The Tribuo - 65. Part V, chapter 18

- XVIII -

December 29th

LEX

“So now you live with two women?” I asked when my breath got back to normal.

Russell laughed at that and pulled me closer. The new headboard looked like it was going to last me until Judgment Day. It was solid oak, there was no way we could break this one.

“Just until New Year’s Eve,” he said, running his fingers through my hair. “That’s when Rayne leaves.”

“Jess too,” I said, my eyes closed.

“Jess leaves?” puzzlement in his voice made me open my eyes.

“Yeah,” I breathed. “She told me a while ago that she was gonna go to Florida on December thirty-first.”

“This year?” he frowned.

“Yeah,” I rolled my eyes. “This year.”

“Huh,” he said very thoughtfully. “Today it what? Twenty-eighth?”

“Ninth.”

“I don’t think she even remembers about Florida,” he said. “I mean, she is not packing or anything…”

“She might’ve forgotten,” I shrugged. “I’ll ask her tomorrow. I am not getting out of bed tonight, no way.”

“If she really did forget,” his fingers started sliding down my chest. “...then she is screwed. There is no way in hell she’ll be able to get a plane ticket for the thirty-first.”

“So, you saying, I should talk to her now?” I looked at him.

“Nope,” he shook his head. “I am just saying that she is screwed.”

I looked at him again.

“What?” he asked softly.

I sighed and rolled on my side.

“Where are we?” I asked bluntly. I knew that if I started thinking about this conversation and planning it, I would never start it. Bluntness was the only way to do it.

He looked like he was about to say something like, “In your bed,” but he didn’t. Instead, he sighed and propped himself up on his elbow.

“I don’t know,” he said finally. “But I like it.”

“Just like this?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “I like being with you. It makes me happy…”

“You still see Brian when you look at me, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” he nodded calmly. “I always will. I am not blind, you know… But I only see the resemblance. I don’t see Brian in you. I see you in you. It’s like looking at someone’s twin, you know? You realize that they look the same, but you also realize that they are two different people… I’m not gonna lie to you; I will always remember Brian, and I will probably get drunk every year on the day he died for a long time, but…” he shrugged. “I can’t help it. But I am not going to dwell on the past either. I want to be with you, Lex…”

I lay on my back and closed my eyes. I didn’t say anything for several minutes. He was silent as well. Finally, I started talking, and I told him everything about Jordan and me. I never opened my eyes. I just talked. He didn’t interrupt, didn’t ask any questions. He listened.

“I don’t look like him, do I?” he asked finally, when I was done talking.

I opened my eyes and looked at him. He looked dead-serious.

“No,” I said. “That would be beyond creepy.”

“It would be,” he agreed. “I am not going to push anything, and I’m not gonna rush into anything, but I want to be with you…”

“I like that,” I muttered and pulled him closer.

Of course, a while later, I ended up on top again. I didn’t mind that a single bit.

December 30th

15:45

I looked at the clock and groaned. It’s almost four in the afternoon, dammit! I have to head over to Jess’ place. God, I dreaded that conversation like no other. But I also knew that I had to do it. I mean, that’s what friends are for, right? Right…

“I’m gonna go do it,” I said finally, and Russell nodded.

“Okay,” he said seriously. “I am going to stay out of there until… Call me when you done, will you?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. “You are so helpful that it makes my eyes water, really.”

“I do what I can,” he nodded. “Oh, wait with the whole talk thing 'till five or so, okay?”

“Why?” I looked at him with suspicion.

“I’m gonna get Rayne out of there as well,” he grinned. “No need for an innocent person to witness whatever is going to happen there, 'cause it’s not gonna be pretty. Oh, by the way… Didn’t wanna say anything before, because I thought that I was just being paranoid, but…”

He looked serious again.

“What is it?” I asked in defeat. I knew it was going to be something about Jess, and I knew I was not gonna like it.

“Ugh,” he sighed. “Lex, I think she is stealing now…”

“What?!” I stared at him in disbelief.

“I am missing almost two hundred bucks,” he grimaced. “At first, I thought I misplaced it, then I thought that maybe I spent it, but…” he looked at me. “I didn’t, okay? I am positive.”

“Crap,” I muttered. “When was it gone?”

“Not sure,” he admitted. “I only noticed it the day after Christmas, but I didn’t even go home on the twenty-fifth so…”

“Shit,” I muttered. “Well, wish me luck…”

“Good luck,” he said immediately. “Try not to let her get into the kitchen. That’s where we keep knives and other lethal objects.”

“Ha-ha,” I said without even smiling.

“I am serious,” he shrugged.

“I know,” I sighed. “That’s why I didn’t laugh.”

16:50

“Okay,” Russell said again after Rayne got into the car.

“She is an interesting character,” I glanced at her.

“She’s all right,” he nodded. “She did stare at you though.”

“I have that effect on people,” I agreed. “All right, I’ll call you when I am done.”

“Please,” he said seriously.

He leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on my mouth. I glanced at Rayne again. She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. I kissed Russell back and pulled away.

“I’ll call you,” I said again and he nodded.

I turned around, took a deep breath, and marched towards the door of the apartment.

___________________

17:00

MATT

Well, this is just great. Getting a flat tire in the middle of nowhere is definitely not my idea of a fun holiday. Of course, there was no spare in my trunk. Lovely. I kept cursing and calling myself every single name in the book for not checking if I had a spare before I decided to go on an almost twelve hour drive.

I waited for someone to drive by, but it seemed like everyone decided to ignore this road for good. Finally, I gave up and started walking. Sooner or later there will be a gas station or something.

…Almost an hour and a half later, when I gave up all my hope, I finally saw something in the distance that looked like a gas station. Oh God, please let it be so… If this is just some weird abandoned building, I’ll go nuts. After twenty or so minutes, I realized that it was indeed a gas station. I almost danced a jig right there, in the middle of the road. I probably would have if I weren’t so damn tired.

…It took almost another hour to get to my car, get it loaded onto the tow truck, and get it all the way back to that gas station. Another half an hour to replace the tire, get a freaking spare (believe me, I am always going to have a spare from now on), pay for the whole thing, and I was back on the road by eight in the evening. If I am lucky, I’ll make it there before midnight.

_____________________

17:30

JESS

Lex was acting weird. He sat in the kitchen for forty minutes or so, asking me how I was doing, how was life, and crap like that. Finally, I’ve had enough.

“Lex,” I interrupted him when he started saying something about next semester. “What’s up?”

He sighed.

“Okay,” he said. “Fine… Jess, are you on drugs?”

The change of topic was so sudden and unexpected that I started coughing. He waited patiently.

“What?!” I managed to say finally. “Why would you… What gave you such… How can you even think…”

“Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately?” he asked tiredly.

And then I knew what it was about.

“You want your money back, don’t you?” I hissed and he just stared at me.

“How did you come to that conclusion from what I said?” He asked incredulously. “No, I don’t want my money back… I mean, I do, but not right now… That’s not why I am here!”

“Oh, please!” I snorted. “It’s because of Russell, isn’t it?”

He blinked at that, and I immediately knew that I was right.

“What does he have to do with it?” he asked.

“Oh, please!” I was getting pissed off. “You probably wanna buy him some expensive shit! Like jewelry or whatever the hell he likes! And he probably told you to come here and squeeze that money out of me! I know that he hates me, I know that! He is the one who sent you, huh? Admit it!”

“Jesus,” he sighed. “Paranoid much? Look, Russell has nothing to do with this, okay? I wanted to talk to you for a long time, but you would avoid me, so…”

“I was busy!” I screamed.

I couldn’t figure out why I was so pissed off right now. And the whole paranoia thing? That was bullshit. I knew that my beloved roommate was probably plotting something against me -- I could feel it. I could practically smell it in the air. Paranoia my ass!

“Jess… Landley is in the hospital…”

“Still?” That statement caught me by surprise, and I didn’t have any time to think about my reaction.

“You knew,” Lex said slowly, looking at me very intently. “You are the one who called 911, huh?”

“Was I supposed to let him die or something?” I snorted. Screw it. So I knew that Landley was in the hospital, big deal!

“Hold on,” he frowned. “You do realize that he overdosed, right?”

“It’s his damn fault and his problem!” I snapped. “I am not part of that, I am…”

“Jess, who are you kidding?” He got up, and I had a very strong desire to smack him real hard. “Look, I don’t know how long you’ve been on this crap, but I’d say ever since that birthday party… Am I right?”

“Screw you!”

“That’s less than two months,” he was saying as if he didn’t even hear me. “If you stop now, then…”

“Screw… You…” I said slowly and loudly. “Ugh… I have a headache now… I need a cigarette!”

I stormed outside and slammed the door so hard that the whole apartment shook. I was pacing back and forth, clutching onto my cigarette, and I was fuming. What right does he think he has to get his nose into my business?! I mean, really! It doesn’t concern him! Why is he even here? Shit…

I managed to calm down a bit some minutes later, and could think more or less clearly. Okay, I thought, okay… Blowing up like I did was stupid. I knew that Russell managed to get Lex against me. God, I hate that guy! But you know what? Two can play that game. I smiled darkly when I had a plan stirring inside my head. Maybe if Lex knew what kind of an asshole my roommate really was… Yeah, that’s it… It wouldn't get him on my side right away, but it would keep him busy for a while, so he’d stay out of my business. All I had to do now was to play cool. I could do that, right? You betcha! I could get myself fixed up as soon as he left, and then I’d feel a hell of a lot better. My mood improved somewhat, I stabbed my cigarette in the ashtray, and went back inside.

Lex was still in the kitchen when I walked in. He got up as soon as he saw me, his face determined.

“Jess,” he said. “I know that you will probably hate me but…”

“I will never hate you,” I said sincerely.

“I sure hope so,” he muttered. “Look…”

“No, Lex,” I interrupted him. “There is something I need to talk to you about, okay? Please let me talk or I will chicken out again!”

“Jess, I just…”

“It’s about Russell,” I said quickly, and he stopped talking just as I thought he would. Excellent. I took a deep breath as if encouraging myself. “Did he ever tell you about Brian?”

He blinked.

“How do you know that name?” he asked quietly.

Oh, so he did tell him about that guy. Okay, fine.

“I overheard,” I said with a sigh. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I did anyway…”

“I know about him,” he nodded.

And then inspiration hit me. I looked at his somber face, remembered Russell’s conversation with that guy’s sister, and suddenly, I knew. They didn’t break up, nobody cheated on anyone, nothing like that. Brian was dead! Oh my God, this is even better than I thought!

“Lex,” I took another deep breath. This time I actually needed it. I didn’t want my voice to shake with excitement. That would be bad. “The reason I can’t stand Russell is because he is using you…”

He blinked in disbelief and was about to say something, but I didn’t let him.

“I didn’t want to say anything at first,” I said quickly. “Because I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I can’t wait any longer… I am sorry I snapped at you the way I did, I really am…”

“Jess…”

“He is with you only because you look like Brian,” I said without letting him to continue. “He said it himself, okay? I am sorry! He feels like he is betraying Brian every time he is with you… But at the same time, he realizes that he is not really betraying him, because Brian is the only one he sees every time he looks at you…”

“That’s bullshit,” he said slowly. “Jess, I know what you are doing…”

“Oh, yeah?” I narrowed my eyes. “Then how do I know that Brian is dead? How do I know that, huh? Look, he is talking to that guy’s sister on the phone every time he spends the night here, okay? And yes, I am eavesdropping on his conversations! Because I care about you!”

Now he was pale. That’ll teach him to stick his nose into someone else’s business, I thought with dark satisfaction. The part about phone conversations was a complete lie of course, but it sounded great, so I decided to kick it up a notch.

“You know what he said the last time he was here? He said that if he ever were to fall for someone else, he would never be able to forgive himself, because you never betray the ones you loved! Especially, if they died! He said that it would make him complete scum if he were ever to betray Brian’s memory; because it doesn’t matter how much time had passed, if you manage to forget the ones you loved just because they are gone…” I took a gulp of air. “...then you are nothing… Lex, I am sorry! I know I should’ve told you sooner, but…”

I guess my speech worked better than I expected, because suddenly, he looked completely white. I wonder what got to him so bad.

“Lex,” I whispered. “I am so sorry…”

“I gotta go,” he said and I high-fived myself in my head.

“Lex…”

“I’ll talk to you later…”

He left and I almost clapped my hands. It will take him a while to figure all this out. And Russell had better prepare for some serious ass kicking. Wow, two birds with one stone! Good job, Jess, good job…

I went into my bedroom, flipped on the lights, and glanced at the clock. Hmmm, 6:15, not bad. A quick fix, and then I am going to have a very pleasant evening all by myself.