Finding Yourself Again

Chapter 2

  Ryan stumbled into his apartment, high as a kite. He and Alex had spent the afternoon, while he knew Brendon was out working, getting stoned and fucking. It was now around 5 pm on a Tuesday, a little over a month after the make-out episode with Alex in his and Brendon's apartment.

  "B? You here?" Ryan called out for Brendon, but got no answer. Ryan had a hazy, passing thought that he and Brendon rarely seemed to be home at the same times these days, but it went as quickly as it had come. Ryan wasn't bothered by it anyway; it wasn't like he cared to spend time with Brendon anymore, anyway. He had a comfortable place to live, food to eat, and even money at his disposal to party with, so he didn't actually care what else Brendon got up to.

  Ryan had no sooner kicked off his shoes and gotten a beer from the fridge, when the lights flickered and went out. He thought maybe the light bulb had went out, but then noticed all the digital clocks were off too. He went to the window and noticed the apartment across the courtyard had power. Now he was annoyed; Brendon must have forgotten to pay the electric bill. As hypocritical as it was (not that Ryan had that much insight at the moment), he was aggravated at Brendon being so irresponsible.

  Shortly after that, there was a really aggressive knock at the door. Ryan was immediately puzzled: no one ever visited them who didn't call first. He walked over and opened the door as far as the chain lock would allow, but stayed behind it. "Who is it?" he called out.

  "It's Bob! Open the damn door!" The fucking landlord. He hated Ryan, and Ryan hated him right back. Ryan scoffed to himself as he remembered how much the old man adored Brendon. But then again, he thought bitterly, everyone just loved Brendon.

  Ryan opened the door and scowled as Bob pushed his way in. "What the fuck do you want, Bob? Didn't Brendon get you the rent? He hasn't been around much lately but I'll leave him a note and I know he'll get you a check tomorrow."

  Bob laughed right in Ryan's face. "You're a funny motherfucker, Ross. I assume you'll be out by 5 tomorrow afternoon?"

  Ryan gaped at Bob with a furrowed brow and was quiet for a minute. "Come again?" he said. Ryan was clearly confused by whatever Bob was on about.

  "Don't play like you don't know what I'm talking about, dumbass. I've been looking forward to this day since I got to know your worthless ass. You know you have to be gone by tomorrow at 5!"

  Now Ryan was pissed. "What the fuck are you talking about, asshole?? Brendon still lives here and I am staying with him! Afraid you don't get rid of me that easily!"

  Bob just stared at Ryan quietly for a minute, then burst into hysterical laughter. Ryan was pretty sure Bob had finally lost it. "Oh my God, you really don't know, do you!?" Bob was gasping for breath between laughs. "Holy shit, this totally makes my entire day even better! Uh, Brendon broke the lease a month ago, and he moved the last of his shit out on Sunday afternoon! He's been long gone for 2 days! Your last 24 hrs in this apartment started 15 minutes ago!" Bob wiped tears from his eyes as he began coming down from his laughter.

  Ryan stared wide-eyed at Bob. "You are always so full of shit! Brendon is not capable of something like that; that is just not something he would do at all! And you can't just throw me out of here: there are eviction laws!" Plus, Ryan couldn't believe Brendon could have moved all his shit out of the apartment without him having noticed at all.

  Bob delivered Ryan a shit-eating grin. "Well, first of all, I had a lease agreement with Brendon, not you, so your eviction law argument is pointless. But I had a feeling you might say something like that. So here is the broken lease with his signature, dated a month ago. Also, you don't ever check the mail, do you asshole? I sent you 3 registered letters to your address informing you of the eviction, just to make completely sure it happened. Brendon seemed pretty eager to move on, and I felt like he'd suffered more than his share of your bullshit, so I told him I'd be more than happy to strike the final blow. So on that note, you have until 5 pm tomorrow to be out, or I'll be here with the cops to forcibly remove you and at that point, whatever you've left in this apartment becomes my property."