I am for you

Chapter 1. Karma is a bitch

... Larry spat out a sticky blood clot and leaned heavily against the tree. It rained incessantly, making the terrible night even worse. And it would seem that it could not be worse! He laughed hoarsely, immediately clutching his ribs, which seemed not to want to suffer alone, and tried to get crippled lungs into their company.

Karma is a bitch. That's for sure. If you've been shit for half your life and treated others like shit, then get ready for karma to drown you in this shit one day. And at the most inopportune time.

The tree Larry was leaning on had a canopy large enough to partially hide it from large raindrops, allowing him to finally assess the damage the gang had done. Crap! He hoped to take a deferment on paying the money, but instead, he was beaten and had to give the money ahead of schedule. For a week, Lila disappeared into the night, leaving a note and their daughter asleep in her bed. And now this bed can be lost. Just wonderful. Larry laughed hoarsely, immediately groaning painfully, clutching at his bruised ribs. He can move, but it's already good, there is severe pain only in the area of the ribs, and it seems that something is wrong with the leg. Feeling his face, Larry discovered several abrasions, a broken lip, and, judging by the gradually blurred vision, his left eye began to swell. Just super! Good thing he took Lilo to Grandma's for the weekend.

What's good about that, though?

In a couple of days, he hoped to solve problems with housing, money, and work. Which, by the way, I lost. That's why he needed this break so much. Tried to solve my fucking problems. This Diablo was a Mexican jerk. Larry probably wasn't thinking at all when he turned to him for help. He could have avoided all these stupid difficulties if he hadn't been such a stupid and proud asshole. If Larry had turned to HIM, then in such a situation, the maximum that he would have received was a slap on the head, which would have seemed more offensive than sick.

What does he have now?

Larry has no other choice now. He would have to shove his pride up his shabby ass and hobble through the rain on foot almost to the center of Paris, where the man lives, whom he, Larry, has done the worst. Someone who doesn't have to forgive him and take him back, but needs to hear his apology. And the one he trusts more than himself...

***

It took about an hour to get to the house he needed: shortstops slowed down significantly to dry out a little and warm up in convenience stores along the way. He could have called and asked to pick it up, but it turned out to be more difficult than going along this difficult road. The streets of Paris were dark and almost empty, the headlights of rarely passing cars reflected in the rain on the road. The yellow lights of tall lanterns illuminated the road and made visible raindrops. The atmosphere was almost snotty-romantic. If he were a vanilla fairy, he would certainly climb onto the windowsill, wrap himself in a blanket, and, holding a cup of hot coffee in his hands would philosophize about fate. But this is not his script of life. And probably never was. Or he was, but because of his tough temper, he fucked up somewhere along the way. It wasn't even offensive, it was expected. The family did not like him: from school, there were continuous problems and embarrassing situations - from petty theft to being in a police station with an overdose of drug possession. Although I never used them. He was a devil compared to his brother. It's like he's a damn distorting mirror. And, despite all his abomination of Larry, his brother was always on his side. Larry took him through hell and left him on the doorstep, and now...

Now it stands next to a huge old house with a restored facade and a large park, opposite. Massive doors and a concierge behind them did not promise to alleviate an already difficult situation. All he has to do is walk through those gorgeous doors, open his damned mouth, and try to be polite so he doesn't end up at the train station instead of his brother's apartment.

***

François, the concierge, could hardly contain his disgust when a tall dark-skinned man in clothes soaked through with blood stained approached him. The face did not look better, it fully corresponded to the appearance. His first impulse was to press the panic button, but he decided to give him a chance. The man's behavior did not cause fear, on the contrary, he seemed embarrassed and indecisive. But the concierge still had his fingers on the button.

- Hello, monsieur, how can I help you? - François tried to behave as neutrally as possible. He did not want to take risks.

- Hi. I need to see Laurent Bourgeois.

- Sorry, but you look suspicious, and as far as I know, he does not expect guests, so I cannot let you in without warning. - How can I introduce you? - François watched the man tremble before hesitantly uttering his name.

- Larry Bourgeois. - The imperturbable concierge's eyebrows shot up. He did not think that Dr. Bourgeois could have such a starving brother.

For about a minute, Larry was dying inside, afraid that his brother would send him, not even wanting to see him. This moment seemed to stretch for centuries.

- You can go. Fifth floor. Apartment 54.

- I know his apartment! - Larry nervously shouted, frightening the employee. François almost confused the buttons on the control panel.

Larry took the annoyingly slow and large elevator up. He could hear every beat of his heart, which slowed down its usual rhythm from excitement and tension. With a short ring, the elevator doors opened, revealing a large and spacious corridor to his gaze: only four apartments were on the floor. This is not his house, where every two meters there was someone's door. He walked down the corridor, carefully examining the numbers on the doors.

The neat black numbers made him wince. Although, perhaps, he just finally began to distinguish between where his body is warming up and where his clothes are wet. Three short knocks on the door and a few seconds of silence followed Larry's heart beating wildly in his chest as he waited for Laurent to open the door...