Receeding Tides (mcyt)

Chapter 27

Tommy woke to someone gently shaking his shoulder, and he opened his eyes to see Wilbur's grimey face smiling behind equally dirt-covered, circular frames. Had he been wearing his glasses before? Probably. Maybe Tommy just hadn't noticed? Also probable. Most likely, actually. Wilbur spoke in a soft, still aggressive way to wake him.

"Hey Tommy, get up. We've arrived."

Tommy groaned. He didn't know how long he'd slept, but it was one of the best damn naps in his life.

"Already?"

"It's been over two days. Of course we're in America," Wilbur glanced at the capsule bottle by Tommy's feet and stared at him like he'd grown two heads. "Damn, how many of these fuckers did you take?"

Tommy pulled the blanket back over his face, "All of the mo' fo' drugs, bitch."

Wilbur sighed, "Tommy, you're going to starve under there."

"Pog."

"And die of dehydration."

"Pog."

"Alright then," WIlbur waved walking away. "I won't stop you. Go back to sleep under a blanket that was some corpse's shroud if you really wanna sleep."

"Also pog, Wil- wait, what the fuck?!"

Tommy shot upright and ripped the blanket off his face now fully awake. He struggled to kick the blanket away from him between swears, but he finally managed to get it off his legs. Had he not known, Wilbur could have easily believed the thing was tainted with the plague. In his frantic tantrum, Tommy tumbled off the bench and landed on the hull hard on his back. He glared at a laughing Wilbur.

"What the fuck, Wil? Why'd you give me a dead blanket?" he rubbed the back of his head. "Great. Now I have a headache. Bitches oughta have advil in America."

"Holy shit, Man. You should've seen your face," Wilbur had to take a seat from how hard he was laughing. "You looked like you'd just eaten a living spider."

Tommy squinted confused, "That blanket wasn't actually covering a dead person, was it?"

Wilbur shook his head between laughs.

"Oh fuck off, man. That's not on," Tommy groaned, "What the hell. I'm walking away now."

Wilbur tossed Tommy his backpack hiding continued giggles behind his hand, and he followed Tommy to the exit where a line had already formed. Philza and Nikki stood towards the middle of the line, and Tommy hurried swerving around and ducking under people ignoring their agitated protests and bitter glares. He latched onto Phil's side.

"Hey son," the lady behind him tapped his shoulder, clearly annoyed. "Get to the back of the line. The grown ups are waiting. You young ones can wait your turn too."

Tommy stood still not knowing what to say to this old woman almost a foot shorter than himself. Thanks year of no social interaction. Tommy bitterly thought. What do I do again in these situations? What do people do in general when a they encounter a Karen?

Philza turned to the woman almost at his own eye level and frowned. Tommy hadn't noticed how much the man had aged. It felt like it was only yesterday when he was in his thirties not now. There were creases around his eyes and mouth, and defined eye bags seemed a little too comfortable on his face. As Phil clasped his shoulder, Tommy wondered what Life had thrown at him.

"Leave the boy alone, Ma'am."

His voice was barely more than a groggy whisper. Dead tired of everything and unwilling to argue with someone old enough to live in a nursing home.