Why make friends, honestly? My brothers had strong personalities. If they wanted you to do something, or talk to them, they’d convince you to.
I…
A knock sounded on the door, followed by Waylynn screaming, “I’m going to bed, motherfucker. If you don’t hurry up, you’re sleeping on the couch!”
Waylynn wasn’t going to be easily swayed by my brothers.
I didn’t have to keep her at a distance… did I?
I shut the water off and got out, grabbing the only towel that was there—the one that Waylynn had wrapped around her body from earlier.
She must’ve hung it up at some point during my shower.
When had that happened?
“I’m almost done, keep your pants on!” I yelled. “Is this going to be a thing? You yelling at me to hurry up? I’m fairly sure that your shower was twice as long as mine.”
“I had to shave my legs and my armpits,” she countered, sounding as if she was yelling from the next room. “What was your excuse?”
That was true.
I’d only been standing there under the spray.
I ripped open the door and found my bag on the floor right outside the bathroom.
Dragging it back in, I pulled out a pair of underwear, and even considered putting on a pair of jeans, but fuck it, it was hot in this house. And I honestly hadn’t had to sleep in clothes in a very long time. Underwear was pushing it.
So, in underwear only, I walked out into the living room, grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, and chugged it.
Seconds later, I tossed it into the trash, gave myself a small pep talk, then headed into the bedroom, flipping off lights as I moved.
When I arrived, it was to find every single light off.
“Care if I turn on the light so I don’t trip over everything on your floor?” I asked. “I have no idea where the bed is at.”
“You can turn on your phone light,” she offered.
Grinning, I did as she suggested, keeping my finger over half of the light as I moved.
I stepped over shoes, discarded clothes, purses, and a puzzle all on my way to her bed.
I found her sleeping nearest the wall, and I was thankful.
I didn’t want to have to kick her out and there was no way in hell she was sleeping on the side closest to the door.
“What’s the puzzle of?” I asked as I plugged my phone in beside her bed.
I wasn’t sure if this was my charger or hers, but I was using it.
“It’s a one-thousand-piece puzzle of a cat,” she said. “I found it at the dollar store. It was five dollars.”
I snorted.
“Dollar Store or Dollar General?” I asked. “One’s actually a dollar. The other place is not.”
“The one that isn’t,” she answered around a yawn. “The one that’s the closest walk from here. They have a good selection of food, too. I’ve been living off of their frozen food section for a week now.”
I got into bed beside her, being extremely careful not to touch her in any way, and laid there, stiff as a motherfuckin’ board.
“I can take you to the store tomorrow after I pick you up from work,” I offered. “I need to contribute here anyway. Buying groceries won’t be that bad.”
“Yes, it will,” she said. “You’ll have a lot to do to make this place livable. I’m not even joking. It’s a shit hole.”
I knew that.
The place was far from perfect, but there was hot water, a roof over my head, and there weren’t any mice skittering across the floor.
We were doing pretty well so far.
I’d lived in worse, of course.
When I’d first been shipped out of Kilgore, all of us had been separated as we found a permanent home to live in. My temporary home had been a glorified shotgun house with cockroaches skittering over the floor every time you walked in the room, food that you had to fight over, and a pallet of blankets near the wall to sleep on.
I remember waking up that first night with cockroaches on my face. Crawling up my legs and under my shirt.
“It’s not too bad,” I found myself saying into the darkness. “It definitely could be worse.”
“It could,” she agreed. “I’ve lived in some pretty sketchy places. But this one takes the cake. I can’t believe my dad just bought this and left. That’s so like him, though.”
Her dad was a good guy.
Just flighty.
“I remember one time,” I said into the darkness. “My brother had to rush home, and since I didn’t know how to drive at the time with a trailer, he hitched it up and took off. It was literally freezing. We were set to get a snowstorm, and I was to be in the arena the next day. I was sleeping in my truck when your dad came by and saw me. He got me out and took me back to his camper where… the heater wasn’t working either.”