Need You

CHAPTER O1

"Don't do anything that will bring you back here. This place doesn't need you. You're going to be more useful out there." The woman with short gray hair said as she does the necessary. "Sign." She said, sliding a sheet of paper through the slot at the bottom of the glass window she stands behind.

With gladness, I put down my signature in the space provided and slid it back to her. I couldn't help but smile as I did so. By signing that paper, I had officially been made a free man.

She gave me a transparent bag containing the things I had when I was brought here and said, "Have a good life Harold."

I nodded with a small smile and then the male officer in a blue uniform like the woman's, guided me to the changing room. Finally, after three years, I'd be wearing something which wasn't a brown uniform. The only thing that uniform did was to remind me of my status in this confined space.

In my pink dress shirt, blue jeans and brown loafers, the officer led me through the various checks and finally I was outside. Sight of the clear blue sky, feeling of the cool breeze and the fact that I was standing outside that huge confined space made my release realer.

I expected my best friend to be here to take me home but he wasn't. We approached a black sedan and we stopped in front of it, the officer began, "This car is to take you from here to anywhere within a fifty mile radius. If you want to make a call, but you have no personal means of doing so, you're allowed to use the phone in the car. The maximum duration of your call is until you have reached your destination within the fifty mile radius." The way he spoke reminded me of how my rights were read to me upon my arrest. "Get in." He ordered as he opened the door to the back.

I simply complied. Sitting close to the door, I looked out the window, in awe of all the changes that had been made to the city.

"Get out." The driver ordered as he brought the car to a stop.

I was sure that we had not covered fifty miles but I could not complain. I got out of the car. In a matter of three years so much had happened. I could spot new company buildings by the roadside, the road had definitely been expanded and it even had an interchange.

I decided to take a taxi home since I couldn't make a call to Derrick, my best friend, from the car. I didn't have any means of doing so though.
I simply hoped the money I had in my wallet was enough for the fare.

When I got into the taxi, I told the driver where I was headed but didn't ask about the fare. Three years ago, the money in the wallet would have been more than enough for where I was going but just as the city had changed, so had the economy.

Spotting all the various changes as we moved, all I thought of was that Derrick had a lot to get me up to speed on. I noticed the familiar structure of the semi-detached house and smiled. The driver brought the taxi to a stop and I gave him all the money in my wallet. He drove away immediately after I left the car.

The house looked better. Derrick had changed its colour from the dull yellow to a very bright orange and it matched the dark gray roof better. I walked up to the black door and knocked.

A lady opened the door and greeted, "Hello." She was beautiful. I thought she was Derrick's girlfriend. Why else would she be in our house and opening the door?

"Hi."

"What can I do for you?"

"Can you let me in?" I asked, happily moving forward.

"What?" She pushed me back slightly and looked at me shocked.

I was surprised that she pushed me and thought maybe it was because she didn't know who I was. "I'm Harry." I told her. "Derrick's best friend and roommate."

"Who?"

"Can you just call Derrick for me?" I requested exasperatedly.

"Who?"

"Derrick." I said. "Your boyfriend?"

"Excuse me?" Her eyebrows lifted. "Look, I don't know who you're talking about. I think you're at the wrong house."

Most things about the house had changed but the house number I knew of hadn't changed. The number I knew was the same as the one on the board on the door - 369.

"I'm not at the wrong house. This is the same house Derrick and I lived in before I left the city three years ago." I said.

"Well have you been in contact with Derrick since you left?" She asked. "It's been two years now since I started living here."

Derrick and I's communication hadn't been consistent after I had been incarcerated but he would have told me if he had sold the house.

"They're just trying to prank me." I thought.

I laughed and said, "You have been living in this house for two years. It doesn't mean you own the house. Derrick and I do so please just let me in."

"I wouldn't want to kick my best friend's girlfriend out." I added smugly.

"I don't know anyone called Derrick. You are at the wrong house. Sorry." She said sternly and almost shut the door in my face before I put my hand in the way.

I was starting to feel like she was being serious. She really didn't know Derrick.

"I'm sorry." I said. "I'm finding it a bit difficult to understand what's going on here."

"I don't either. You should call Derrick or whoever and figure that out."

I nodded. "I don't have a phone on me right now so," I nervously asked, "could I make the call with your phone?"

She sighed and left the door briefly, returning with a phone. I dialed Derrick's number when she gave me the phone but the call didn't go through. I tried three more times and the response was the same - the number I was trying to reach was no longer in use.

I gave the phone back to her and left the house. I had no idea where I was going to go nor what I was going to do. I was not prepared myself for this situation.

I thought I would come back home, have fun with Derrick like we used to, get my back to my life and just go on from there but now, I had no idea what my next move would be and in addition to that, I had no money.

From the phone the lady gave me, it was 4 P.M. I had to find Derrick somehow if I didn't want to spend the night on the streets.