In the Absence of a Good Life

(20) An Unnecessary Evil

The Partner in Crime (A.K.A - The Best Mate - Terrance)

I walked home with Jimmy that day. I couldn't bare to see Shelly on the bus, after what I'd said to her, I didn't deserve to. I knew that I'd been to harsh, but at least I'd managed to cut all ties with Gus. Now we only had to figure out a way to make £10,000 before the end of the next week. There was one way for sure that we weren't going to make the money, and that was anything to do with gambling. After what Jimmy had gone through to try and pay off The Phantom, I couldn't put him through that again. No matter how much he would've enjoyed it, I just couldn't satisfy his addiction.

I opened the front door with the house key and walked straight into the lounge. There were perks to living on the ground floor; you didn't have to walk up a load of stairs to your apartment. Not that there were any stairs that led to another apartment. The layout of the 'flats' was peculiar, it was different to what you'd expect. Instead of being piled on top of each other, the flats were laid out next to one another. We all shared a foyer and each door would lead to a different apartment. Our apartment lay to the side of the main entrance, so the windows looked onto the street outside.

The downside of living on the ground floor meant that it was easier for thugs to try and break in, or to smash the windows. 

Once inside, I slumped down onto the sofa and felt Jimmy sit down beside me.

'Tough day.' He said.

'Yeah.' I answered in a daze, even though I knew that Jimmy had not asked a question.

'You wanna talk about it?' He slurred.

'Do you?' 

'Not particularly.'

'Then no, I don't either.' I said.

Silence passed between us as neither of us could think of anything to say. I don't think either of us wanted to speak anyway. Out of necessity for companionship, we started to talk.

'I nearly hit your girlfriend, sorry.' Jimmy said.

'She's not my girlfriend!' I said before I hit him with a pillow. We both started to laugh as he hit me in return.

'So why have you gone bright red?' Jimmy asked.

'I'm not even going to grace that with an answer.' I laughed. The moment quickly passed, and my laughter faded. I didn't want to think about Shelly, not after the events of the day.

'What are we going to do, about Gus I mean?' Jimmy asked me.

'I don't know, we'll think about that later, but not now. I need to rest; recover from today.'

'I know what you mean.'

Silence ensued yet again.

'You want to play Halo?' Jimmy suggested. He didn't wait for an answer before he stood up to move the TV to the coffee table. 

'Looks like I don't have a choice.' I joked.

One Half of the Comedy Duo (A.K.A - The Sarcastic One - Shelly)

The first thing I did when I arrived home was to run upstairs to my room, lock the door and cry with reckless abandon. How could everything have gone so badly for me in one day? It just wasn't fair, I hadn't done anything!

Halfway through my cries of self-pity, I heard the back door slam. I sobered up immediately as I found someone to direct all of my frustration and anger at; my despicable brother, Gus.

I wiped any remaining tears from my face and rushed downstairs to the back door. I met him at the bottom of the staircase.

'Hello 'August'.' I said.

'Oh, hey Shelly, wa's'sup?' 

'I'll tell you what's up you lying, sniveling, miserable excuse for a man! You ruined ANY chance I had of making a new friend and restoring the family ties with our cousin! Now they HATE me! They hate me when I've done nothing wrong, and it's ALL your fault!' I was screaming at the end of my speech. I had also been lashing out at my brother, punching and pushing at him. I was completely taken over by my emotions.

'Woah, woah, woah! Calm down li'l sis!'

'No! I will NOT calm down! Don't you dare try to tell me to 'calm down'!'

'Alright already! Shelly, come on! How can the misfortunes in yer life and the mistakes ya made be MY fault?' Gus said in a calm and relaxed manner. He was trying to make me relax, but it wasn't working.

'It's YOUR fault!' I yelled as I pushed him away from me. I turned my back and took a deep breath. 'They hate me...because of you. They hate me...because of something you've done, because of the threats you made!'

'Shelly, what are you talking about? Come on, think about it, sit down and think rationally. You know me...' I cut him off.

'Do I? Do I really? I knew you were in the business of lending money, but really? You lied to me! You told me you didn't know who lent money to Jimmy! You said you'd find out and talk to whoever it was! But all you really did was call Jimmy up yourself and told him that you'd kill him! You're a monster! A fucking monster!'

'What are ya talking about?' Gus scoffed.

'You know what I'm talking about! Don't you dare try to pretend otherwise! You lent money to Jimmy, YOU! No one else!'

Gus stared at me while he thought over what I'd said. He sighed before admitting all that I'd accused him of. 'Okay, so maybe I did, what's that got to do with ya?' He said.

'Everything!' I yelled. 'I hate you! I hate you! I HATE you!' I screamed quickly. I then groaned in frustration and ran upstairs to rip my pillow apart.

I don't think I'd ever hated anyone as much as I hated him right now.