Four and a Half Horsemen

VI

         

Alright, so let me explain before you freak out. Isaac passed out, sure, but he wasn't out for a whole chapter like we usually are. He was just really beat from the use of whatever freaky magic he'd instinctively used against Death. We inconspicuously returned the boat to dock, tied it up onto one of the little pegs, and didn't mention to anyone that the real owner had been eaten by Moby Dick's daddy. I was feeling pretty hungover, and this action hadn't helped the headache whatsoever. I mean my head was pounding so bad I could practically see my pulse in the veins in my eyes. It was cold, which meant I had to wear a shirt, which really bugged me. I hated wearing shirts. I didn't mind jackets, but shirts were weird for me.

We took Isaac back to our hotel and sort of awkwardly half watched him and half fooled around for a few hours. Then I left to get food, again, because the damn woman couldn't be fucking bothered to buy her own food. I wasn't resentful though. I was pretty hungry too. I stopped through Whataburger to get just, you know, some food. Nothing in particular. I know I got a lot of it though, because I had to sit down at one of the tables because the wait was so long. Clementine had given me her debit card though, or, you know, whoever's card this was. So it was alright, I didn't have to pay for it all. Anyway, while I was waiting, this girl kind of came up to me, the way an old school friend might have, except I was pretty sure I'd never seen her in my entire life. I mean it was pretty damn awkward you know? What with her expecting me to recognize her plain ass face out of nowhere. But, you know, weirdly, I did recognize her face. I really did, for some reason. And I knew exactly where from. Another damn flashback, are you kidding me? What is this, Breaking Bad?

The streets of Jersey were cold at night. Especially with the wind. And especially extra since I wasn't wearing a shirt. I tried to hug myself and muster up whatever warmth there was left in my poor, skinny, still sort of high body, but it was of no avail. I wasn't too proud to get help. I found myself at a pawn shop. I sold the gold tooth for like, $50. I was pretty sure it wasn't real gold, anyway, so that was actually a pretty good price. It was a molar, molars are big suckers. Anyway, I took that $50 to the Salvation Army and found the biggest, softest, warmest winter coat I could find. It cost $10. The beauty of the Salvation Army ladies and gentlemen. I didn't even bother putting on a shirt I just put the jacket on. I was getting pretty hungry. And the nuggets had left a long time ago. So I found myself in a soup kitchen. They fed me for pretty cheap because I guess I looked like a homeless person. I mean, good thing I guess, as you know, I was literally homeless. Although that gave me an idea. As I twirled the last of the mediocre but filling spaghetti dinner, I considered selling the pot I had on me and the Lucy which I hadn't touched in fear of a bad trip and using that money as a down payment on a house. That was actually a pretty good idea. As a matter of fact, that was the best idea I'd had in probably months.

I finished my plate, pretending not to see the nasty lima beans they always included, and as I ate the little frozen yogurt cup that you kinda squeezed to get the frozen yogurt out of, I walked with my suitcase to the nearest shady kind of ally. I tried to look seedy. Sure enough, after a few days, some rich, posh looking kid came around waving his big bucks and looking for my kind of person. He completely wiped me out. Two pounds of weed and a ten by ten grid of blotter acid went for about $10,000. That seems like a lot, but its drugs we're talking about here. I went to the open house with the cheapest asking price and bore with wearing a shirt so they wouldn't immediately deny me, and tried to clean myself up and make pretty. The showers at the YMCA are brilliant before stuff like this if you're living on the streets, keep that in mind. A membership is pretty cheap, and they have showers, and workout equipment, and you can sleep in the parking lot. It's a good place. Anyway, I got myself looking pretty nice, or at least halfway decent. A trip to the dollar store and I was freshly shaved. I had no state ID to speak of, but I had memorized my social security number from a very early age, so proof of identity was to be no problem.