I leaned my head against the bus window, budging backpack in my lap, two overstuffed reuseable shopping bags at my feet. Talk about embracing the suck. Two weeks ago I proposed to my girlfriend of four years, she said yes, happy teers all around… Yeah, until she wrecked my car. Naw, wrecked isn't even the word. It was totaled, scrapped, junked. That wasn't the kicker, nope, she'd been with her ex-boyfriend. At two o'clock in the morning, after having sex in my car.
Here I am, 24 years old, with nothing but what I'd been able to carry. I stared at my reflection, my eye bags were deep enough I probably could have fit in the mattress I'd bought two years ago. My brown hair was a mess, not even a hot mess, unbrushed curls scattered like a rats nest. I wasn't sure if it was the eye bags, but my greens eyes looked dull. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been this exhausted…
I stifled my snort at the last second, wanted to wait for marriage my ass. Now everyone thought I was the asshole for dumping her while she was in the hospital. All things considered, a broken hand and glass shards in her lap was a light punishment since they had to add drunk driving to the mix.
Now, I had to pay out the nose to break my part of the lease, had no car, waiting for insurance to see what they'd give me, no job, no girlfriend. What I did have… was just over a thousand dollars in the bank that I'd been saving for a small beach wedding, a ring I either had to keep or return, my hand-me-down laptop, secondhand Samsung phone, four pairs of clothes, two pairs of shoes, and a notebook. A notebook paper, hell if I could afford the fancy computer one.
At the bus stopped, I shrugged into my backpack, grabbed the two reusable shopping bags, and pulled up the motel I'd booked. After walking for over an hour, I struggled into the dingy lobby, checked in, threw the bags on the stained seat, then just curled up on the bed.
Fuck, fuck… Fuck! What am I going to tell ma? She'd been so excited… I'd been ghosting my family since the hospital called. Arianna, fuck. What the fuck, seriously! If she's going to make bad choices, at least make new ones! Fuck! Why…
I roughly rubbed at my face, fuck, I was done crying damnit. I would not cry one more teer over her. I need to get my life together. First things first, I need to find a new apartment. With a sigh, I pulled out my ancient, cracked laptop that could only be on when plugged in, and started booking viewings.
Shit, even in this area pickings were slim… of course I was only looking at apartments under five hundred dollars. Hopefully the security deposit wasn't outrageous… and they didn't check credit score… Arianna had maxed their shared card. I'd removed her, but an extra five thousand dollars in debt was just another blow. I need to pay it down ASAP, the interest would stack fast.
I spent the next two days looking at over 10 apartments… the ones with just roaches, dirty carpets, and in sketchy neighborhoods were some of the better ones. One had a broken window despite the security bars… another had a front door had had been kicked in so hard it didn't even close anymore. Those were all still over four hundred a month.
I pulled another flyer for apartments off a light pole… two hundred a month… utilities, garbage, and internet included? I looked at the name and number… I really should have just tossed it, clearly this was some kind of scam. I started to crumble the flyer up… but… I closed my eyes with a deep breath, I needed a hail Mary… With a sigh I tucked it in my backpack. I needed to hope for the best, and prepare for the worst, not the other way around. The motel was only forty-six dollars a night, but it was eating away at my funds fast.
Back at the motel, my meal for the third day in a row was a peanut butter sandwich, a bottle of water, and the complementary extra orange I'd swiped from the motel's breakfast. Sitting on the bed, I pulled out all the flyers and numbers I'd gathered from more possible apartments…
"Doesn't hurt to try… unless they knock me out and steal my kidney anyway." I muttered dialing the number on the flyer that said two hundred a month. To my surprise, on the third ring someone picked up, not even an automated voice.
"Uh, umm Hello, I'm uh, I saw the flyer, for an apartment?" I explained in a rush, damn, had to be a scam.
"No worries mate! I'm Dillon, yeah it's time I get a bigger place. What's your name?" The voice chuckled good naturedly. It was a little deeper, maybe mid-late twenties.
"Oh, Max, I'm Max." I answered, "Uh, is tomorrow morning a good, uh time? I'm looking at a, like, uh, five apartments tomorrow, so.." What am I even saying? God just kill me now.
"Gotcha mate! I'll text you a diner close to the apartment, breakfast on me. See you at nine yeah?"
Huh? Breakfast? "Uhh, I mean, if you text me the address I can, uh, meet you there? At the apartment."
"It's all good, I hit the gym early and I'm going to miss this diner. It's my treat so don't come with a full stomach. See you at nine Max." Dillion said.
Uhh, this was way too weird, but the location of a diner popped up on his phone. It was about twenty minutes away if I took a taxi… damn, but walking was over three hours…
"Really, breakfast isn't, I uh, don't need it. Just, want to see the place…" I tried to explain. The guy just chuckled.
"Trust me Max, you're doing me a favor, it's awkward eating alone. See you at Nine, hope the rest of your day goes good mate. See you tomorrow."
Then he just hung up. Free breakfast was tempting… the granola bars and old fruit from the motel looked like someone pulled them out of a dumpster… with a sigh I fell back on the bed. Fuck, this guy sounded way too good to be true. Definitely a scam. Still, if I could get a nice breakfast… it would be worth the 3 hour walk…
I sat back up to keep booking apartment viewings, booking another four viewings before crawling under the blanket. I was so damn tired, just then my stomach grumbled. I curled up tighter, I couldn't afford take out… just then my phone vibrated.
I opened one eye to look at the preview, of course its from my favorite older brother Robbie.
Hey! Scrub! You missed out on dinner again! Let me know when a good time to chat, lovs ;)
I left my phone to charge, then forced myself to ignore my overly talkative stomach and fall asleep.