CHAPTER FOUR
EVICTED
BANG
BANG
BANG
"WAKE UP!"
BANG
BANG
BANG
"KIM! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"
BANG
BANG
BANG
"OPEN UP-"
"WHAT the FUCK do you want at this unholy hour?" Kim growled out, throwing the front door open, looking like a bat straight out of hell, with her hair disarray and her clothes wrinkled from sleep. It was four in the morning. The sun still hadn't come up yet, meaning it was still dark out. Kim hated to be woken up early. She's a morning person. She could wake up at the butt crack of dawn and be in a good mood, but if someone else woke her up... well... she will most definitely not be Miss Sunshine.
"Well, don't you look attractive," stated Jade as she took in Kim's appearance. She was wearing her fluffy purple sleep pants that had green little monsters, with loose fitting tank top. She also wore a looked of death on her face, at Jade's comment. "Sorry, Sorry," Jade said holding her hands up in a surrendering gesture. Kim just glared and turned back into her apartment to make herself some much needed morning tea.
"What are you doing here so early in the God damned morning," Kim groaned out as she leaned against the kitchen counter. Jade gave her a nervous smile. She wasn't exactly sure how to tell her friend, so she settled to start at the beginning.
"Well... You see..." She sat down on one of the bar stools facing Kim.
"What did you do this time," Kim questioned as she brought the cup of tea up to her lips, though it did nothing to soothe the uneasy feeling in her stomach.
"You always complain that you're short. You do know that caffeine stumps your growth."
"I never complain about my height, it's you that makes fun of me for being short. Caffeine doesn't stump your growth. That's just something people tell their already hyper children, to prevent them from drinking it and getting even more hyper than they already are," Kim stated in a monotone voice, trying to keep her eyes from drooping. "Besides caffeine's a stimulant, and only high doses can cause anxiety and dizziness."
"Do you always have to ruin everything I say with your facts," Jade whined, glad that she got her friend off the topic of why she was there so early in the morning. She grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl that was on the counter and started to twist the stem.
"If you're going to make a claim, know your facts." She took another drink of her tea before putting it down, and leaning forward on the island counter and looking Jade in the eye. "Let me ask again, what are you doing here so early in the morning? What did you do this time?" Jade hung her head.
"Heh, heh. I would have thought you would've forgotten," Jade laughed like an evil villain who plot was thwarted by the hero.
"Not likely. I'm not that easily thrown off track," Kim smirked, enjoying how the smile fell off her friends - the villain was thwarted by an antihero not a hero.
"I thought you had ADHD!" Jade exclaimed.
"That's beside the point, Jade!" Kim shouted in embarrassment. She hated it when people mentioned her ADHD. "It only means I have trouble staying still and focusing. It doesn't affect my memory," she said in a huff crossing her arms. "But back to the point, and stop trying to distract me."
"Okay, okay. Don't bite my head off."
Kim just stared.
"I was working on a new sketch last night for the showcase tomorrow. I had just gotten the charcoal to work with me; it was going to be my first piece in about two months. Just as I was about to finish, someone knocked and I jumped. I ended up drawing a line throughout the entire picture. So... I got pissed, and I took it out on the person that knocked on my door."
Kim raised a questioning eyebrow, asking what she did.
"I punched him in the face!" Jade shouted hiding her face in her hands, and mumbled the rest under her breath. The hazel eyed girl was ashamed of her actions.
"What? Jade I didn't catch that."
"I said the man at the door was my landlord, and I only have until tonight to have all of my belongings out of there. If I don't he's going to throw them out." Jade hung her head in shame. When Kim didn't respond she looked up slowly, only to see her smirking. "What are you so happy about?! I'm going to be homeless!"
"You're not going to be homeless, and if you were you would be the hottest hobo I have ever seen." Jade sputtered. "I talked to my dad, the same day we got the cats after you left, about you moving in. He said it was alright, as long as you buy your own personal things. Oh, and another thing. That bastard landlord of yours got what he deserved. Every time I went over to visit you, he would try flirting with me," Kim shivered.
"So I'm not going to become a hobo, and you're going to help me move all of my things in-"
"I nev-"
"Kimberly Ann! You're the best!" Jade exclaimed running out the front door. Kim stomped her foot in frustration. She really didn't want to help her best friend pack. Jade had a lot of things. So many.
"You really are a great friend, you know that," the lazy deep voice of her father called out.
"I hate you," she hissed out, stalking toward her bedroom to get dressed. She walked into her room quickly pulling off her pajama pants and throwing them into the hamper. She slipped on a pair of blue jeans, a pair of socks and her Converse. She opted to leave her oversized black tank top on. Brushed her teeth and walked out of her room. She walked towards the front door while trying to put her hair in a messy bun.
"Here take 'em," Ren said tossing his truck keys to his daughter. "You're going to need it. What with all the clothes I'm sure she has in her closet. Don't forget this," he said while handing her a red and silver thermos filled with lemon-ginger tea. "You're going to need it."
"Thanks, Dad. If I don't make it back tell my cats I love them," she replied dramatically, closing the door.
"You heard that right, you stupid fur balls!" Ren shouted out to the cats' lounging forms in the living room, before heading back to bed. The cats that were awake meowed in indignation. "It's too early for this shit!"
Kim hurried down the stairs, plastic stainless steel cup in hand. When she walked out the lobby door, she shook the keys in her hand while motioning to Jade, who was sitting in her car, that she would be taking her father's truck. She then proceeded to hop in the driver's seat and start the engine, and then waited for Jade to pull out before following after her. Jade drove a yellow Volkswagen Bug. While Kim drove her father's white Chevy Silverado.
They arrived at Jade's apartment complex about twenty minutes later. She lived in one of the buildings in the middle of the city. It was one of those fancy apartment buildings that had valet parking and bell hop services. She had it made before her father stopped sending her money, and instead using it to take his new wife and her kids on luxury vacations.
They drove down to the underground parking garage to park. They parked close to the elevator, so that they wouldn't have to walk very far when they brought all the boxes of her things down. Both stepped out of their vehicles and went into the elevator.
When they got to Jade's floor they stepped out of the elevator. What Kim saw shocked her. Jade's normally tidy abode was littered with cardboard boxes. Some seemed to be half packed, while other boxes were over packed and looked about ready to fall apart.
"I started packing some things last night. The furniture, TVs, and the cookware stay, they came with the apartment. Everything else goes," Jade stated as she started to pack away a few more things. Turning around to look at Kim she said, "Thanks, Kim. I don't know what I would have done without you."
"It's really no problem. So where do I start?" Kim asked looking over all the boxes.
"I have everything from the kitchen packed, and I'm almost done with the living room. Can you go start on my closet? Tops go in one box, bottoms in one, shoes in one, bags in one, and accessories in another," Jade ordered. Kim tried her best to hide a groan of displeasure. Of all the things she had to pack, Jade's closet was the worst. Jade The Fashionista's closet was a place no sane person dared to venture inside, for fear of getting lost in and never coming out of.
When Kim opened the closet door she braced herself, and when nothing popped out or attacked her she slowly opened her eyes one at a time. She had the joy of packing Jade's closet. Though it could be worse, she could be stuck packing up Jade's art room. If there was one thing Jade loved as much as shopping, it was art. Art is a way of expressing one's self, and Jade sure as hell expressed herself through her clothes and sketches. She shook her head and set to work packing Jade's closet away.
Jade was in the living room. She was in the middle of taping boxes shut, labeling them, and then stacking the boxes up, when she was interrupted. Her landlord walked right through the front door, and started walking around. He was mainly there to make sure that Jade didn't take anything that didn't belong to her. He walked around, stopping every now and then to glare at Jade's back.
Jade could feel his glares. It was taking everything she had in her not to turn around and punch him again. She took her cell phone out of her pocket and sent a text message to Kim.
'Mr. Benson is here so look out'
'Damn it! Keep that creeper downstairs!'
'Nah, I think I'll send him upstairs :P'
'RAPE!'
'Lol'
'Bitch.'
'Love ya too'
The two girls spent the next ten hours packing, loading up, driving, and then finally unloading all of Jade's belongings. It wouldn't have taken so long if the girls hadn't stopped at random intervals. They stopped at noon to go out to eat, turned on the radio and danced around (mainly to annoy the horrible lady that lived downstairs), and they even fell asleep for a few hours as well.
At around 5:00 PM, they were finally done with everything. Jade had moved in to the room next to Kim's. All of her boxes were scattered all over the front area of the house, while a few were still in her car. Jade was running back and forth from her new room to the living area grabbing a new box when she was finished unpacking the previous one.
Kim had thrown herself on the couch to watch TV with a few of the cats. She once again had Hawk and Crow on her lap. No matter how much pleading and begging Jade did, Kim refused to move from her spot. She used the excuse that since she poured hot tea on Mr. Benson's head, she was exempt from helping her unpack.
Jade was almost done unpacking her things. Her closet was overflowing, as per usual, her bed was neatly made, and the things that didn't fit were put away in the storage unit out back. Now all she had to do was put up her art supplies. She had set up her easel to face the window giving her a perfect view of the woods outside. She put her desk up against the wall. She was busily putting away all her paint brushes, paint containers, charcoal, papers, and canvases away in the different draws and cabinets.
Four of the ten cats were in the room with her. Dynamite was following her every move. He mainly wanted to see how good of an artist she was. He may favor his sculptures, but as an artist he respected all forms of art. Fang and Mari were lounging on one of Jade's many plush pillows. Blaze was sitting below the corner of the desk.
When Jade set the paints down on top of the desk, Dynamite jumped up to further inspect them. He bit the lid in hopes of opening it. He succeeded, but the container was too close to the edge and tipped over. The paint spilled all over Blaze who tried in vain to get out of the way of the falling paint.
Having heard the clack the paint container made when it hit the ground, Jade spun around. She saw Dynamite siting on her desk looking innocent, and Blaze on the ground covered in orange paint hissing up at Dynamite. The little blond cat was getting revenge on the white cat. Though he did not plan on it.
"KIMBERLY! GET OVER HERE! NOW!"
Kim ran through the door with the other five kittens scampering after her. Hawk and Crow looking a little miffed about being so suddenly dropped to the floor when she had sprung up.
"What's wrong Jade?"
Jade didn't say a word, she just gestured to Blaze whom was looking miserable covered in the bright orange paint. Noodle had walked up to him and was meowing happily, along with Blossom. It also seemed that Hawk was smirking a bit.
"Can you take him a bath to get the paint off? I'll keep the others in here."
"Why can't you take him a bath?" Kim questioned.
"So, you'll pay for my next manicure," Jade asked hopefully. Kim took a deep breath, before walking across the room. She bent down and picked Blaze up and walked out of the room, but not before shooting a glare at her so called best friend.
"Works every time," Jade muttered to herself.
Kim walked next door to her room, and went straight to her bathroom. She picked up a towel and placed it on the ground in front of the bath tub. She then pulled out the pet shampoo from the cabinet under the sink. Turning on the water, she made sure that it wasn't too hot or too cold. When she deemed the water temperature perfect she placed the struggling cat inside.
There was a loud pop, and a lot of smoke. When the smoke cleared, there was a man in the place of where the cat should be. A man covered in the same orange paint that the cat should be. A man sitting in her bathtub. A man!
Kim was shocked and scared, but she tried not to show it. She failed when the man opened his mouth to speak. She didn't scream or faint, her father had taught her better than that, she punched him. Hard. In the face. The man slid down into the water. Then he struggled to get out of the partially filled tub. When he managed to get out, he promptly fell over gasping for breath.
The ebony haired girl was in shock, but snapped out of it when she saw the man's face turning an unhealthy shade of blue. She noticed that he was still wearing the cat collar. The collar was blocking any oxygen from reaching his lungs and suffocating him. Hesitantly, she walked over to the man, who was scratching at his neck desperately trying to unclasp the collar, and kneeled down. She pulled the man's hands down and got him to stay still. She looked into his eye and told him that she was going to help. Once he was still she quickly undid the collar, and let it fall to the floor. The man took a deep breath of refreshing air.