The Remainders

Chapter 3

                   Emoji Word Chart
🐜= A 🐝=B 🐱=C 🐶=D 🦅=E 🦋=F 🦟=G
🦀=H 🌴=I 🥀=J🍃=K 🐞=L 🌾-M 🐉=N
🌑=O 🍑=P ✨=Q💐=R ❄️=S🌵=T🐽=U
🐬=V🐋=W 🦖=X 💦=Y🦎=Z
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   Luka Westfield was woken up, by an irritating buzzing, that was coming from the back pocket of his jeans.
  "Wait... jeans? That's weird," he thought to himself, "did I seriously forget to change out of my clothes last night?"
Figuring that since he still had his clothes on, the rather irritating buzzing, must have been coming from his cell phone's alarm clock.
As Luka reached around, towards his pocket, he noticed that he was not in his own bed, nor was he in his room.
Suddenly, Luka felt a sense of panic rising in is chest. If he wasn't in his own bed, in his own room, where the 🦀🦅🐞🐞 was he!?
    Luka snatched his phone just as the screen clock flashed on, telling Luka that it was ten o'clock in the morning. What!? That did not seem right. Normally, his assigned partner, Nikala would have already woken him up.
   And then it hit him. Luka huffed out a laugh, as his panicked feeling, faded into a mix of relief, foolishness, and worrying about what Nikala would have to say about this— last night... well, at least he thought it was last night, had been the first time in five years, that he had gotten drunk.
As he squinted into the unfamiliar darkness, Luka could make out a table in the center of the room. Maybe there was a lamp?
    Luka climbed out of the bed, and wondered over to the table. Sure enough, there was a lamp. However, when Luka flicked on the switch, only a dim bit of flickering light shone through the bulb. "Oh well," he thought to himself, as he unlocked his phone, so he could dial Nikala's number.
    The phone had barely gotten through the first ring, before— "WHERE ARE YOU!!?"   
    "Your brother has been worried sick about you, not to mention, myself!" Nikala's voice screamed through the phone, causing Luka to wince. Now he remembered why he had quit drinking— 🐶🐜🌾🐉 hangovers.
     "Babe," Luka began, "don't worry I'm fine."
     "You have been gone since five in the afternoon, yesterday, and you're just calling me!? Of course I have to be worried!" Luka could tell, that Nikala was growing more and more frustrated with him, and desperately searched for a different topic.
    Finding nothing, he settled on a promise— "Look, Nik," he used the pet name that he knew Nikala had always adored, "I checked into a motel last night. I guess I had a little too much to drink, and then needed to sleep it off. I'll be home soon, okay?"
   "A motel?" Nikala asked, suspicion lacing her voice, "Luka. Let me get this straight. You, Luka Westfield, checked into a motel?"
   "Yeah, I know. Unbelievable, am I right?" Luka said.
    Nikala just sighed. "Well. At least let me know when you are on your way home, okay?" She told Luka.
  "You got it, babe," Luka answered, with a roll of his eyes. With that, he and Nikala both hung up at the same time.
    Luka took in his surroundings, wondering what had made him check into a motel. One thing that he knew for sure, was that this place was not worth whatever he had spent.
   For starters, there was the bed, the one that he had been occupying. There was a scratchy threadbare, reddish blanket, and a thin, tattered sheet. Luka was sure that he would have a rash from those, sooner or later.
   The walls were a dingy brown color, and were also splotched with moldy water stains. Luka cringed and shuddered, at the thought of all the mold that he must have breathed in during the night. His memory briefly recalled what most people knew as 'The Year of Masks,' Or, 'The Most Uneventful, Eventful Year'— 2020.
The floor, was probably the least appealing part of the room— a yellowed carpet covered every inch of the floor.
    Luka wondered into the nook of a kitchen. It was only about six feet by six feet. There was a tiny refrigerator that only came up to Luka's waist. There was no stove, just a rather outdated microwave, and a rusted toaster.
   Gathering the courage to open the refrigerator, Luka was relieved to see some eggs, and a carton of milk. "Oh thank the Lord!" He exclaimed, "at least I thought of getting something to eat, before I got too drunk."
   Setting the food on the tiny counter, Luka gave the room another scrutinizing once over. "Geez," he said out loud, to no one in particular, "Talk about unsanitary. I can't believe that I actually checked into this
🦀🦅🐞🐞 hole. I must have been seriously out of it."
    Luka laughed, and shook his head. "At least tell me that this place has a shower?" He glanced around, and saw a door that seemed to lead to a cramped room, that looked like the bathroom. "Well, that's what I get for drinking," Luka shrugged.
    Luka began to strip out of his clothes, visualizing the (hopefully) warm stream of water flowing down his head, and to his feet, washing away all of the grime that his clothes and body had surely gathered from last night.
    Suddenly, the vision sparked something within Luka— he had to take that shower! Maybe it would help him clear his mind? He tore off his shirt, and threw it to the kitchen floor. The cool air that flowed from the portable air conditioner unit, rushed towards his chest. Yes!
    As he neared the bathroom door. He stripped out of his jeans, revealing a pair of black boxers that were adorned with tiny red hearts with silver swords.
    Just as he was about to complete the stripping process— "Oh don't mind me," a soft voice drifted over from the floor beside the bed.
  "❄️🦀🌴🌵!!!" Luka exclaimed. As he stumbled backwards, his feet got tangled in the shirt that he had tossed to the floor, causing him to fall back, onto his back side.
    There was a small laugh, as the room was suddenly filled with sunlight. "Why don't we shed a little light on your situation?" The voice joked.
     Luka squinted into the blinding light. "Who are you!?" He demanded, trying to sound more threatening than he currently felt.
   "Umm. No," the owner of the voice stepped in front of Luka, blocking the light that was streaming into his eyes, "The real question, is... who are you?"
    As Luka's eyes gradually adjusted, he could see a pale young man, probably a year or two younger than himself. The kid had glossy black hair, and unique, honey-colored eyes.
  "I-I-I..." Luka could only stammer, as the thought of having a stranger in his motel room, suddenly killed the excitement of a shower.
   "Huh," the strange kid laughed, "now, you sound like me." The kid shook his head, walked over to Luka, and offered to help him up. "Here," the boy said. Luka carefully took the young man's hand.
    "My name is Désiré, by the way," the boy said, as he pulled Luka to a standing position. "And this 🦀🦅🐞🐞 hole, is my home," Désiré said, as he glanced down awkwardly, and then quickly looked away. "Uh... nice boxers..."
Luka gasped. He had suddenly remembered, that he was currently only wearing his boxers. "Forget that," he thought to himself, "I totally just dissed this kids home. Out loud!"
"You might not remember," Désiré said, as he pulled a towel out of a drawer, and handed it to Luka, "but you were so intoxicated, that you passed out on the floor of my friend's club."
   "Hmm, must have been some pretty good stuff," Luka chuckled.
    Désiré shrugged, and raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, I would take that as a compliment... if you had actually ordered a drink from us..."
    Luka looked at Désiré, a confused expression on his face. "What are you talking about," he asked, "surely, if I had come in to your club, I had to have bought something."
   "Ah... no, I am pretty sure that you were just loitering." A wry smile made its appearance on Désiré's lips.
   Luka suddenly felt more confused than he had been, for that morning. "Hold on," he said, "if I passed out, how did I get here?"
"Oh, that's easy," Désiré said, "after you passed out, Connor, that's my friend, and I, loaded you into the back seat of his car, and I figured that you would have one 🦀🦅🐞🐞of a hangover, and would need to sleep it off. So, I brought you to my place..." Désiré's voice trailed off, as he sheepishly glanced around the motel room.
"You know what," Désiré practically shouted, so suddenly, that he made Luka jump, "I am so sorry. I really should have just taken you to the hospital."
Luka quickly regained his composure. "Oh. Uh. No. No, I think that what you did, was ok... um... thank you."
Désiré gave Luka a funny look, "no worries," he said with a shrug.
"Oh! My name is Luka, by the way," Luka told his host, and offered to shake his hand.
Désiré smiled, and shook Luka's hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you... not intoxicated Luka," he said, with a small laugh.
Both of the young men had a good laugh over Désiré's comment.
"You know," Luka said, "I would like to apologize for what I was saying about your..." Luka trailed off, as the realization suddenly hit him— "this isn't your real house? Is it?" He asked Désiré.
Désiré's smiling demeanor faded ever so slightly. "Um. No... not yet." Suddenly, the smile returned "But, I am in the process of buying it," Désiré exclaimed.
"O-oh. That's... cool," Luka said, trying to sound happy for Désiré.
Désiré smiled. "Yeah," he agreed.
"So, I know that this might sound crazy," Luka said, interrupting Désiré's thoughts, "but... may I use your shower?"
At that, Désiré burst out laughing. "Oh sure,"Désiré said between laughs, "if you want a head full of rust!!"
Luka's eyes widened. "Uh. No thank you... where do you shower, then?"
"I-I'll show you," Désiré managed to say, still laughing. "Here, get dressed. You can change in the bathroom, but do NOT use the water," he warned Luka, as he handed Luka's shirt to him.
"Thanks," Luka smiled, and walked into the bathroom, leaving Désiré alone.
Suddenly, a text alert came over Désiré's cell phone— Connor Rameriez.  
Connor: "Hey, Des! How is everything going?"😎
Désiré: "Good morning, Connor. Everything is going pretty good. Luka just woke up. Would you believe, that he started to diss my place, and then, he started stripping! I figured that he didn't realize that this wasn't just some random motel room."🤣
Connor: "WAIT! Who's Luka!?"😳
Désiré: "You know? The guy from the bar..."
Connor: "Wow! Awesome name! He isn't giving you any trouble, right?"
Désiré: "No, Connor. You don't have to worry."🙄
Connor: "Hey! Of course I have to worry! It's not like anyone else does."
Désiré: "Ouch!"😔
Connor: "Sorry, my brother. But you know I'm right."🤷🏽
Désiré: "Yeah.... I know."
Connor: "Sooo. Is he cute?"😍😏
Désiré: "What!? Connor!"😱
Connor: "Sorry, you know I had to."🤣🤣🤣
Désiré: "Whatever! Hey, I'm gonna go now, I think Luka is coming out of the bathroom. I'll see you in a bit, okay? I told him that you have a shower."🤪
Connor: "Oooh! He was using your bathroom?😍 Hold on... you're bringing him to my house!?"🤨
Désiré: "Yeah, Thanks for your hospitality! Bye!"😘
Connor: "HEY! WAIT!"
   "Okay," Luka said, as the bathroom door opened, "so where is this shower that you promised me?"
  "At Connor's house," Désiré answered.
   Need less to say, Luka was quite surprised. "And... is Connor okay with me coming over, especially, after I didn't... you know... buy anything?" he asked Désiré. There was no way, that he wanted himself, nor Désiré, for that matter, to get involved in any sort of trouble.
   "Oh, you do not have to worry about Connor,"  Désiré assured Luka, "he may come off as tough, when you first meet him, but if you become a good customer, he'll turn into one of the biggest teddy bears."
   "A good customer, huh," Luka scoffed, "in case you forgot, kiddo, I was just loitering..."
   "Which is why," Désiré interrupted, "after you take a shower, you are going to buy the best... uh... non-alcoholic drink, off of the menu!"
    "What!?" Luka whined.
    Désiré shrugged, "hey, first you loitered, then you made a scene..."
   "Oh no," Luka moaned, "how bad?"
    Désiré held back a laugh, "oh, nothing of epic proportions, you just called m- um... some guy, beautiful."
    Luka choked on his words, "wh-what!? How Disgusting!"
   "Plus, you got a free room," Désiré continued, moving away from the subject of last night's craziness, "so it's only fair, that you repay Connor and I, somehow."
    Luka thought for a moment, as Désiré led him out of the motel, and into the parking lot. He shrugged, and then said, "I guess I can't argue with that."
   "You can't," Désiré agreed, stepping into the driver's side, and starting the engine.