The Remainders

Chapter 5

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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   *BANG! BANG!* "HEY PRINCESS! I NEED TO GET IN THERE!" Connor pounded on the bathroom door, making sure to yell above the noise of Liam's shower singing.
   "Oh my gosh! How long does it take to shower!?" Connor grumbled, as he looked at his watch... "I wonder if he knows we can hear him?"
   Désiré laughed softly, "He is a Useful," he told Connor with a shrug, "I mean... who knows what those guys do all day."
   "Well I know what I do all day," Connor said, and began to pound on the door again, "I have to open the club in thirty minutes! I need a shower, too! HEY!"
Just then, Luka opened the door, and walked out. "Thank you for letting me use your shower, man," he told Connor.
"And thank you... Désiré, right?" Liam asked, as he turned towards Désiré, "for telling me how embarrassing I was. I seriously cannot believe that I said that a guy was beautiful!?"
Désiré saw that Connor was glaring at Luka. Désiré placed his hand on Connor's shoulder, and squeezed gently.
"I mean... that is seriously disgusting, am I right!?" Luka said, as he burst out in a fit of laughter.
Désiré's hand was now squeezing Connor's shoulder so hard, that Connor winced.
"For your information, Luka," Connor began, but was suddenly cut off by another painful squeeze by Désiré...
"There was no harm done," Désiré told Luka, with a smile, "we have all done, and said embarrassing things, throughout our lives. Right, Connor?"
   Connor glanced at Désiré, who was still smiling. Yet, Connor knew, that behind the smile, was a warning.
   "Right," Connor said, as he jerked his arm away from Désiré's grip. However, he just had to have the last laugh— "but some of us, are more embarrassing than others. Right, Désiré?"
    Désiré could only glare at his friend. Was Connor trying to get them in trouble!?
    Thankfully, Luka seemed oblivious towards Connor's rather pointed comment. But Désiré knew that he had to change the subject.
"Did you want to take a shower, Connor?" Désiré asked, trying to turn Connor's attention to something besides Luka.
    "Yeah, Connor," Luka said, pointing to the bathroom, "I'm done, so..."
     Connor glared at Luka, and then at Désiré. "Fine," Connor sighed, rolling his eyes.
     Désiré let out a breath, that he did not know he had been holding onto.
     "I would like to apologize on Connor's behalf," Désiré started to apologize.
     "Oh, there is no need to apologize," Luka said with a shrug, "besides, I have that affect on people."
     Désiré looked at Luka, quizzically. "You... have the affect of making people... upset?" He asked Luka.
Luka shrugged, "of course," he answered Désiré's question in a matter-of-fact tone, "I mean... my brother always had it out for me, my old man... well, I just couldn't seem to ever make him happy. Sometimes, I wonder, if I'm actually a useless in disguise..." Luka's voice trailed off, and Désiré noticed a far away look in Luka's eyes.
"But... surely, you must have some good in you?" Désiré's voice brought Luka back to the present.
Luka laughed. "Well, yeah, of course I have some good in me," he shrugged, "I mean... my Usefulness Level is a ninety."
    A gentle smile ghosted its way onto Désiré's lips. He knew that the only thing that the Usefuls cared about, was keeping their Usefulness Levels up, but this Luka guy seemed to have almost an air of insecurity that surrounded him. Désiré knew that being patient with Luka, would be the only way to get through to him.
   "I do not mean your Usefulness Level, Luka," Désiré said softly.
    Need less to say, Luka was taken by surprise at Désiré's comment. "Wh-what are you saying? Better yet... how can you say that!?" He demanded, "Look, kid. You and I both know, that our Usefulness Levels are everything to us! Our levels are what makes us who we are! If we don't have at least an eighty, we are uselesses." In his passionate statement, Luka did not notice Désiré wince.
   "What I'm saying," Désiré shrugged, and glanced down, "is that what good is being a useful, when you are not a good person?"
    Désiré's question hit Luka like a truck. He had to admit, that he had never really thought of that, before.
     Désiré noticed Luka's look of shock and hurt, and suddenly felt nervous and embarrassed at the same time. "I-I-I'm s-s-s-so s-s-s-sor-ry!" He blurted out, causing Luka to jump. "I-I-I w-was out of-f l-line..."
    "Hey, hey," Luka soothed, placing a firm, yet gentle hand on Désiré's arm. As he did, he felt Désiré stiffen under his touch, but he ignored the reaction, and continued— "you were not out of line, kid. It's just... I had not thought, that there were others who thought like me."
Désiré smiled, as Luka continued— "well, I have to say, that it is very nice to meet another useful, who has the same thought as myself."
Désiré's smile faded into a frown. For a brief moment, he had felt like he and Luka had come to an understanding. But clearly, he had been wrong. Désiré was about to say something else, when...
"Okay, you guys," Connor's loud voice echoed through the room, as he exited the bathroom, "Désiré, I hope that you remembered your keys today?"
    Luka stifled a laugh, as he watched Désiré blush.
   "I. Uh. Well..." Désiré stammered.
   "I take that as a no," Connor said. As he rolled his eyes, he opened a drawer, and rummaged through it.
   "How many times do I have to tell you, Désiré, that I am not your babysitter. Ah ha!" Connor exclaimed, as he tossed a key to Désiré.
    Suddenly, Luka felt guilty. "You know, it was probably my fault, Connor..." Luka began to apologize. He was certain that his presence had made Désiré neglect to remember his keys.
Connor put his hand up, stopping Luka in the middle of his apology. "Ok," he said, "first of all, I don't recall saying that you and I are on 'first-name-basis. You can call me Mr. Rodriguez." Luka blinked in surprise, as Connor continued— "second, you do not stick up for Désiré. As I said, he does not need a babysitter. Oh, Désiré, I packed you a sandwich for lunch," Connor paused in front of Luka. "I'm sure you're going to be buying your own lunch, Useful?"
Luka looked at Désiré, hoping for some back up. However, Désiré only shrugged helplessly, as Connor pushed past. Obviously, it was going to take Connor awhile to warm up to their guest.
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"Order up!" Connor shouted to Désiré, above the shouts of laughter of the club's guests.
"I'll be right there!" Désiré answered.
   Luka was Currently sitting at the... how did Mr. Rodriguez... oh, to 🦀🦅🐞🐞 with that name! How did CONNOR say it? Oh! That's right! He called it the isolation table.
Despite the name, Connor and Désiré, had both assured Luka, that they had reserved this table, especially for honored guests. However, Luka was beginning to have doubts, as more and more customers began to scoff and point at him.
"Here is your non-alcoholic drink, Luka," Désiré's voice interrupted Luka's thoughts, as he set a glass down on Luka's table.
"Great," Luka said flatly, "and this is what I am paying how much for, exactly?"
A mischievous look played across Désiré's face. "Well," Désiré said, "if you would like to include a lunch plate, your total would be oh, I would say, about forty bucks."
If Looks could kill, then the glare that Luka gave Désiré, would have succeeded right then and there. "And let me guess," Luka said, "you are not going to let me leave here, without buying lunch."
Désiré laughed, shook his head, and said "Nope!"
Luka's glare turned into a small smile. "I suppose that I deserve that," he said, as he shook his head.
"So," Désiré spoke up suddenly, "can ask you something, Luka?"
"Sure," Luka shrugged, and gestured to the seat across from him.
"So last night," Désiré began, as he sat down, "you mentioned that someone had called you, after five years..." Désiré let his voice trail off, as he noticed Luka stiffen. There was no doubt about it, the call that had apparently driven Luka to become over inebriated, was still bothering him.
"I mean... you don't have to answer that," Désiré said.
Luka sighed, and buried his face in his hands. "Itwasmybrother," Luka's words came out, slurred together.
"What?" Désiré asked. Had he actually heard Luka correctly? Did he say that the call had been from his brother?
"The call was from Liam," Luka mumbled, "Liam is my brother, whom I haven't heard from, in five years."
"Wow," was all Désiré could come up with, "that... I can't believe that... I'm so sorry." And Désiré really was sorry.
"Ah well," Luka said, "there's really nothing you can do about it. Besides, I have decided, that if I can just avoid him, for just awhile longer... maybe he'll just leave me alone again."
Désiré looked at Luka with confusion. "But... what if he was trying to get ahold of you for an important matter? W-w-wouldn't you want to know what he has to say? What if you're in s-s-some sort of t-t-t-trouble!?"
    "Whoa! Whoa! Slow down, kid!" Luka held out his hand, and laughed.
     Désiré looked questioningly at Luka, but he did stop talking.
     Satisfied, Luka began to speak— "Okay, three things; first of all, that was a mouthful. Second, why don't you try slowing your words down a bit? That is probably why you stutter too much. And third... me, Luka Westfield. In trouble!?" Luka burst into a fit of laughter.
    "I. Do. Not. S-s-see. Why th-th-that. Is f-f-funny. T-t-to. Y-you." Désiré had slowed his statement down. However, he seemed to still be stuttering.
    "Hey," Luka said with a smile, "that was a great start, Désiré! Now, to answer your question— why is the issue of me being in trouble funny? Well Désiré, that's the boring part of my life... I never get in trouble."
    Désiré looked directly into Luka's eyes. "You can never be to sure," he said. A hint of darkness was present in his voice.
If Luka thought that Désiré's comment was odd in any way, he was ignoring it.
All of a sudden, what sounded like several message alerts, came across Luka's phone.
"What the...!?" Luka exclaimed, as he rushed to pull the phone out of his pocket.
After the phone was resting in the palm of his hand, Luka began to scroll through the messages.
As Luka was reading through the messages, one at a time, Désiré could not help but to notice several odd changes in Luka's demeanor. With every scroll, Luka's carefree attitude began to melt away.
At the last message, there was nothing left to even hint, that Luka had been laughing and joking just two minutes ago.
"Oh ❄️🦀🌴🌵!" Luka swore, as he tossed his phone down on the table.
"What is it?" Désiré asked. However, Luka seemed to be unwilling to answer, as he stared blankly at his phone. "What happened, Luka?" Désiré continued to press Luka, hoping that nothing horrible had happened.
Suddenly, as if snapping out of a trance, Luka looked up at Désiré. How could he tell Désiré this? He wondered to himself. This sort of thing did not happen. At least, not to him! But... Désiré seemed to be the type of person that would not abandon him on the spot. Perhaps Luka could confide in his newfound friend?
"That was Nikala... I. I think..." Luka stumbled over his words, trying desperately, to find the right ones. "Désiré, I think... I'm in trouble..."