Social Neighbor (The Social Series Book 1) (13 page)

I wheeled back out into the living room and peered up onto the pass-through bar top where a basket of apples and oranges was sitting. They were a little old but still edible. I was glad that I kept the fruit on hand for post-gym snacks because until someone brought me some food, I was going to live like a rabbit.

I wondered where Martin was as I snagged an apple, wiped the hazy film that covered it on my tee shirt and bit off a huge hunk. The thing about being extremely hungry was that no matter what you ended up eating, it tasted fucking amazing. My apple was no different. I picked my cell phone up with my free hand and opened my messages to send Martin a text.

Maybe he hasn’t noticed my missed call.

I shot him a text asking him where the hell he was, set my phone back down in my lap and snagged another apple. This was getting dire. Me, a pretty big guy living off four apples and four, five, six oranges for the foreseeable future? Not good.

“Lieutenant Dan managed, didn’t he?” I muttered to my second apple that was already half gone.

One thing that I hadn’t considered about being temporarily injured and left to my own devices in Tommy’s apartment with two apples and three oranges in my stomach was that going to the bathroom became…urgent.

Bad call, Stone.

I chastised myself as I wheeled and maneuvered as quickly as possible to the bathroom, wondering how long it would take me to transfer from my chair to the toilet and then rid myself of my sweats.

I kept my eye on the prize as I successfully rounded the corner into the bathroom. My left hand banged against the door jam where I already had raw friction burns and gashes.

“Come on, Stone!” I gritted my teeth, really hating myself at the moment. This just wasn’t going to work, and I clearly could not survive by binging on days old fruit.

I needed help.

I managed to handle what needed handling but I was exhausted and desperate to make things as easy as possible for future bathroom visits. That meant getting rid of all the rugs in my way, the towel rack beside the shower and the small table in the hallway. Those were all obstacles that took time to maneuver around and when you’re in need of the bathroom and stuck in a wheelchair, time to maneuver is a costly luxury.

If Halley knew any of this she’d try giving me an ultimatum. The nurse or adult diapers. I could practically see her pointing that sharp index finger at me like a loaded gun.

Flor is right next door. So is her friend Matt. I could ask them for help.

No. I wasn’t going there. I had enough to confront with Flor. Adding my current dilemma into the mix just wasn’t a good idea. Besides, what would I say? “Hey, Flor, listen, sorry about my sister treating you like you were gum under her designer stiletto, but could you wheelchair-proof my brother’s apartment and feed me?”

My cell phone began ringing in my lap, jolting me from the path my thoughts had stumbled down.

“Martin, what’s going on, brother?”

“Not much. Just got home. How are you doing?”

“I’m starving.”

“Do you need me to bring some food? Do you need anything from the pharmacy?” He sounded tired and I felt bad for asking him to do anything this late in the evening. The man was old enough to be my father and if Martin was anything like my mother, he was likely in his pajama’s right after dinner. So, I lied.

“I’m actually good for tonight but maybe tomorrow. I’ll let you know. My assistant is going to take care of shopping for me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, yeah. You know Halley. She’s a control freak. She made sure I was pretty well set up here. My assistant is going to get whatever she missed. No excuses to screw up and piss her off…” I trailed off.

“Well, okay, but I can be over to your place if you need me. Just call or send me a text and I’ll be by. It’s not like we live that far from each other. Sound good?”

“Yes. Thanks, Martin. I really appreciate it. Everything.” I wouldn’t tell him that I had chosen to hang out at Tommy’s place. He’d want to dissect that decision and I could tell he was too tired and I was too…too
everything
right then.

“I know you do, bud. Talk to you tomorrow.”

“Alright. Good night.”

“’Night.”

I pecked out a text message to Conrad, giving him instructions for the next day and a shopping list. He was going to be covering my ass for the foreseeable future, which meant he needed plenty of instruction. He’d also need plenty of coffee because he was now doing both our jobs. I felt bad for the guy. Particularly because he’d be dealing with Halley alone, a fate no man deserved. It still baffled me that she was married to a pretty good guy and their marriage seemed to be a happy one.

“I’ll never understand why you love this stuff so much,” I mumbled, tossing Tommy’s astronomy book back to him on the couch.

“That’s because you’re dense.” His voice squeaked and I refrained from teasing him over it. Pretty soon he would have a deep voice like mine.

“Very funny, nerd.”

“The girls like it,” he retorted with a grin in place.

“I do okay on my own, thanks.”

“Sure you do.”

“What? I do. Just ask Amy Fitzsimmons,” I leaned in whispering.

“Hey, have you heard about the new asteroid they found? It’s some ways away but only just now visible to our lenses. Cool, huh?”

“Can’t say that I have.”

“Mr. Glover at the science building made a whole presentation for me and the other kids yesterday.”

“All three of you?”

“Shut up. If The Intercity Children’s Science Organization had more funding, I bet we’d have plenty of other kids spending time there. People just don’t care about that kind of stuff, I guess.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right, Tommy.” I glanced over to where Tommy was sitting on the couch and noticed a bright, twinkling orb glowing in the center of his chest. It looked like a diamond except it seemed to be getting brighter, bigger.

“Tommy?” His brown eyes met mine and fear burned in them.

“No one cares, Graham.” He whispered and the bright orb at the center of his chest kept growing and flickering like a ball of flames. It licked at his clothes and blazed so bright that I had to keep looking away, but panic rose up in me and I was desperate to help him. I didn’t know how because I didn’t understand what was happening, but I still felt as though I needed to help him. Bigger still, the flames grew.

“I care, Tommy! I care!”

He sat motionless on the couch as the flames grew and grew, threatening to consume him. He wasn’t moving or trying to get away. His face was stricken but his body was calm. I batted at his chest with a pillow but the flame and light continued to build.

“Tommy!” I screamed, feeling helpless to fix whatever was wrong with him. “Tommy!” I groaned as a guttural cry sprang from my throat. “Tommy!” The light flickered and glimmered, and everything went quiet. The light had collapsed into itself and in one deafening clap of thunder, it exploded, sending light and dust and particles too small to identify all around the living room. Smoke billowed and I looked around me frantically, but it was no use. Tommy was my super nova.

I awoke with a start, feeling very confused and disoriented, though I’d had the same nightmare for many years now. No matter how many times I had the dream where I watched my younger brother light up and explode like one of the many star systems he spent so much time watching, it never got easier.

It made me feel tired and emotionally drained. Years had passed, but for me, Tommy’s death and my ownership in it felt fresh. I didn’t think I’d ever come to terms with the loss of him, and perhaps I didn’t want to come to terms with it. Maybe somewhere inside my twisted, fucked up mind, I felt as though coming to terms with his death also meant letting him go. The idea of that felt too final, too frightening. If I clung to my grief, in some ways, I also clung to Tommy.

“Thomas Nathaniel Stone.” I whispered his full name like a prayer, and I’d hoped that maybe if I sent it up, somewhere, wherever prayers went, then maybe he’d hear me and know that I was here and cared. I cared so fucking much it clawed at me from the inside out, but I’d never surrender to that pain. I’d never surrender what little bit of him I still held on to.

Flor

#FML

I
wanted to work. I needed to work. I was determined to use my Saturday wisely. With the first book in my series needing some serious attention, I planned to stay in my pajamas all day and throw myself into getting the damned book closer to being finished.

I had decided that diplomacy didn’t sound half bad. It could work. It worked for third world countries every day, I had reasoned with myself. I’d simply message my neighbor on Facebook, introduce myself and ask if he had a minute to chat. At which time, I would kindly ask him to keep in mind that his neighbors would appreciate a little more discretion when it came to his noise level. A thousand decibels was just uncalled for.

I opened the “message” box on my screen and typed in his name.

Hello, Mr. Stone. My name is Flor. I was wondering if you had a moment to chat?

I clicked the send button and waited.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

Fifteen minutes and the screen flickered, changing the “delivered” notification to a “read” notification.

Oh! Yes! He saw it!

I waited eagerly as I saw the little empty bubble indicating that he was typing a response. Best case scenario was that he meant no harm and was just highly oblivious to those around him and his noise level. Worst case scenario was that he was a total asshole who didn’t care about my frustration at all.

I was wrong about worst case scenario.

So. Very. Terribly. Wrong.

I regretted being so eager. I regretted messaging him. I regretted my damned Wi-Fi service when his response lit my screen.

“What the fuck? Oh my god! Animal! Gah!” I choked and gagged and covered my eyes. “Matt! I’m going to kill our neighbor. He’s dead! Hope he bought some of that life insurance he sells!” Like a car accident, I didn’t want to see it but I couldn’t help but look on.

“What in the hell is going on?” Matt said out of breath as he came running into my bedroom in his underwear with his hair still in disarray from sleep.

“Dick pic! He sent me a dick pic!” I said in a shrill voice that hardly sounded like my own. I thrust my tablet in Matt’s face. You would have thought I slapped him, because his head snapped back awkwardly, creating a double chin on my lean best friend.

“Oh my god! It’s too early for this shit,” he declared in his scratchy morning voice. “Why? Who does that?” He asked, studying the picture a lot harder than I had. “Is that a mole?” He squinted his eyes. “I’ve never seen one with a mole. The occasional freckle, yes, but a mole?”

“Matt!” I screeched, repulsed by his observations.

“Come to think of it, I’ve never seen one so crooked either.” Matt continued to peer at the image with his lip curled in disgust.

“
You
are gross for looking that hard!” I jerked my tablet away from him, turned on my heel, tossing the tablet on my bed like a Frisbee and marched for my purse.