Chapter 10: A Hopeful Sight
The blonde woke up with a start, jolting in sudden alertness. He gripped his head as the fog slowly began to drain from his mind and found himself lying in the shaggy place-mat in front of the bathroom sink, artificial light beaming into his eyes.
"The hell happened last night?", Bill mumbled under his breath as he sat up. As he staggered to his feet he squinted his eyes to the reflection in the mirror as he peered into the glassy pane. Hair sticking up in every other direction and large black circles under his eyes, eyeliner smeared across his face and rain down from his eyes. When did he put on eyeliner? He shook his head and dismissed it that he drank too much and blacked out.
Bill flicked the faucet on and washed the remnants of the makeup off. As he dried his face off with a hand towel he glanced over to a pill bottle sitting on its side in the corner of the room. He bent over and picked the bottle up, it was lighter than he expected and made no noise. Bill flipped it over to it's label, Take two each day. Refill by 9/30/2000.
Bill huffed and threw the bottle in the trashcan.
Familiar buzzing filled the main room. Bill trotted out of the bathroom and followed the noise emitting from his cellphone placed on his desk, he picked up the small box and answered the call.
"Yeah, who is this?", His voice raspy and gruff in the speaker.
"Oh, this is Kryptos. The guys wanted me to ask you if you wanted to go to the club tonight." The young adult said cheerily.
Bill frowned in confusion, "Didn't we go last night?"
"Uh, no? What kind of weed are you smoking? Pye and I tried calling you last night but you didn't pick up."
He rubbed his eye and sighed, "I- uh, yeah. Sure, sounds fine. We meeting at Hector's place again?"
The boy on the other line hummed in thought before shouting to someone for clarification. "Hey! Are we meeting at Hector's place again, Pye?!"
Bill frowned and pulled the speaker away from his ear, glaring at the small cellphone. "Jesus Kryptos! Are you trying to make me deaf too?", he barked as he put the phone back in place.
Kryptos ducked his head on the other line and muttered apologetically, "Sorry boss. Anyways, Pye is going to check in with Hector first. I'll get back to you in a little. Alright, see you in a little bit!"
"Likewise, see you later." The call ended with abrupt beeping in his ear. He sighed and rolled his eyes at Kryptos. Whilst, he caught a flash of yellow in the corner of his eye. He peered down at the black desk with a post-it note pasted to its surface.
Bill snatched it up and examined the blue pen ink that was scribbled onto it.
Jumbled and incoherent letters mashed together to create unreadable sentences to anyone but him. He squinted as he slowly decoded the message. He crumbled up the paper and discarded the ball in the trash can wedged between the space his desk and bed, mumbling curses under his breath, "Fuck both of you."
He threw himself onto the stiff mattress and let out an exasperated sigh. Bill flipped over onto his back and glared up at the bumpy surface of the white ceiling. Unwanted images began to shroud his mind.
"Dad? Are you home?"
Clouds of smoke left the stinging smell of tobacco hanging in the air. Glass bottles pile onto the living room coffee table as the blaring TV drowns his cries.
"Dad, I had another nightmare."
The brawny man let out an angry shout as he sat up. "Shut the hell up! I can't hear the damn Television!"
Bill whimpered and flinched as he slams his foot on the ground. He sighed and went back to his room, dragging his blanket and stuffed bear behind him.
Bill was pulled back into reality at the sound of loud banging from outside the door. He rubbed the drowsiness from his eyes and pushed himself off of the bed.
"I hear you, hold on." he said as he trotted over to the door.
As he pulled the door open, before he could register who it was, a hand reached out and swiftly whipped the side of his face. Bill held his cheek as blood rushed to the surface and sent a prickling feeling.
Bill growled as he lifted his head to the culprit, "The fuck man!?"
"That's for not saying goodbye before you left." The shorter brunette man walked into the room past him.
"Tad? What are you doing here?", he frowned and closed the door behind him.
Tad waltzed through the room examining its contents, clothes and empty pop cans scattered across the room, a messy bed accompanied with a messy desk. But oddly, the bed on the left was made and kept tidy, along with organized figurines placed on shelves above the bed. Tad mused to himself and sat down on the more tidy bed, folding his lanky legs neatly.
"I wanted to pay my lovely brother a visit." he smirked and he chuckled softly.
Bill let out a breathy chuckle full of sarcasm, "So why are you really here?", he paused for a moment, "And I'd really prefer if you didn't sit on that bed." He folded his arms and gave him a stern glare.
Tad batted his eyes and put up his hands in a defensive gesture before standing up, "Alright, alright.", he sighed and mimicked Bill's stance and folded his arms. "Our mother wanted me to check up on you.", Bill blinked in surprise as he added on, "Even sent you a little gift basket."
Bill's gaze wandered towards the carpet, "I really don't understand her sometimes."
Tad gave a small smile as he took a step closer to the man, "You know how she is. She doesn't care about money, she cares about us more than anything."
He sighed softly and mumbled, "Yeah, I know." Bill redirected his attention to Tad, "It's just, she could use it for better purposes but decides to use it on us."
"Hey, just shut up and accept the dang gift."
He frowned at him, Tad giving him an innocent and sheepishly smile. Bill rolled his eyes and couldn't help but smile, "Okay, alright. So where is it?"
Tad blinked at him before his eyes danced around the beige room in thought, "Shoot", he brought his gaze back up at him, "I left it in the car."
Bill stared at him with his lips eyebrows crunched up for a few heartbeats before suddenly dipping his head, "Of course you did.." he said as he patted his shoulder passive aggressively and spinning on the balls of his feet towards the door.
Tad quietly laughed as he followed him in tow out the door.
On approaching Tad's car, Bill leaned on the hood as his brother fumbled with a ring filled to the rim with keys.
Bill let out a barely audible melancholy chuckle as he thought to himself, looking out at the rows of parked cars in front of dorm buildings. "Hey, funny story. This morning I woke up in the bathroom floor in front of the sink." Tad responded in an unfocused mumbled as he flipped through the pile of keys. Bill looked back at him, aware he wasn't paying him full attention, but continued nonetheless. "Yeah, I had eyeliner on and I found an empty pi-", he cut himself off and sighed, "Nevermind. You're not even paying attention." He grumbled and returned to his previous position on the hood of the car.
"Ah hah! I found it!" Tad said triumphantly as he shoved the key into the lock, opening the driver's door. Bill joined by his side, "Finally. After about a decade."
The car doors all unlocked with a push of button on the inside of the driver door. Tad reached into the back of the car and retrieved a woven wood basket filled with miniature gifts and fake grass that are typically only used in Easter baskets. Tad represented the gift to Bill, "Ta-da! From Mother Cipher to her lovely baby boy."
"I thought this was for me.", Bill smirk grew across his features as Tad's expression grew into a pouty frown.
Tad punched his shoulder. "Shut up and take the dang basket."
Bill took him by the neck and brought him down and roughly rubbed his knuckles across his brunette hair. "Aww, my baby brother is so adorable when he pouts like that!"
Tad bursted out in laughter as he tried to wiggle his way out of the headlock, "Oh my god Bill! I swear, if I had a free hand I'd deck you right here in the parking lot."
Bill chuckled and released him from his grip. "They grow up so fast.", he dramatically sniffled and wiped his eye, "It brings a tear to my eye."
"I hate you so much."
"I love you too!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
His phone rang as Bill chewed on popcorn covered with caramel that he received in the gift basket. Bill picked up his phone that laid next to him on the bed.
"Yo, whaddup?" he said as he quickly swallowed the remnants of popcorn.
"Hey! So turns out that Hector has the flu and so he can't come, and well, it'll be awkward if we show up there." Kryptos rambled on from the other line, bouncing his head as he held the phone up to his ear.
"Yeah, I know. So where can we met up?", he said as he shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth.
"8-Ball said he we could use his house." he replied simply.
"Great. What time should I be there? Should I bring anything?"
Kryptos hummed in thought for a moment, "Eh, an hour or two. And you don't have to bring anything, we got it Boss!"
"Alright, meet you ther-" Bill said mid sentence as Kryptos interrupted him.
"Hold on there, don't you want to chat for a bit?" he gave a hopeful smile over the phone.
Bill furrowed his eyes in confusion and squeezed his lips together tightly, his eyes glanced around his bed as he tried to think of a response. "Uh, sorry" he grabbed the popcorn bag and held it close to the speaker, crunching it up to create a static effect, "I- can't hear- you. I'm going -through- a tunnel. Goodbye!" Bill quickly clicked the 'end call' button before he could respond.
He threw his phone to the foot of his head, "Well looks like I'm going to have to use Pyronica for information for now on.." he shoved another handful of popcorn into his mouth as he stared at the wall in front of him.
He tapped his knuckles on the wooden door that stood before him. He shifted his weight to the side as he stuck his hands in the pocket of his yellow jacket. He grumbled to himself wishing that he could find his gloves. From inside the building he could loud talking muffled by the walls that separated the outside. After a few freezing cold moments Bill rang the doorbell multiple times hasty.
A curvy gypsy women swiftly opened the door with a grin spread across her smooth features. Her hair dipped in hot pink dye at the ends and wearing her signature golden maang tikka Indian headpiece adorn with deep red rubies and opal gemstones.
She grinned at the sight of the boy, "Bill! Ah great to see you! Come in, come in!"
Bill smiled gratefully and stepped in after her as she glided across the floor, her long pink mesh scarf swaying behind her. "Thanks Pyronica, I was freezing my ass out there."
Pyronica waved dismissively not sparing him a glance as she moved down the open hallway into the living room, Bill in tow.
Cheering grew louder as they entered the very spacious living room. The whole gang gathered and crammed together on the sofas and furniture like a flock of vultures around two men wrestling on the ground. The taller one pinning the very short man on the ground, his fist raised in the air.
"Whoa, hey, whoa hold on here. W-what's going on?", Bill said abruptly. Everyone turned their heads towards him and froze in place. "I am very disappointed in all of you.", they collectively lowered their heads in shame.
"For starting without me!" He shouted as he leaped onto an empty spot on one of the sofas, the group screamed with excitement as the two men on the floor continued to fight on the carpet.
Pyronica leaned onto the arm of the couch next to where Bill sat as he watched the scene before him.
"So, who do you think will win?" She smirked and gazed down at him.
"Haha, are you serious? Bet twenty bucks that Teeth will lose.", Bill gave her a confident grin.
Pyronica looked back at the fighting men and smirked, "You're on."
The Native American man pinned to the ground squirmed under the paler man as he tried to break free from his grasp. The man above him had lowered his fist to staple his wrists to the ground, he grinned down at Teeth before spitting out and strain of salva. The watching crowd roared with amusement as Teeth tried to avoid the string of spit.
Teeth pathetically sputtered out, "8-Ball, c'mon! It was a joke man! Just let me go!" He squeezed his eyes shut and turned his cheek in embrace of the wet substance landing on his skin at any moment.
The spit landed on his cheek, 8-Ball dismounted him and sat on the floor next to him as he screamed in horror.
"Fuck! That's so fucking disgusting!", Teeth cried as he swiftly tried to wipe the spit off his face with his plaid sleeve. 8-Ball laughed at him, drowned by the roar of applause from the audience. The Russian man patted the other man's shoulder before standing up and joining the others near the sofas.
Bill grinned up at Pyronica as she furrowed her eyebrows and avoided eye contact with him. She pulled her wallet out of her pocket and forked over a twenty dollar bill without turning to face him. Bill chuckled at her child-like pouting and shoved the dollar into his pocket. The couch dipped as someone sat down next to the blonde. He glanced over to the seat next to him, recognizing the Indian man wearing a dark blue shirt with suspenders as none other than Kryptos. Bill fought back the urge rolling his eyes and huffing with agitation as he looked at the bucktooth man smiling.
Pyronica chuckled and nudged Bill on the shoulder, "I'll just leave you two alone" she winked before joining a cluster of people on the other sofa. Bill glared up at her as she left.
"So what was up with the phone call earlier?", he asked suddenly forcing Bill to look back at him.
"I said I went through a tunnel.", Bill grumbled in response. Kryptos replied with a simple "oh" before falling silent. They sat awkwardly in silence as the rest of the group were talking loudly and echoed around the large living room.
"Hey, Bill! What are you two doing over there?" Teeth called over to him, the rest fell into a quiet shush.
"Why do you care, man?", a broad African man said, sporting brunette dreadlocks and oddly a colorful party hat called out from the crowd. He nudged Teeth's arm and gave a cheeky smile, "Is someone jealous?"
The group of eight let burst with laughter at his comment.
"No! What the hell, Zanthar?" Teeth retorted barely heard over the laughing bunch.
"I mean, I see where he's coming from. Teeth was practically drooling!", Pyronica chirped in.
"No, I think that was 8-Ball!", Zanthar chuckled. Laughter filled the air as Teeth's face heated up.
"I hate you guys so fucking much.." he grumbled as he walked over the kitchen to grab a beer.
Bill rolled his eyes and chuckled at them, mumbling under his breath, "What the hell is wrong with them?"
Amorphous Shape, wearing 80's style clothing with bright colors and tassels, sat down next the Kryptos and started to chat.
Bill held his breath and thanked Allah for letting him out of there. He quickly made his escape and strode in long steps to where Pyronica stood. Bill punched her arm in revenge.
She smirked at him, "Did you guys have a good time?"
"Fuck you", he growled.
"At least take me to dinner first.", Pyronica said cooly, Bill glared daggers at the girl.
"You're literally that annoying big sister. That's who you are."
"Yeah, I know.", she chuckled and returned her attention to the conversation the others were having.
"-All I'm saying is that maybe you should stop fucking eating my Sour Patch Kids and I won't borrow your pen.", 8-Ball said directed to the short man standing near Pyronica wearing a blue plaid shirt, glasses and the same key necklace he wears 24/7.
"I wouldn't be tempted to eat them if you didn't leave them on your drawer for weeks on end. You weren't going to eat them anyways." The man called Keyhole calmly responded as everyone turned their heads to him.
"I was going to eventually!", he frowned and threw his arms in the air.
"That's also what you said about that McDonald's Big Mac that you left in your room for a fucking year, Adrian. A fucking year." Keyhole repeated for theatrical effect.
The group let out a low grumble of anticipation.
Bill leaned over to Pyronica and whispered into her ear, "What are they bickering about?"
She shrugged, "Something about Sour Patch Kids.. You know, sibling rivalry and stuff." Bill nodded in acknowledgement and returned his attention to the two fighting brothers.
"Hey, how about we calm down and talk this out?", Kryptos intervened waving his hands in a friendly manner.
"Shut up, Kryptos."
Kryptos frowned and sank back into the couch cushions.
The moment of tense silence was broken with Pryronica letting out a gasp as a thought came to her, "Hey, how about we stop fighting and go to the bar?!"
A dim murmur of agreement rose from the crowd. Kryptos silently fumed as Amorphous Shape, patted his back in acknowledgement.
As Bill lingered behind the batch of people striding down the street, loudly talking together, he idly scanned his surroundings and peered into shop windows. Frost glazed the sidewalk and the chilly air seeped into his lungs, making it difficult to breathe properly, he stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets really starting to regret not taking more time to scour for his gloves. As the shops passed Bill really didn't find anything displayed to be too captivating. A craft store with pottery, a coffee store with people sipping on warm drinks while reading or doing assignments. Bill longed for the warmth of coffee in his stomach, he tore his eyes from the store as it made him feel even more cold. His body convulsed as a gust of wind blew past him.
Bill brought his hands up to his mouth and huffed into them as he peered into the next shop. A record store. As Bill's eyes danced around scanning the store he spotted a familiar boy standing next to an african women. His eyes narrowed was he realized who it was, Wirt. The women was displaying a record cover to him as she grinned widely, she looked down at the record and examined its surface, her smile faded and she pointed to a sticker on it. Wirt's mouth moved in a response, he seemed nervous in his movements. The girl's eyes lit up as she abruptly wrapped her arms around the boy, Wirt stumbling to balance himself as she did so. She pulled away and looked at him before connecting their lips together.
Bill froze at the sight and stopped in his tracks, his eyes widen with shock. He took a step closer and pressed his hands to the window to make sure that what he was seeing was right. Wirt pulled away, his cheeks bright with embarrassment as he sheepishly smiled at her. Bill blinked in surprise, a grin grew on his face.
"Bill! What's the hold up?"
"Nothing!", he responded as he jogged over to rejoin the group, grinning stupidly.
"What's got you all chipper about?" Pryonica question as he ran up to her side.
"I'll tell you about it later"
Maybe I do have a chance.