Trouble in Tiltown

West

My body slowly turned to be met with a man with dry, shoulder length black hair. His eyes, dark brown were decorated with red circles underneath. He wore all black with a sweater that hung off his body drastically.
His eyes trailed from Jerrick to James to Kate and then his eyes finally landed on me. He acted as if this incident was a bore to him. He stared with dullness filling his eyes.
"Y'all ain't gonna run off because the owner came back. I won't hurt you," he pauses as he took out a small dog from underneath his sweater that was 2x too big for him, allowing it to walk around and sniffing us with curiosity.
"No, not like they'll hurt you here." He finished as he sat down in a chair by a microphone.
Jerrick cleared his throat, "Sorry sir. We didn't realize someone was living here. We'll be leaving." He sighed quietly to himself as Jerrick and James made their way up to the ladder as Kat followed behind. I felt her eyes land back at me, but I ignored it to focus on the man. Once she finally gave up and left, I made the decision to stay.
"Who are you?" I questioned him.
He laughed but never allowing the laugh to actually escape his mouth.
"You intrude in on my home and ask who I am." He states to me.
"I'm-I'm sorry. I should leave." I apologized before making my way to the ladder. However, his deep voice spoke up again.
"You're that kid I talked to. I know that voice." He turns to me in his chair, twiddling with a pen in between his fingers.
I turned to face him, "You're that guy! The radio man." I said, as my voice cracked with excitement.
His pale lips turned up, only slightly. As if he couldn't show too much emotion. He made sure he didn't show too much emotion ever.
"The radio man. That's an interesting nickname." He replied. His Black and Tan dog ran up to his feet, as he picked it up and it slept peacefully in his lap.
"Well, I never caught your name." I said.
Putting the pen on his lips, "I never threw it." He spoke as he turned to his microphone before speaking again.
"Hello late, late listeners of Tiltown. Do you have your coffee? Are you ready for tonight's talk?" He lowly spoke into it.
"Can you tell me your name at least?" I questioned him, my tone of voice practically begging him.
I realized he took notice of me, only taking sight with his eye in the corner. But furthermore, he continued ignoring me to talk to his people.
"We've got a special guest here tonight. Now, I know this is only the second time I've done this but people, be nice." He orders. Suddenly, he reveals another microphone that hid by his desk and set it up. He brings me another chair to sit in and hesitantly, I sat down by him with the microphone in front of me.
"What is your name, young man?" He inquired me, looking deep into my eyes.
Underneath his intense stare, I squirmed in my skin before answering.
"Uhm, it's Laurence." I spoke close to the microphone.
"Laurence, how long have you been living here in Tiltown?" He only looked at me, instead of into the microphone. It was just as if we were the only ones talking. Because of this, my fingers found each other again in my lap.
"Since I was just a baby." I answered, speaking from the corner of my lips, my eyes keeping their focus on the radio man.
He nodded, "I see. What are your thoughts on my home?" He called me out on live radio. If my mother hears this, I'm grounded for sure. Was this man angry with me? Even if he was, I could never tell. His eyes refused to show me.
"I have to go." I stood to my feet to leave. His eyes followed me the whole way to the ladder before I heard him tell his microphone that he'd be back after a break. My arms wrapped around myself in attempt to keep myself warm. Jerrick's car awaited me with them inside.
The radio man followed me outside and just before I opened the car door to leave with my friends, he spoke up.
"The name is West, kid." He finally admitted to me. My eyes glanced back at him one last time and for the first time since I've seen him, his body finally relaxed himself and instead of a hardened expression that he usually wore on his tired face, he had softened it. I nodded before getting in and Jerrick driving off.

The drive back home was silent, which was strange in my head because there was so much to talk about. Was it something I had done? Did they argue while I was busy with West in his shed that he calls home? I wondered about more things as the drive continued. So many things I wish I could know.

Jerrick's POV

We sat in the car quietly, and nervously, waiting for Laurence to come back.
"I-I have to talk to you about something." Kat spoke softly. Her voice making me flinch as I continued watching closely for my best friend.
"O-okay."
She sighed heavily, "I can't be with you anymore."
My heart felt as if it had dropped into my stomach, giving me instant nausea.
My head turned back at her, "What are you talking about?" James kept his head down at his feet as Kat looked at everything else in the car. As long as it wasn't my watery eyes she stared at.
"I'm breaking up with you. I'm sorry." Her voice creaked towards the end.
I breathed, "Why? What did I do? I'll fix it." She shook her head, turning her head to her window. Her eyes watched the snow as it melted, revealing the grass as dirty as ever. It made me wonder if she thought our relationship had been like that. It appeared pretty, but really the whole time, it was dirt.
"It's not you. We just don't fit and I'm tired of us pretending that we do. You know it, I've known. A relationship should have true feelings. This just isn't that." She admitted. Maybe she was right. I turned my body back into my seat, hands gripping the steering wheel as I silently told myself not to cry in my head. Thankfully, Laurence came back just then. Saving me.