A Mute John

The Arrival

I'm sorry this is so late! I had lost motivation for a while and when I gained some it took me about two weeks to finish. I know, I'm lame.

I wondered around in the store, trying to remember what was first on my mind when I had left the car.
It was too early so the food corner was closed still so old school popcorn shrimp was out of the picture. I tried shaking the picture of food out of my mind, almost convincing myself to grab a bite on the way leaving, but just as it was about to stomp it's way out the door, my head lifted with a sudden gleam in my eye. The sandwiches by the food corner!

I turned my basket back to where I was previously going and walked fast. I came to a halt at the small, cold section. I looked around for the sandwiches and found the long ones, looking oh so delicious. I grabbed two and in a lighter mood, fast walked to the front and grabbed two drinks with and checked out.

The bags in hand I walked out and checked the time. 5:05. What a time to be alive. As I walk back over I can see Jade stretching her legs outside and taking in the 'scenery'.

"John! There you are! What did you get?" She walked the meter to meet me and stared at the bag with a smile.

I stuck my hand in and took a glance back at her face. She's happy. As if nothing happened. I mentally slap the second voice. Jade deserves to be happy and so do I dammit! I grab the sandwich and the drink between my fingers, struggling to keep them both up. She gasps and takes them from my hand, "Oh my gosh John! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

I let out a breath of a laugh and start to head to the car. She rushed to the U-Haul and placed the meal on the seat. "I'm going to go to the restroom and then we can leave!" I nodded to her as she started walking to the big store.

I wonder if we're gonna have another break.. probably not since she is so ready to get there. I opened my sandwich and took a bite. I wonder when we get to see Dave and Rose.. More like if I even should. Neither of them even know about me. Will Dave even want to come over to a person's house if they won't even talk?

"John!" I snapped my head up to have Jade standing in front of my open door, worried expression and all. "Are you okay?" I give a slight nod and smile.
She tries to help me get less tense with a sympathetic smile and I feel a little better and give her a thumbs up. At this, she is more pleased and puts a genuine smile on.
"How about we finish these amazing beasts and then we pull out of here and finally get to our new home?" I nodded my head once and she looked like she could run a 5k with just the energy in her eyes.

She walked back to the U-Haul as we both started to munch on our sandwiches, this time with music pouring out of the U-Haul to occupy my brain.

"John, we're so close to it! Ohhh what should I start to bring in first?!" I wanted to say her essentials was the obvious choice but my brain did not send a single nerve or thought strong enough for me to even look at the walkie talkie. She'll figure it out anyway.

We began to round a corner and I could already see the older looking apartment, bustling upwards to the sky. I felt my jaw clenching, my body getting nervous. She slowed down and turn on her blinker so I copied. Pulling into the parking lot, into side-by-side spaces, and shutting off engines. This is our new home. Jade got out and came to my door.

"Come on! We gotta get the keys from the front," she was muffled through the glass. I started to move without acknowledgment and got out and followed. As our walk went past the buildings and one minute mark, that's when it started to sink in. Im not going back to Washington for at least a year. I'm stuck in Houston and I'm not moving for a very long time. The next time I see Dave or rose will be in person. Dave is going to find out how much of a mess I am. I'm going to find out how much of a mess I am. My breathing started getting quicker and I could feel my heart pounding and I felt like every noise was shoved away from my ears and was replaced with an in-between of nothingness and pounding. I feel something slowly bring me to the ground and I hear someone say, " You stay here, I'll be back." It was Jade and I felt a twitch of my heart calm down, as did my breathing and other senses.

When I felt in control once more I looked up to see a small building and a woman talking to Jade as they were coming out the glass front door.

"Are you feeling better?" Jade asked as she got close enough. I nodded and started to pick myself up.
"Hello! I'm Victoria, your landlord. We're just on our way to y'all's apartment!" She looked a bit young, maybe late 20's and wore a smile that fit nicely into her cheeks. I nodded again and she began to lead again.

"So here we are! Aren't you glad we have an elevator though?" we are on the 6th floor out of ten. "I sure am," Jade took the step forward to the door and unlocked it.

Walking in just made it that much real and I started walking through the rooms noting little things. Kitchen is a good size. Why is the hall towards the front of the living room? Smallish bathroom. I call dibs on this room.

It was a bit smaller than the other room but it had more windows(with a better view). Anyway, Jade needed more room with all her stuffed animals.

"Oh! You pick this one?" I turned to see Jade leaning on the door frame. I gave her a soft smile as a yes and she replied with the same smile. As she walked away I started back to the U-Haul.

It had dawned on me when we were going up the elevator we will be needing to take the stairs to bring our stuff up.

This is going to be a long move.