying about my unfortunate choices in human companionship, though, I whistled for Kuu while gathering up my things, but he didn't come right away. He was still at his new post by the window, it seemed, and he had no intentions of leaving it any time soon. In the past month, I'd even had to move his cage over to that side of the room just to get him to eat and drink. Every time I did look out through the glass, it was always the same woman standing at the edge of the dock which left me more than indifferent towards his behavior by this time. If he was so infatuated with her, that was his business. I had more important things to worry about.
"Get over here, you little brat," I scolded him teasingly. He merely cocked his head to look at me, but unlike dealing with Kai, I kept my cool fairly easily. "You've got to come downstairs with me for a minute is all, and then you can come right back," I explained which was what finally convinced him to join me.
Making our way towards the first floor with my bags in hand, we almost happened to pass by a young man as he fiddled with his key. If the suitcase and various boxes were some kind of indication, I could only guess he was just moving into the place. I certainly had never seen him before in any case...
His hair was the same brown, an almost chocolate color, as my own, but while mine was rather short and curly, his was long and shaggy. What I found the most interesting, though, was the fact that he kept it held back in a loose ponytail which didn't seem to serve any real purpose. After all, most of his hair was falling out of it, and his bangs were only long enough to fall into his face.
When he caught me staring at him, he simply gave me a little wave and a bashful smile, his brown eyes somewhat faded like my own pair. And even though I normally wouldn't have given him any second thought, I happened to notice that along with his faded sweater and well-worn jeans... he also wore a gold cross around his neck. I wasn't a religious man by any means, having given up on God and whatever I had been taught about Him early in my youth, but somehow the sight of it assured me in some small way. Maybe the sight of the religious symbol brought back memories from my childhood; to be honest, I really didn't know...
However, my attention was quickly turned towards the woman headed over to us with a full head of fiery red hair and a pair of overalls. Compared to the rather outdated wood paneling on the walls, the old creaky floorboards, and even my new neighbor and I, she was probably the most brilliant sight to be found in the place, but despite her somewhat childish appearance, she still held an air of confidence about her. That alone earned her more than enough respect to make up for her short stature as well.
"Denny isn't causing you any trouble, is he?" she teased patting the man on the back which made him blush slightly. He murmured some reply, but since he spoke so quietly, neither one of us caught what was being said. However, she seemed more than willing to speak for him. "This is Cliff Haggardy," she explained. "He just found himself a job over your way, so he's gonna be staying here."
"Good to meet you," I said kindly with a nod. "It's rare to see a new face around here, but if you need anything, I can always lend a hand."
"Just don't hang out with him too much," the young woman warned him with a laugh, "or Mr. Thompson here will have you skipping out on your payments!" She laughed then, shaking her head and causing her tight braid to whip about her shoulders. I only rolled my eyes with a smile.
"Now, Ann," I chuckled, "you know it was an accident, and I paid it off anyway." She put her hands on her non-existent hips while I said it, but she she couldn't keep herself from smiling at me in her usual, cheeky way. It was always hard for me to believe she was twenty-four with all those freckles of hers on her dimpled cheeks... "I'm glad I ran into you, though," I continued as Cliff slipped out of view and into his new apartment. "I've got a favor to ask."
"Well, then out with it."
"Could you look after Kuu for me?" I asked, scratching him under the chin. "It'll only be for a week or so, but even with my cousin here, I don't trust him to be responsible enough for something like this." The poor man couldn't keep a girlfriend, so as far as I was concerned, I couldn't bring myself to leave Kuu in his care, either.
"You know you can't sublease," she reminded me with a sharp glare from her icy blue eyes. Still, I knew better than to assume she was actually angry with me. Ann knew as well as I did that I'd be paying for his stay which was really all she had to be concerned with.
"He doesn't even have a job right now, so I've just been letting him stay with me," I explained, choosing not to mention his current relationship problems.
"I'll give him two weeks," she warned me with a heavy sigh, "and then he'd better be out of here or at least renting a place by himself." As if she were reading off of the lease itself, she continued to preach, "My dad opened this place, so folks like you and Cliff here can still have a place to call home. I won't tolerate deadbeats filling up space, though." Then she paused to cross her arms over her flat chest and added with a kind smile, "As for Kuu... I'll bring him downstairs with me later, so just leave everything out for me when you leave."
I nodded in agreement, but as I went to return to my room, Kuu flew away from his usual perch on my head and made a few quick circles. He fluttered about for a while in this manner until the door to Cliff's apartment reopened, and then, for whatever reason, he proceeded to land on the young man's shoulder without so much as an invitation to do so. Still, my new neighbor only blinked before a soft smile appeared on his chapped lips.
"So you raise mynah birds?" he asked rather simply.
"Only one," I replied, rubbing the back of my neck. "Sorry about that," I apologized. "Kuu's been acting a little strange lately." I paused for a moment as a another thought struck me. "How did you know he was a mynah bird anyway?" After all, very few people had ever seen one, so I was a little curious as to how he knew about them. Was he an avid bird watcher or something?
"I used to raise falcons," he explained, looking away sheepishly. "I had to stop, though, when the money got tight, and I had to move here to find work..." Cliff paused then, stroking the back of Kuu's head with his forefinger, seemingly in deep thought, and I caught the glimmer of sadness in his warm, brown eyes. "If you'd like... I could always take care of him for you."
--
I have to admit... I never liked walking through Kai's neighborhood at night.
It wasn't like it was on the bad side of town or anything, but I always felt horribly out of place there. While my building was surrounded by warehouses, lakeside factories, and low-budget housing, his was in the cultural hub of the city. Well... maybe not high culture, but it was more than I'd ever seen in any case.
Street walkers strut right by me without so much as a wink in my direction, wearing their low cut, short-shorts and tight tube-tops, but although a couple glanced my way out of the corner of their smokey eyes, none of them seemed all that interested in me. Sure, I hadn't shaved that day... yet something told me that wasn't what was turning them off. Hell... they'd probably blow a grizzly bear with a twenty. Even so, maybe they just felt I was too much like them, being down and out on my luck. For all they knew, I could've been a homeless vagrant since I more than likely looked it with two pillow cases for my luggage.
At last, though, I found the place I'd been looking for. However, it wasn't all that welcoming upon first sight... even compared to the street it was on. In fact, I think would've preferred sleeping in the alleyway instead.
The bricks of the old facade threatened to fall, and I could hear the shingles flacking off the roof itself in the gentle spring breeze. As I came to the door, I also found the green paint was beginning to peel. The cement of the stoop was cracking as well... with large chunks either broken off or missing entirely. You'd think that if he was so cocky about this lifestyle of his, Kai would find a better place to live.
Then again... the hookers probably weren't as plentiful elsewhere.
Even with these thoughts, I knew I still had to go inside, but to my relief, the interior was a far better prospect than its outdoor counterpart. Sure, the carpeting was an ugly avocado throwback to the seventies with faded burnt orange wallpaper and tacky wood paneling on either side of the entryway. However, such things were easily overlooked when I considered that the ceiling didn't have any cracks or other signs of weaknesses like a water spot or nailed boards keeping it up, and I could trust, at the very least, that the second floor wouldn't come crashing down on me any time soon. For me, that was perhaps the greatest comfort of all.
Picking my way carefully up seven flights of stairs, though, I felt a little unnerved as I stared down the hallways of every floor I passed. On the third, a man was sleeping soundly beside the door closest to me with grocery bags nestled around him. Up on the fifth, I realized that all of the lights were flashing in a sporadic manner, and the sixth had only one light at the end that flickered while the others were completely blacked out.
When I finally reached the top floor, I was almost relieved to see that it had been renovated since I'd last paid Kai a visit. Here, there was no longer any stained carpet, for it'd been replaced with pine flooring. The wallpaper had been stripped as well, now revealing a fresh coat of white paint.
I passed the first three doors with no trouble, but coming up to the last two on the left, I was suddenly jumped. Still, as I went to swing at whoever had taken a hold of my arm, I immediately stopped myself with my fist poised in midair.
"Rick?" I asked, somewhat perplexed. The man nodded, his long, red hair falling under his thick frames and into his eyes. Compared to me, he was rather tall, but he was also a bit on the lanky side as if he'd never really grown into his body as a teenager. However, the grip of his large hand on my arm was firm, and I didn't doubt he had some serious strength despite his wool, turtleneck sweater and khaki slacks.
"You don't want to go in there right now," he warned. When I raised an eyebrow, he sighed and reluctantly explained himself further. "He's a little... busy if you get what I'm saying," he clarified with a hint of red on his unusually pale face.
"Oh..." I muttered, glancing over towards my friend's front door. I guess I should've known.
"Come on in for now," he offered as he stepped aside. "It's probably going to be a while, so go ahead and make yourself comfortable. I just have to put the kids to bed, and I'll be back." Trailing along behind him in silence, I gave the place a quick once over which was something I'd grown accustomed to doing on such occasions. For me, it was rather interesting to know someone through the things they owned before I actually got to know them personally.
It certainly wasn't a shabby place to live, despite it being a small one-room apartment with five people living there. The kitchen was small, of course, with everything from the fridge to the cupboards being the same shade of off-white, and the dishes were neatly placed in the drying rack after the family dinner. If the kitchen seemed cramped, though, then the dining area was even worse. After all, there was only an old card table, two regular chairs, and a high chair. Over in the living space, they had an olive love-seat and a black and white television. They didn't seem to have much of anything, and yet... everything felt strangely comforting. It was almost as if I was the one who lived there, not them.
Before I got a chance to peek in the bathroom, though, Rick reappeared from the small bedroom next to it. His hazel eyes were listless as if the burden of raising a family under such circumstances was almost too much for him, but he still smiled upon seeing me.
"Just sit down for a while," he said quietly as he pulled back one of the chairs. However, he didn't even get a chance to join me since soon there was a small child's call for 'Daddy.' He didn't bother to excuse himself as he whipped open the door again. "Natalie, leave your brother alone and go to bed like I told you!"
"But, Dad~ Elliot's in my bed," the little girl protested, peering out at me in an oversized T-shirt with wide eyes, which made it difficult for me not to laugh or even smile.
"That's because you two share a bed," he retorted sharply. "Now go to sleep, or-" A sharp baby's cry finished the statement for him, and with a heavy sigh, he went back inside the small room. When he reappeared for the last time, he was cradling an infant in his arms. From what I could see of her chubby face, obscured partially by the pink blanket she was wrapped up in, I could just make out a pair of clear, blue eyes and a tuff of light, blonde hair. "It's no wonder Julia has so much trouble sleeping with those two," he sighed as she sucked on his finger contently.
"Is Karen here?" I asked abruptly, unsure of what else to say. I was good enough with kids, I suppose, but not having any of my own made it a little hard to relate which also made the conversation's current direction all the more daunting.
"No," he replied sharply, "she has work." Although I looked at him quizzically, he didn't continue, and instead he went over to the small television set. It was surrounded by a disaster area of legos and plastic Indians along with an army of decapitated nude Barbie dolls, and I nearly laughed to see him pick his way through them. When the TV flickered to life, the image rolled up and down the screen for a considerable amount of time until the broadcast finally became clear.
"Following up on the Amber Alert which aired six months ago on our station for a child by the name of Willow, police have now located the kidnapper of the infant. She was found in the custody of the 'Phantom Thief Skye' and his alleged girlfriend whose name is not being disclosed at this time. According to witness reports, the perpetrator had been-"
With another click, the reporter's face suddenly vanished as soon as it had appeared, and Rick returned to the dining table where I'd been sitting. "What's the world coming to..." he grumbled, shaking his head in dismay. "Children getting kidnapped... most likely over something like an affair or some other nonsense." I nodded weakly in agreement even though I hadn't paid the case any mind. High profile or no, it didn't interest me in the least. After all, it really was none of my business. "Your name's Denny, right?"
"Ah, yes," I replied, offering him my hand. He shifted Julia over to his other arm and shook it with a firm pump of his arm. "Sorry to bother you like this, though..."
"It's not a problem," he assured me. "I'm waiting for my wife to come home anyway, so you aren't exactly keeping me up." I glanced up at the clock hanging overhead, and when I realized it was already eight thirty, I frowned slightly.
"Doesn't she work at the Supermarket on Monroe?" I asked. "That place closes around four, right?" He glared at me, but I only gazed right back at him with a blank stare. I was just curious, and if he didn't want to tell me, that was fine. However, I wasn't going to stop staring until he gave me some kind of answer.
I could be pretty stubborn, too, when I felt like it.
"She has another part-time job," he replied. "She works afternoons at her family's place and nights at the other, so she won't be home for a while yet." I decided to let the subject go then since it was clear that he was getting frustrated with me. I didn't exactly want to get thrown out and deal with Kai's moment of passion, so I didn't see any sense in getting him riled up further. She was his wife, after all, which meant I shouldn't be concerned with how they chose to pay the bills. Especially considering they had such small children to care for...
Out of no where, I heard a loud, pleasurable moan coming from across the room, and although I was startled at first, I soon remembered that Kai's room was adjacent to that very wall. Rick muttered something particularly nasty under his breath, but he didn't make a move to stop the noisy couple. However, when I got up to tell the lovely pair next door to shut the fuck up, he took a gentle hold of my wrist.
"Don't bother, Denny," he assured me. "He just wants to rile me up like he usually does."
"That doesn't make it right," I argued as Kai's laughter on the other side filled the small room. I bristled at the very thought of what he could be doing in there, but my fist only fell on the wall with a dull thud. Luckily for me, Eve was making too much of a performance for either of them to hear it. Just the sound of her cries made me sick to my stomach, and the fact that my friend was probably plowing into her didn't help matters any. "She used to be with my cousin," I told the man without really knowing why.
"You know," he began wistfully while standing and taking his sleeping daughter back into the bedroom. "I actually thought she was one of his old girlfriends." I tried not to stare as he said it, but there was something about that statement that immediately made me wonder. Could it be... "She was a blonde, too, if I remember right... but she had blue eyes, not pink."
"Was her name 'Claire' by chance?" I asked with a knowing grin.
"That was it," Rick agreed with a slow nod. "They dated for about six months last year, and then she just stopped going over there," he explained further which was interesting to say the least. What could it have been, I wondered, that he did? It was obvious that the young woman still felt something for him, but did he feel the same way... that's what I still wanted to know. "I think that's the longest time he's been with the same girl... unless you count that busty broad with the bad dye job that visits him every now and then."
"Oh really?" I laughed, shaking my head. "Well, I can tell who that is, too, if you're interested." He looked like he wasn't too sure if he wanted to know any more about his neighbor's personal life, but I continued on anyway. "That's probably our boss."
Rick paled slightly to hear that little tid-bit, but he only slumped into his chair with a heavy sigh. "That's disgusting if you ask me," he mumbled with a frown. "Actually, all of it is, but I guess that's how young people want to live their lives in this day in age. Everyone wants to sleep with everyone else without any strings attached." He paused for a moment, digesting what had just been said, and then he sighed once again. "The thing is... they forget that sleeping with someone is a bond in its own right."
"Very true," I replied simply, unsure of what else could be added to that statement. Maybe that's why I hadn't slept with anyone since high school... or it could've been I was just too lazy to bother. In any case, why go through all the trouble when I could be happier on my own? It was hard enough taking care of myself without worrying over someone else... "Can I use your bathroom?"
"Sure thing," he chuckled, motioning behind him. However, as I went to stand, he seemed to laugh a little, but I didn't really think anything of it. That is... until I happened to close the door behind me and looked over by the toilet.
"If you don't mind me asking, Rick... why the hell is there a chicken in here?"
--
Author's Note: Yes, that news broadcast was a shameless plug for Ghosts that Fade by The Scarlet Sky which is easily my favorite story of all time. Seriously, go read it if you haven't already! There are also going to be more easter eggs like that throughout the chapters, so be on the look out for more in the future. ;)
