Morning found CJ dropped off at his new little shack and plot of land alongside a very short, elderly man. He had introduced himself as Taro and was showing the younger man around the property, but despite his best attempts to absorb the information, CJ couldn't stay focused. His mind was blank as his new reality was sinking in through his skin.
"Now, do you know how to raise crops?" Taro questioned firmly enough to snap CJ out of his trance.
"Uh... I guess. You plant the seeds and water 'em," CJ answered softly.
"I mean yeah, that's the bones of it, but what about the meat?"
CJ stared at him. "Excuse me?"
"You gotta raise these plants with care, or they won't take care of you," The elder clarified, before seemingly ass-pulling a bag of turnip seeds and placing it into CJ's hand. "How about I get you started?"
CJ's mind drifted back to desiring to be left alone, but he followed his new mentor into his vast new field. Taro grabbed the hoe sitting up against the shack and began fervently raking a small patch of soil.
"Now, the trick is to keep long, even strokes."
CJ nodded.
"Now you place your seeds here, and here..." Taro pointed a gnarled finger at certain places in the soil.
CJ nodded again.
"Well, you gunna do it?"
CJ met his gaze, and after a moment of processing, dropped to his knees to place the seeds.
"You alright, kiddo?" Taro asked as he watched the young man slowly push seeds into the soil.
"Mmhmm."
"You don't seem okay. You sure you wanna do this?"
CJ stopped his work and directed his blue eyes up at his elder.
"I'm gunna be honest," His voice cracked, "I don't know. I just needed to leave. If this is what I have to do to earn my keep, I will."
Taro's small eyes glinted with a hint of sorrow before he cleared his throat.
"You coulda stayed at our inn or with Mark. You didn't hafta take the empty ranch. Your brother has the other up and profitable enough. You chose here."
CJ looked down at the tilled soil and sat back on his legs.
"Mark wanted his ranch. Do ya want yours? You don't have to take it. This work ain't for the undedicated."
"I don't know."
Taro dropped to his knees as well, and reached an arm over to put his hand on CJ's shoulder.
"Why did ya choose this, then? What are you getting outta this?"
CJ shuddered at the unfamiliar touch, but answered him still. "I really don't know."
Taro grimaced and glanced at the ground. "Kiddo, I don't know why you're here, or why you came, but I can tell it ain't out of happiness. Just, promise me you'll get some help."
CJ shook off his hand. "I don't need any. I just need to be alone."
Taro stood up and laughed heartily. "Ah, you're just as bullheaded as your brother." CJ pointedly looked away with a scowl. "Yer a fine young lady, you'll be fine."
The word shot CJ through the chest and shattered his funk.
"Lady?" He looked back at Taro, his face a mix of betrayal and anger.
"Oh, my bad. Man." Taro corrected before chuckling a bit. His chuckle drifted out as he saw CJ biting back tears. "Aw, kiddo, I'm sorry. Yer a man through and through."
CJ forced out a strained smile back and went immediately back to pushing seeds into the soil. Taro watched him for a silent moment before excusing himself from the ranch's boundaries.

CJ pushed open the creaky wooden door to his small shack. The setting sun painted his walls with a heavy orange as the spring air flowed in through open windows. He dragged his thick brown boots across the old floorboards to his small bed. He sat down slowly.
As his eyes scanned the area, it suddenly struck him that this was now his home. Everything he knew growing up was gone, save for a brother he hadn't seen in years. The house he spent all of his life in might as well not have existed. His schools, his spare few friends, all tucked away in a box padlocked by years past. This was his life now.
He had wanted this, and he knew in his heart that escaping the clutch of his parents was the best thing for him. But now he was thousands of miles away from everything he had ever known, on an archipelago filled with people he never met before, and the only person he did know would be busy with his loving partner. All CJ ever wanted was to be left alone, but facing all of his loneliness at once was crushing.
He cried.
He curled up on the old mattress and sobbed bitterly. He was scared and alone, angry and brokenhearted. Every bad memory of his parents' torture of him and Mark scrolled through his brain, as if it were trying to convince itself it made the right choice. He sobbed for his grandfather, whom he had refused to leave alone with his parents out of fear for his safety. Anger and jealousy at and of Mark burned the corners of his eyes. Anger that he had abandoned him alone, escaped far before he could, and leaving behind their grandfather. Jealousy that he had the courage to leave, to be released from their clutches to live his life the way he wanted to.
The last few moments of his grandfather's life replayed over and over as his crying slowed to a whimper. He fulfilled his bitter promise he screamed at his brother as he left, that he wouldn't leave him. And here he was, 22 years old and unable to process living as a singular adult. His brother, happily in love, with a successful ranch, with many friends and a solid stake in the community. Him, a broken, rotten thing, letting his bitter tears soak the old sheets underneath him. He sat back up slowly, heavy and pained. He slipped off his glasses, boots, overshirt, and jeans, and let them collect in a pile by his bed. He buried himself under the comforter and begged the goddess for sleep.