Fourth of July

Chapter 4

I sighed as I got home, tossing my hat onto the coffee table. I immediately noticed the empty house and my heart stopped for a moment as I looked around. Gee's been staying with me for two weeks now and so far it's been great, I loved having him here.

"Gee?" I called but heard nothing. "Jamia?"

The front door opened and I sighed in relief when I saw them walk in with shopping bags in their hands.

"Woah, what's all this?" I asked.

"Jamia buyed me clothes and toys," Gee said.

He went back to the bedroom and I frowned.

"Fuck," I mumbled. "I can pay you back, how much was it?"

"Don't worry about it," Jamia said.

"No, you shouldn't have to pay for all of this," I said. "Let me pay you, please, I got paid today so I can--"

"Seriously, Frank," she interrupted. "You don't need to pay me back, you know I would do anything to help you."

I nodded my head, giving her a hug.

"You should stay, the guys are coming over for band practice," I said.

"Really? It's been awhile since you've practiced together," she said.

"Yeah, I'd love for you to stay," I said. "And I'm sure that Gee would love having you here too."

Jamia smiled and nodded her head.

"I'm just glad it's friday," I mumbled. "I feel like I've just been working non-stop, I didn't realize how hard it would be trying to work and take care of Gee at the same time."

Jamia chuckled, sitting down on the couch.

"Seriously though," I continued, sitting beside her. "I don't know what I would do without you."

Jamia blushed softly as she looked down. The doorbell rang and I heard a frightful squeak from the bedroom. I opened the door and let in Evan and Matt.

"Where's Alex?" I asked.

"He said he'd be here in a minute," Evan said. "Who's that?"

I looked behind me and saw Gee peeking around the corner nervously. I held out my hand and he hurried over to wrap his arms around me as he looked up at them. He let out a whimper and buried his face into my chest.

"This is Gee," I said. "Gee, these are my friends, Evan and Matt, and I'm going to have another friend coming named Evan."

"Hi, Gee," Matt said but still looked confused.

Gee just let out a whimper and held me tighter.

"Alright, let's go out to the garage," I said. "Everything is already set up."

I tried to walk to the garage but Gee wouldn't let go. Finally I sighed and just picked him up, letting him wrap his legs around my waist. He buried his face into the crook of my neck as I walked into the garage. Thankfully he was so light it was easy to carry him.

"Gee, you're gonna have to get down," I said.

Gee whimpered and shook his head.

"Hey, sweetheart, do you wanna go play in the bedroom?" Jamia asked.

Gee nodded and Jamia took him back into the bedroom. I sighed, picking up my guitar.

"So who is that?" Evan asked.

"That's Gee," I said. "I found him in the woods and it turns out that he's a kidnapping victim. They can't find his family and he has the mental state of a child and I offered to let him stay here with me until they find his family."