Chapter 6, Cold Coffee and Oranges
Beep Beep Beep Beep
Everett's eyes shot open, blinking a few times till his vision adjusted to the bright beams of sun that were peeking through the closed blinds. He was strung across the little bed, his legs flopped over to the side and resting on the ground. His head throbbing in beat with the repetitive beeping. He swung his arms over. Fanning the air, his hand waving up and down searching, but he couldn't feel the slick surface of the top of the clock. He paused, tucking his arm back to the side of himself. Quickly remembering, he pushed forward and slumped his way up, resting on his elbows. Peering down to see the sad beeping alarm clock and the crooked desk lamp, both toppled over and lying on their sides.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbiLR5QaJl
Everett bent down, picking up the clock. It vibrated with each echoing beep, and with one push of a button, it went silent.
-7:24 am, "this clock has no rhyme or reason." Everett thought aloud. He stood up with a wobble, planting his feet down firm, so he didn't fall. Feeling the rough sandy carpet between his toes. He lifted his head, avoiding looking at the wall ahead of him. He shut his eyes as he stepped toward it. His arm reached out to guide him, Till he got close enough, his hand resting on the wall, his eyes tightly clenched closed, he began to peek.
"Dammit," he frowned, fully opening his eyes to confront the rather large hole in the drywall. His hand trailed down till it reached the edge of the damage. Everett pulled away, knowing that there isn't much he could do now to fix it at this moment. Though he thought the hole only added to the decor of the room.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCIQ5z6PhIg
He quickly got dressed, noting that it already felt warmer than yesterday. He tossed on a light cream coloured short sleeve tee and a pair of dark brown slacks, a casual pair made of relatively thin material. They slipped slightly down, resting on his hips. He tugged them up, but they just fell again. He fished his black belt through the loops, cinching them up. He took a peek in the mirror. Dabbing his face with some water to wash the sleep from his eyes. His face was less sunken in than yesterday, his cheeks full with a gentle peach flush. But, his eyes were red and somewhat swollen, making his slate-gray eyes stand out even more. A few hairs were peeking through on his upper lip and chin. He ran his hand through his fluffy auburn hair, brushing through the few curls that had formed. Thinking that this is the best he's going to look today.
Breakfast was cold tomato soup, gelatinous, and served straight from the can. Everett took small scoops with his spoon, blowing a deep breath out before taking a bite. His teeth scraping against the metal as he pulled the spoon out, avoiding pressing his lips down. The tomato soup sat in his mouth for a moment, feeling the cold jelly wiggle on his tongue before squishing down his throat.
Ring ring ring ring
Everett paused, forcing down his bite with an Audible gulp before slowly placing the can on the counter and resting the spoon inside.
Ring ring ring ring
He took slow steps, sliding his feet across the carpet. His heart began to thump, hard and loud. The thumping had reached his ears like the pounding sound of thunder, quaking his body. His hands were tight to his chest.
Ring ring ring ring
He was facing the landline now, watching it shake with each ring, like the rattle on a snake. He reached for it slowly, his hand trembling as he felt its cool smooth exterior. The ringing now overtaking the thudding of his heart, he lifted it up to his ear. Clenching tightly as he waited for the harsh hiss to trail through.
"Hello?"
"Hello?"
It was a deep groggy voice, a familiar one.
"It's Tom."
Everett brought the phone closer to his ear and let out a sigh.
"Hi, what's up," Everett smiled.
"I know it's your day off, but I just need you to quickly come in today."
Everett paused. He had completely forgotten to look at the schedule Tom had made for him yesterday.
"No problem," he whistled through his teeth.
"It shouldn't take long." Thomas expressed. He hung up the phone leaving Everett with it still pressed against his ear. He stood there for a moment. His face was blank. No goodbye? Unsure what to make of it, he tried hard not to think about any implications. He placed the phone back, thinking he'd better go sooner than later. Avoiding his half-eaten can of soup on the counter and slipping in his worn-out, stained shoes. He was about to leave, his hand resting on the doorknob. When He turned around, staring at him was the corduroy jacket, tossed neatly on the lone chair. He could already tell it would be a hot day and it would only prove a nuisance. However, what if something happened? What if there was a fire? Or someone broke in? What if Miss Whitman comes barging in and notices the hole, furious she takes the jacket as a hostage? What then? Or what if, instead of keeping it captive, she destroys it? Burns it, cuts it up, tosses it in the ocean. What would he do if that happened? He quickly shuffled his way across the room. Slipping the sandy jacket on one arm at a time and then slumping his way to the door.
Everett took a step out, feeling something at his feet knock over, the sound like someone jiggling a bag of marbles. Peering down, he noticed something quite odd. Unsure what it was at first, he bent down slightly. "Stones?" He asked himself. There on the ground was a group of crystals, arranged neatly, except for the ones he ran over, of course. They were concentrated on his side of the platform, none of them on Miss Whitman's side.
Everett took a step, being careful to not knock any moreover, but he wasn't able to take a large enough step. Tapping a tall jaded looking one with the heel of his shoe. It toppled over with a clicking sound, taking a row of other tall crystals with it. Like dominoes, they fell to the ground. He stood there staring at the mess he had made for a moment, the urge to fix the destruction he caused, but his feet shifted, and his legs took him down the stairs.
Miss Whitman wasn't in the shop. It was empty with just the clutter of stuff to welcome him up. He shifted his way through the maze that was the store floor about to make it outside.
"Shit!" Everett cursed, quickly jumping back. Sitting on the display case next to the door was the gray cat. She was alert, her tail swaying from side to side and her eyes fixed on him.
"You scared me," Everett chuckled. The cat kept staring, stiff as a board, except her tail.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHieUtnHUvS
"karma? That's your name? yes?" He asked calmly.
The cat didn't seem to react to her name being called, too focused on staring at Everett.
"Do you understand me at all?" Everett asked, to no reply.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7fLOZbobS
"if you do, I'm sorry, but I need to go." He reached out, opening the door, the cat's head slowly following his movements, till he was outside. Peeking back and seeing her still glaring from the shop window.
The car trotted along the windy road. The dock wasn't too far away, so the drive was quick. Everett coming to a shaky stop. He slipped out of his vehicle, stepping into the warm breezy morning. Thomas was already waiting for Him by the front door of the office. His arms lose at his sides and his stance stern. His long hair was tucked behind his ears and tied in a loose low bun, showing off his robust features.
"You got here fast."
"I was already ready when you called."
"You okay?"
Everett was hunched over, his hands in his pockets and tucked close to his side. He shifted his feet in the gravel.
"Just tired," He smiled.
Thomas opened the door with no further questions. The two made their way into the stuffy office. Inside, Everett was surprised to see a few new faces. Laura was still at her, thrown at the front desk, but behind her, two other women diligently working away and another at the back fiddling with the fax machine. They all didn't seem to pay attention to Everett and Thomas as they entered and approached the front counter.
Laura peeking her gaze up. She slipped a stack of papers down in front of the two, her eyes darting to Everett.
"Get them back to me fast," she demanded. Her fingers trailing off the page and back to her computer.
"Forms and weavers, typical job stuff," Thomas informed.
Everett looked down at the stack of papers below him, his shoulders relaxing slightly.
"Try to get them all in by the end of the week," Thomas added. Everett nodded, picking the stack up and quickly flipping through the pages. Although he was too tired to understand any of it. Thomas was trying to describe each one to Everett, but his voice merged with the fan's hum. Everett nodded every now and again, bobbing like the head of a bobblehead toy on some poor intern's desk.
Thomas slapped his hands together, Everett jumping slightly at the sound. The women not even flinching. "Okay, that's all," he announced. Everett took it as it was his time to go. Everett went to leave, but Thomas quickly stepped in front, walking him out, slipping past the door and back into the early morning sun. Clearing up to be a rather hot and humid day. Everett went to leave, but there was something that kept him still. Thomas stood close, his eyes peering from side to side then back to Everett but not saying anything. His mouth slightly parted but quickly snapping back closed.
Everett slowly stepped down the few steps and into the gravel, peeking back as he left Thomas by the door. He thought that was it. Everett getting to his car, his hand resting on the flat gray roof. The stack of papers under his arm and his other hand reaching the door in preparation to open it.
"I think I found a spot for you. For later," Thomas quickly added, stopping Everett and breaking the silence.
Everett stopped. Both hands trailing away from his vehicle. He looked up at Thomas with a smile and nodded slightly. He slipped his hands back in his pocket and held them close to his body. The smile stayed on his face, but no words seemed to exit. His teeth clenching tighter together and his jaw stiff.
He didn't need him too elaborate, and luckily Thomas was smart enough to know that. It wasn't that Everett was trying to avoid it. There wasn't any possible way he could. Even if he wanted to. Maybe it was because a stranger was helping him? Perhaps it's that no matter what he did, it would always be hushed about, never explained, always just in passing. That it was his father's old acquaintance Who would be the one to help. Help him with himself. Help him with an illness. At what point does his condition become so ordinary that it no longer is a separate part of himself. When does it become his entire identity? At the end of the day, that's all Thomas knows him as.
Whatever the reason was, he was happy that Thomas didn't say much more and that they would talk about it later. Later, not now but later. Everett would take that advice. Think about it later.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡllQ1npi7Gp
Thomas lifted his hand up slightly to say his goodbye before exiting as he entered through the front door. Leaving Everett alone. He stood silent for a moment, pushing his weight into the crunching gravel. So much so that he started to feel the sting of his leg, shooting warnings of little electric shots of pain. Pleading him to stop but Everett stayed grounded, his weight distributed equally determined to keep his balance.
How he would love to run right now. Runaway from all this. He would always do that when he was young, to escape the real world. When he was running, nothing else mattered but the destination. To him, there was no destination, not a real one at least.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUonTJBFHv
He thought it's best to just relax. It was his day off, after all. He turned back to his rusty little beat-up mess of a car, pulling the handle, but it didn't open. It was jammed again. He pulled again, but it refused to open.
"Locked yourself out?"
Everett swooped his head to the right. There stood Ash. His shoulders relaxed and his arms crossed. His hair was down and pushed back slightly. His face was bright and well-rested.
"No," Everett responded, he gave the handle one more tug, and it finally opened. "it just does that sometimes,"
Ash smiled, letting out a chuckle. Everett joined him with a smile. The two looked at each other, each waiting for the other to speak, Everett wondering if he should just hop in his car, but a part of him wanted to stay. Ash unfolded his arms, reaching up to brush back his hair that swept down on his face from a gust of warm salty wind. Using the sudden breeze as a prompt. He commented on the weather. Adding that it was going to be a hot day, which seemed to be the case. The sun had already burned off much of the hazy dawn. Gentle puffs of steam rolling off the tumbling ocean and into the bright air. The sun was large and round. Sitting perfectly in the cloudless sky.
This allowed Everett to step in, asking if Ash worked. He shook his head, adding that he was meeting someone, but got here early. His hand swung back over his shoulder, his thumb pointing back. He lived not far from here, and he walked. Ash looked up to the right of him, then back to Everett.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzmfmcJdT0t
"If you're free, I was about to grab a coffee," Ash said, inviting the other teen.
Everett looked back into his car. He jolted his arm down, reaching to his sun visor. Gently pulling it down, he grabbed the 20 dollar bill that was hidden away in case he needed gas or any other emergency. Coffee sounded like an emergency to him. Locking the door and slamming it closed, he made a mental note to replace it as soon as he could.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWELdbSOszn
The two strolled up the hill, pacing their steps, so there weren't left huffing when they made it to the top. Ash walked with long strides, but he stuttered slightly, painfully aware of his surroundings. It meant he walked slowly and tediously, like a wounded horse. It didn't take long for Everett to notice Ash's eyes peeking down. He was notably interested in how Everett was walking. Everett had a limp, it was subtle, and most times, people wouldn't notice when he walked in short bursts. Or Everett could just manage the pain enough to walk somewhat normally, but this method proved unfaithful most of the time. Everett stopped making up excuses when he saw someone had noticed, electing to only say anything if confronted first. He was just telling whoever asked that he broke his leg as a kid, and it never healed properly, not entirely false. Ash never did say anything. They just kept walking.
They pattered along the cracked sidewalk till they reached a little cafe. It was on the corner of the main street. Large clear windows looking in, just like the shop of Miss Whitman. Which only made sense since they were on the same road. It was a rather generic place. It had exposed brick on the outside with dark brown accents. Inside wasn't much different; there were fake dark wood floors and the same dark brown for the walls. It was decorated with artificial potted plants and framed stock images of typical coffee-related imagery.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj3tVPJ4Mcf
The good thing was that it wasn't crowded, so Everett and Ash made it to the front cash right away. Everett peered up at the menu above. He quickly got overwhelmed by the egregious amount of complicated ways to just say "coffee." The young teen at the front desk just stared at him as he tried to decode the menu. Everett looked over to Ash in hopes that he had any idea, but he wasn't looking at the menu. His focus was on the transparent display case, filled with pastries and a few bottled drinks.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgnsJv18Cq
His eyes squinted as he scanned each perfectly presented muffin, croissant, and cookie.
"Are you going to grab something to eat?" Everett interrupted. Ash's eyes darted up to him, his face stern.
"I don't know what to get," he replied. Everett looked down at the case, seeing if there was anything that intrigued him. There were some good-looking blueberry muffins as well as an oatmeal banana nut one. But Ash wasn't looking at anything close to what Everett was. He instead was further down. His eyes jolted back and forth at a giant double chocolate chip cookie and an equally rich, fudge brownie.
"It's 8 o'clock in the morning," Everett added.
Ash nodded, "you're right; maybe I should get both,"
Everett just shook his head and smiled. At this point, the teen at the front cash looked annoyed. Everett taking it as he should order. After one more scan, Everett settled on an iced coffee with cream and sugar. He looked over to his side at a bowl full of fruit, all 50 cents. Examining it closely till Everett saw the bright sunny colour of an orange, gladly picking it. He turned back to Ash, standing off to the side, waiting for Everett to finish ordering.
"I'll buy," Everett said while stepping away slightly to let Ash in. Ash looked at Everett, hesitant at first but then promptly stepped forwards. He went with a regular black coffee, but with some space, and ended up with the brownie. After ordering, the two stepped aside to wait, but they didn't have to wait too long; their order came in a timely fashion.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUhs1e8J2k
Ash quickly added a splash of milk into his coffee, followed by two packets of honey. Everett thought he grabbed them by mistake till he had squeezed them in.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7j3L4E4gKX
Everett was about to exit when he noticed Ash sit down at a table for two. It was right in front of the window. Ash gave Everett a look to sit down, which he did without complaining.
"I always come here, but it's nice to have company," Ash said while looking up at Everett. Everett furrowed his brow.
"you don't hit me as someone who enjoys company,"
Ash didn't say anything at first; instead, he glanced out the large window. Everett bit his tongue slightly, worried he had said the wrong thing.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgKJakloKd1
"I don't like all company," he corrected himself.
"Well, isn't that everyone" Everett agreed. He picked up the orange that sat beside him on the glossy table and took a hefty bite into it. Ash's eyes shot wide. Everett lifted his mouth away, using the spot he bit to start peeling. While still staring at Everett with wide eyes, Ash took a sip of his coffee, watching Everett's hands move around and under the orange peel.
"Why an orange?" Everett looked up from peeling.
"What?"
"Why do you like oranges?"
Everett looked back down, his eyes focusing on his thumb sliding under the thick puffy rind.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrUShirHUHh
"Because I like them," he replied. Ash's mouth pursed, his body close to the table.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtYFh6wqmtE
"Don't you find them cumbersome?"
"An orange?"
Ash nodded. Everett entirely stripping the peel off and tossing it to the side.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh2RRLIFlSv
"Maybe, if I think about it, but I don't think about it," Everett replied.
"Why's that?" Ash jumped in.
"Because I like them," Everett chuckled.
Ash nodded again, his upper body fully resting on the table. His hands were in front of him, crinkling the brown paper bag that housed his sweet. He paused for a moment before quickly opening it and lifting the brownie out.
"Do you not like oranges?" Everett asked while observing Ash. Ash lifted himself up again to meet Everett's eyes. The corner of the brownie close to his lips.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEbfnIytNG
"Too much effort for what they're worth."
At that moment, the door to the coffee shop opened, which wouldn't have been a big deal, but it was someone familiar. Amanda stumbled inside, her long chestnut hair windswept, and her face flushed red. She took a gulp before she slowly approached their table. She was holding her breath, desperately trying to not show she was obviously panting. Her eyes were manic, jumping from Ash then Everett. Ash peeked up at the clock above the menu, noting how it was already 8:30.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5l3zAJmpn6
Amanda brushed her hair back. Her hands then fell down and rested in front of herself, and she gently swayed. Everett tried his best to stay out of their conversation, though that can be hard when the people who are conversing are at the same table. He could hear them talking about some beach and that they had plans to go. The cars are all packed up, and everyone is ready to go.
Everett thought it's too bad since he was enjoying talking to someone, but at the same time, he thought it best to try to get settled in. He took another sip of his coffee, listening to the ice clinking as he swirled the straw around.
"what do you think?" Ash asked, turning back to Everett. He looked up, lifting his lips from the straw. Ash waited patiently while Amanda looked like she might pass out.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfL9qWc1g1
Everett smiled. "yeah," he replied. Ash glanced back to Amanda, who was trying to hold onto her smile.
"Okay, we'll meet you there." He responded. Everett's face dropped, realizing what he agreed to and settling in wasn't part of it
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