Cozy • An Embry Story

.23

Winnie's POV

"It's not that bad." I insist.

"No, it's always this bad." Paul sighs.

When Embry called me this morning, I thought it was about our second date. He was calling to tell me how he and the guys were going to Paul's this morning to help him move back into his house. Embry hadn't expected me to ask him to pick me up to join, neither did I expect how bad the place is when Old Man Lahote left.

The outside was bad enough, with it's overgrown grass and litter. The inside is much worse. It's reeks of cigarettes, the stench of nicotine so pungent and bitter everyone's eyes are watering. It feels like we've each smoked a pack ourselves. There's trash everywhere. Plates of old food, half empty beer cans on every flat surface, dirty laundry and cigarette ash everywhere. In addition to the hole Enola shot into the wall, which she did pay Paul to repair.

"Whenever he's here, he makes it his personal pig sty." Paul grumbles.

"Then it's good he left." Jacob states, opening all the windows.

"Is there a point in even cleaning if he's just going to come back and ruin everything again?" Paul hasn't look any better since his dad left the Res.

Then Enola will shoot him again. Though I don't bring it up.

Quil volunteers to help mow the lawn out front, with Seth helping clear out all the liter. Leah and Jacob are trying to patch up the bullet holes on each side of the wall, one inside the other outside. While the rest of us divide and concur the mess in the living room.

"Don't bother sorting, it's all trash." Paul stops me from picking apart a pile on the kitchen table. Using his arm to shove everything into a trash bag, plates and utensils including.

"You sure?" I do a double take at the bag.

"I'm sure."

"Not even the dishes?"

"He usually lets them get so moldy, I have to throw them out anyway." Paul admits, then telling Jared to do the same thing with the fridge and throw everything out too. Embry pauses at the sink, trying to scrub off old food for most of the morning. Though with Paul's instructions they're both just trying to load them in the trash without breaking now.

Paul must be too use to this. Having to make everything livable after his dad destroys everything over and over again. That's a lot of responsibility to have as a kid, feeding themselves while keeping a house clean, only for his dad to trash the place. The thought of little Paul by himself living in this mess makes me see red for a minute.

"How are you going to replace them?" Embry asks, wincing at the sound of dishes breaking in the bag.

"Thrifting," Paul shrugs. "There's no point in buying full sets."

With Paul throwing everything out, it doesn't take us as long as it should to clean. When we're about halfway through the mess, Emily and Sam Uley join us. Emily coming to stock Paul's fridge with meals she cooked just for Paul. Tuberwears full of lasagna, mashed potatoes, stew, and vegetables I know Paul isn't going to touch. She must have been cooking since when she first heard Paul's dad left.

"Do you want me to write down heating instructions?" Emily reorganizes Jared's work from earlier. Restacking till it looks like a perfect fridge off Pinterest.