Call it Fate, Call it Karma

She'll Flip

"Albert!" I whisper-yelled into the phone as soon as he picked up. "You've gotta come here and help us move Julian's shit. Do you think you could go get Nikolai's van please?"

"Hello to you too." Albert chuckled. "Wait...what's going on?"

"Are you busy?" I asked, tapping my foot on the ground anxiously.

"Nah, I'm walking home now. What did you say about Jules? How is he, by the way?"

"He's good! He's starting to be himself again." I said with a smile. "I'm standing outside where he's been living. It's really sad, man. Wait 'till you see it! Anyways...do you think you could go borrow Niko's van to move stuff, 'cos I don't wanna be carrying clothes and shit down the street? Oh yeah...Julian's gonna come live with us if that's cool."

"So he's not gonna disappear again?" The sound of excitement in Albert's voice made me a little giddy.

"No! I gave him quite the lecture."

"Text me the address. I'll be there soon!" He said before he hung up.

It took Albert about 20 minutes to finally find me. Julian was inside having a smoke with that creepy guy after moving a majority of his stuff downstairs. To avoid being a room with Bobby, I told Julian I'd wait out on the street for Albert.

"Jade!" Albert's figure came into view and I jogged up to him. "The van's parked a few feet down."

"Albie!" I gave him a quick hug and stepped back to turn around and point. "That's where he's been squatting, man."

Albert's eyes widened as we walked down the dark alleyway and the building came into view.

"I'm so glad you convinced him to get the fuck outta there." He was still in shock.

"Also, the guy he's been living with is so fucking creepy, dude. He kept staring at me weird and I've been avoiding going in there for like, half an hour now!"

Albert shook his head with a laugh and held my hand as we walked up the steps. We then slowly walked back down the hallway and I was relieved to see Julian standing alone outside with a few boxes of things stacked beside him.

After giving Julian a hug, Albert peered through the half open doorway and took a deep breath in, followed by a sigh.

"Let's get going." I said, picking up a box off the stack.

"Thanks so much for this guys." Julian smiled, handing two boxes to Albert after picking up the last two for himself.

Albert started to look really pissed off as we walked. "How could you fucking do that to yourself, Jules? You had a home...friends...and you chose to resort to a life like that?!"

Julian chewed on his bottom lip, not saying anything as he focused on walking.

"Albert!" I hissed, elbowing him. "Not now!" I didn't want Julian running off again thinking we didn't care, so I wasn't about to let Albert make him feel bad again...he was too fragile at that moment. He probably already felt shit enough, the poor guy.

When we got to the van, we piled the boxes in the back and all got in, Albert at the wheel. I made sure Julian sat in the passengers seat so he could talk with Albert, as the two hadn't really talked much since we'd found him.

"So, do you have a job at the moment?" Albert asked Julian after a few minutes of smalltalk. They had plenty of time to talk, thanks to the usual city traffic.

"You're not gonna like the answer." said Julian, scratching the back of his neck. "Jade's gonna hate it. She'll flip."

"I'm gonna hate what?" I'd been zoned out of their conversation for a few minutes until I heard my name.

"I, uhh..." Julian sighed. "I've been selling stuff for Bobby. He let me live there in exchange."

"Oh, for fucks sake Julian!" I leaned forward to slap him on the back of the head. "You could've ended up in jail, you absolute fucking moron!"

Julian laughed to himself as he rubbed the sore spot. "Told you she'd flip."

"If I wasn't driving right now, I'd flip too." groaned Albert. "God damnit, Jules! What were you thinking?!"

"I did what I had to." Julian shrugged. He didn't seem to be taking anything we'd said seriously. Now that I think of it, he was probably a little high.

"You didn't have to do anything!" I said through gritted teeth. "You had a home to come back to at anytime!" Remembering that I'd just lectured Albert on making Julian feel bad, I quickly opted to change the subject. "Ugh, I don't wanna fight. How's your day been, Albert?"