On the Corner of Lace and Hendrix

Welcome Home

((Omg this chapter took so long I'm sorry bbies))

Like always, Keagan did most of the work when it came to unpacking.

He sighed and put the last folded shirt into his dresser. At least Verona had put her clothing away. She was always weird about that. Always overly private. He really didn’t care enough to ask about why she was so reticent about her outfits, as long as it kept her doing that little bit of work. It really didn’t matter anyway.

After they were done with the clothes, Verona realized that Keagan hadn’t packed any of their furniture, or her cat, Persephone. She turned on her heels as this fact donned on her and pointed this out. No, she didn’t point it out, that wouldn’t be Verona, instead she accused him.

“Why didn’t you bring anything else?”

“Well, why didn’t you help me pack? Anyway, it doesn’t matter, because either Mom or Nicholas is going to bring your cat and some other stuff once I tell them where we are. Plus Persephone would be afraid of this place with all the floors and such.” He huffed.

Verona grumbled and rolled her eyes. “Fine. You have a point.”

“We should probably go say hello to the neighbours, Vero-” Keagan wasn’t able to finish before they both heard a knocking from the front door. The siblings turned to each other and sighed. Keagan walked out of their room to get the door and blinked at the sight.

“Howdy there!” A tall, lanky man was standing there in the doorway with a container of orange liquid. Keagan was afraid to ask about it, although the man seemed overjoyed about whatever it was.

“Uh, hello.” He answered, putting on a nervous smile.

The stranger grinned. “I’m in 210, the name’s Roswell Hayes. But you can call me Jack.”

Keagan was beginning to think he was talking to a psychopath cowboy when Verona walked up and gave this weird guy ‘the look.’ He did not take it as a sign to leave. “Alright, Jack, well I’m Keagan Paisley, and this is my sister Verona. We were actually just going to say hello to the neighbours. Thank you for coming by.” He nodded.

“Oh, anyway, I made some peach sweet tea for you guys.” Jack put his hand that held the container out for Keagan to take.

“Thank you very much.” Verona chimed in sarcastically and took it from him instead. “Anyway, how did you know we were here? Not that it matters, I’m just wondering.” Again, weirdly private.

“Well, right after you guys came in, I got back from the store. Ariel mentioned that someone moved in next to me so I ponied up into my kitchen to make this stuff. No problem. For the record, before you go on introducing yourself to everyone, it’s better if you know some things. One, Ariel ain’t afraid to cuss you out in Danish. She’s sweet, but also cold as the icebox-for-a-country she came from. Two, your other neighbours are worse than me, Charlotte being the boring-est. Harley and his daughter are okay though. Three, the landlord is studly. Really studly. I mean, it’s hard to look him in the eye, he’s a drill sergeant or something, you know?” He shuddered. “Take heed.”

The siblings nodded in synchronicity, truthfully understanding only around half of what Jack said. Keagan smiled a bit. “Alright, we will. May I ask which room this… Harley, is in?”

“Oh yeah, sure, he’s in 219. Across from you guys.” Jack pointed his thumb to the door behind him. “That one.” He nodded to himself. Keagan nodded back to show that he understood, but one eyebrow was raised with curiosity. He wondered why Harley and his daughter passed Jack’s standards, yet this Charlotte did not.

“And what is his daughter’s name?” Verona pushed forward to ask, now curious herself.

“Amelia. She’s only 5, but I’m pretty sure she’s already figured out life.” Jack chuckled and shook his head. “Cute kid.” His voice got quiet. “Her mother was terrible though. I don’t know the specifics, but Harley was a victim of the notorious roofie while he was in the army. Yep, it can happen to a guy. In the end, since the mother got sent to prison, he took the daughter and named her, all at the age of 19.”

The siblings were stunned. People at this place were weirder than they let on. “Wow.” Keagan finally said.

The man at the door shrugged. “Yeah, for a little while, I was convinced that he was Batman without the butler and the costume. I don’t know if he has the Bat Mobile either.”  Verona snorted at that and looked towards Keagan with an ‘I can’t believe this is a grown-ass man’ expression. “Well anyway,” The pairs’ heads snapped up as Jack continued talking. “I best be on my way now. I’ll see you two around sometime, I’m sure. G’ bye.”

He waved awkwardly, Verona and Keagan doing the same as he moseyed down the hall to who-knows-where. Only then did they realize that he was humming ‘Oh Susanna.’

“Huh,” Keagan began, closing the door behind him. “What an interesting man.”

“Interesting? More like crazy. He looks like he’s Billy the Kid’s disciple or something.” Verona replied, sighing exasperatedly. “The tea looks safe at least.”

They both suddenly heard a girl shout from outside, although neither could make out what she was saying.

The brother of the two sighed, similar to his sister, and opened the wooden front door again to reveal a woman in a business suit yelling at none other than Jack, the man they had been speaking to. They were at the left, and Verona could see that the door to room 208 was open, so she guessed that that was where this woman had come from.

“You need to keep it down! I’m working in here, and I don’t need any more distractions like you!” She fumed. Verona guessed this was Charlotte.

“You always work, Charlotte. Anyway, I was saying hi to the new neighbours. Jeez.” He shrugged, hands still in his pockets.

Charlotte looked over with the eyes of a vulture, targeting the siblings with her laser-like vision. It practically burned to look her straight in the eye. They were both frozen to the spot as they saw that her right eye was brown and her left, was blue. It was like a movie, with the evil eye or something.

“I don’t have time to “say hi.” I would argue that they do not require any sort of greeting. I’ll have you know, financial planning is not an easy job. I have three clients at the moment. Now excuse me.” She turned on her heels and started to stomp back into her room, but the sound of another door opening made her whisk around yet again.

A short, but broad man opened the door of room 219 with a disappointed expression on his face. That was Harley, Keagan guessed.

“Charlotte, if you want people to let you work, all you have to do is let them work too.” The woman opened her mouth, but Harley stopped her. “All of your shouting and stomping got Amelia into a fit while she was trying to take a nap. There are other people here too, just trying to get by like you are. You don’t need to have the spotlight 24/7, and that’s a fact I think we can all agree on.” He nodded to the siblings pair and shut the door again firmly, leaving everyone either star-struck or humiliated.

Well, Verona thought, that was one way to greet the neighbours.