Cheyenne leaned against the doorframe of Jeremy's apartment. She was a young woman of average height but not so average curve and bust size. Her breasts must've been DD's, maybe more. The faded yellow tank and pink high-waisted shorts she wore hugged her body nicely. Her face was heart-shaped and always had a level of bitterness in it, suiting her constant pessimism towards every aspect of life. It was a rather hot day, so her artificially colored brown and blonde hair was in a ponytail. She tapped her acrylic nails on her arm as they rested crossed.
"You really gunna let this guy stay with you?" she asked, "To be honest, you're as sociable as a sweet potato."
Jeremy decided to ignore that remark. "Yep. Need help paying rent," he replied.
"Thought you got a raise a few weeks ago."
"Well I wanna afford cigs and food."
Cheyenne shrugged her shoulders. "Fair 'nuff."
"Besides, I doubt Payton would have a good time crashing at Ben's place."
"Ben offered Payton to stay with him?"
"Apparently. Who knew the dude had heart?"
"He don't, but he gotta dick," Cheyenne muttered under her breath, adjusting the bangs hanging in her face.
Jeremy momentarily raised an eyebrow, but decided not to dwell on it. He watched as Cheyenne stepped aside for Charlie to bring in the box of some of Payton's clothes. There would be more boxes and furniture that couldn't come into Jeremy's apartment to go into storage over the course of the next few days. All the food from Payton's house had also been given to Jeremy; he knew he'd be eating good for a while. Cheyenne snagged a lot of Erika's jewelry "for a friend" when she was there.
It really was a true summer day- hot and wet air all around with the sun showing no mercy. The AC was working hard to keep Jeremy's apartment cool, but Jeremy was poor and had no money to keep it running properly. Jeremy was wearing a pair of thin slacks and a t-shirt.
Payton, who was currently rummaging around in a cardboard box of food on the kitchen table, was wearing cargo shorts and old t-shirt. His glasses sat in front on his sunken eyes that were suffering from lack of sleep after nights in his empty home. He didn't even shave the past couple of days, giving his face a patch of scraggly stubble. Simply put, he looked pretty awful.
He held up a bag that was completely in Japanese to Jeremy. "You, uh… l-like seaweed crackers?" he asked quietly.
"Nah, seaweed's nasty," Jeremy said, "Go nuts with them."
Payton muttered something else incoherently as he turned back to the box. The seaweed crackers were set down lazily next to the box.
It was about ten more minutes before Cheyenne, Charlie, and the other man Jeremy didn't recognize left. Payton was now stocking the cupboards with various chips and soup cans, still not saying much. His movements seemed shakier than usual and his face was harder to read. He looked perpetually exhausted and shaken up. Jeremy went over to him and peered into the box.
"Need help?" he said.
Payton shook his head and mumbled something incoherent under his breath. Guess that meant he had it covered.
Jeremy flopped onto the couch and lazily turned off the TV. It was Saturday, so the selection was pretty decent. He changed it to a sports channel and lied down with his head under the pillow.
"Like football?"
"No…" Payton said. He went back to stuffing a half-empty bag of chips into the microwave due to filling up the cupboard by now. The TV was set to a low volume so Jeremy could take a light nap, seeing as Payton wouldn't be making much noise.
Payton rubbed his eyes that were close to bloodshot and set down his beer. The two roommates decided to open a case of Payton's beer and talk as a mix of celebrating them being roommates and to get Payton to cheer up.
"You two actually k-k-kissed?" Payton said. His voice still sounded lifeless and hollow as it did earlier. Poor guy.
"Yeah," Jeremy responded, "I gotta admit, his ass looked like a woman's. But we were wasted and horny, and once I felt tongue I was out. I'm not like that."
"R-Really?"
"Yeah. Straight as a ruler."
Payton shrugged. "'S-S ok to b-be a lil gay."
A quick sip of beer made Jeremy pause before he continued. "True. Though I was young and horny. Guess I wanted to try it to see how it was."
Payton nodded with understanding and finished off his can to open another one. Jeremy took out a cigarette and lit it in his hand. He figured if Payton was going to start living with him, he'd have to get used to Jeremy smoking. He offered Payton one, but the other declined.
"Y-You, uh, k-kknew Fritz then, r-r-right?" Payton said.
"Yeah, why?"
"D-Did she, uh… w-w-was she always… g-gay?"
"Oh yeah. Had herself figured out by middle school. All she ever went after was girls. Think she went out with one guy in high school- it lasted two weeks."
"Heh, s-s-sounds like her," Payton chuckled.
"By the way," Jeremy asked, "Who's the albino dude? One who looks like he never gets enough sleep and hates everything."
"Uh… d-dunno what his f-first name is," Payton replied, "It's l-long and Russian. Everyone calls him 'P-Purple'."
"Purple? Why that?"
"'C-Cause all he ever w-wears is purple shirts. No one s-sees him outside of work, so we never see him in anything else. He's weird- a-always glaring at people, s-staying real close to F-F-Fransisco. T-They have h-history, I hear."
"Is he a club worker or full-time gangster?"
"A-Assistant manager of t-the club and one of F-Fransisco's most trusted a-ally, actually. Helps, um, m-make lots of g-gang decisions."
"Ever talk to him?"
"S-Sometimes. He's not the social type."
Payton finished half of his beer and wiped his mouth. It was obvious he didn't drink this much very often, by the way his cheeks were already getting flushed. "W-When'd you m-m-meet him anyway?"
"Last Saturday. Right after you ran out to go home," Jeremy responded.
"Last S-Saturday… Last Saturday," Payton repeated. He stared off into space down at the carpeted floor between his legs. Outside there was a couple getting out of their car and loudly talking and laughing. They must've com back from an evening on the town. White smoke was filling the air around Jeremy, causing Payton to let out a single cough.
"Jeremy?" Payton asked abruptly after a while of silence and clearing his throat.
"Eh?" Jeremy said with the cigarette still in his mouth.
"Y-you ever get those… u-urges?"
"Urges? Sexual?"
"N-No no! I mean, urges that are almost, uh… malicious, sorta. You don't mean to t-think of them, but they, uh, just pop into your brain. And I-I the makes you j-j-just wanna kill everything."
Jeremy paused for a second. "Doesn't everybody once in a while?"
"Not like this," Payton said, setting his drink down, "S-Sometimes my emotions get crazy and I feel angry and, uh, evil, and… I-I don't feel like… m-myself. E-Everything around me feels like, uh, a dream, b-b-but I know I'm awake."
This caught Jeremy completely off guard. "Damn, that's deep, man," he replied, breathing out smoke, "Any specific examples?"
"W-Well, last weekend-" Payton started, but suddenly cut himself off. "N-N-Nevermind."
Jeremy took out his cigarette. "What?"
"I-I said nevermind. It's n-nothing."
"You can tell me, Pay. Got something to do with Erika?
"I said it's nothing!" Payton snapped, no stutter or hesitation.
Something was definitely off with Payton; he seemed like a whole different person. Jeremy gave Payton a confused look and mashed the head of his cigarette into the ashtray. Payton had gone back to drinking. He was trying hard not to look at Jeremy. Jeremy stood up as he stretched out and cracked his joints. "I'm going to bed," he said.
"Huh? Oh, g-goodnight," Payton said quietly to his half-empty can. The noise of the streets outside had died down by now. He was trying hard to keep whatever burden he was carrying bottled up. But Jeremy wouldn't take that for an answer.
"You know if you need to talk to somebody about this, tell me," Jeremy stated firmly. He left Payton alone in the room and went to bed.
Thirty minutes later, he couldn't sleep, though didn't want to get up for melatonin- he had heard quiet sobs coming from the darkness of the living room.