Troublemaker - 2. Chapter Two

Barrett

It was almost noon on a Monday as I finished taking stock of the inventory inside the ambulance, marking a detailed list on a tablet as I checked everything. Today was very relaxed with only one client currently needing a non-emergency ride to the hospital that only totaled ten minutes to complete. I hoped the rest of my shift went smoothly as the events a few days ago still made itself known in my thoughts.

“Hey, I got the IV bags you needed.”

I turned to see my fellow coworker and best friend since freshman year of high school, Anthony, step into the ambulance with a couple IV fluid bags that I requested.

“Thanks,” I said, accepting the items and placing them in their appropriate compartment. “I believe everything is fully restocked. Just have to do that paperwork for that client.”

“Don’t worry. I did that as you were checking the inventory.”

“Oh, good. I appreciate that. Guess we don’t have anything else to do other than shoot the breeze.”

“Or eat? That’s also an option. I ordered us some double cheeseburgers with fries. Should be here in five minutes.”

I chuckled. “Of course you did.”

Working as a paramedic for a private ambulance service wasn’t my first dream as I grew up, but the past three years had solidified my belief that I made the right choice. Though we did receive the occasional emergency, the job was mostly chill since we only served clients who could afford our services. And the rush whenever I managed to stabilize a client before certain death was always a thrill. Along with that, another perk included working with Anthony as my right-hand man whose father was the owner of the ambulance company and was like a paternal figure to me as well.

The food was delivered only two minutes later, and Anthony and I sat at our usual lunch spot at the rear of the ambulance as we pulled out of our burger and Cajun fries.

“You got a milkshake too?” I said, eyeing the large milkshake in Anthony’s left hand.

“Yeah, cookies and cream. You want a sip?”

“I’m good… You should really watch what you’re eating, man. You’ve been ordering a lot of fast food lately. When was the last time you had a vegetable?”

“Hey, now. There’s vegetables in a burger,” Anthony argued with his mouth full.

“Doesn’t count,”I scoffed.

“I’m fine, Barrett. Does someone with guns like these need to worry about their diet?”

Anthony flexed his biceps, and I responded by pinching the noticeable pudge in his belly that caused him to yelp.

“I’m serious. Be careful with what you put in your body, or else you’ll be the one calling for an ambulance,” I warned. “Don’t want you flatlining on me anytime soon.”

“Chill, friend. I’m still in my twenties. I’ll worry about it once I hit thirty.” Sensing my dissatisfaction, he then said, “I’ll have the diet milkshake the next time I order, all right.”

I sighed and conceded as I popped a fry in my mouth.

“Anyway, enough about me. How was your date last Friday with Sabrina?” Anthony asked with a mouthful of fries.

“Not a date. Sabrina and I broke up more than three months ago. We’re just friends now.”

“Okay, so what did you and your friend, Sabrina, do last night?”

I wondered how much I should relay to Anthony since that Friday was more than just a night out. That night at that gay bar was probably the best time I had in a long time, but that time spent was with his younger brother, Todd.

“Just went to a bar and did some karaoke. Nothing too eventful,” I said.

“Which bar? The one that just opened in the downtown area? Heard their beer is handcrafted.”

“Uh, y-yeah. That one.”

“Really…because from my trip there, they didn’t have any kind of karaoke,” Anthony said suspiciously.

Crap. I was busted.

“Uh… All right, you caught me. Sabrina and I went to that one bar on Caesar Street.”

“What? The one in that gay neighborhood?”

“Yeah, that one. Bottoms Up. We just went there to check it out… Is that a problem?”

“No, no! Of course not. Where you go out isn’t my business,” Anthony said before sipping his milkshake. “Did you two have fun?”

“We did…and coincidentally, we bumped into Todd there.”

“Shit. What was he doing there?”

“Just spending time drinking beer with his friends. We even sang a song together on the karaoke machine.”

“Really? How’d that happen?”

“It’s…complicated. But your brother sang the shit out of Dancing Queen. I didn’t know he could even hold a note.”

“Me neither. I mean, I knew he took a chorus class in high school, but I didn’t think anything came out of that.”

“Huh. Interesting.”

I remembered being almost hypnotized as Todd sang that seventies song, like I was watching a live performance at a concert rather than on a small, rickety stage in a gay bar. I sang too, but only softly as to not overshadow his musical ability to own that song as if he wrote the lyrics himself. I always saw him as the shy little brother of Anthony, so to see him let loose with not only his voice, but his body as well was certainly an experience.

I just wished the rest of my night there was worth remembering since I bailed ten minutes after Sabrina left, the awkwardness being too much to bear. And his friend, Channing probably, kept asking me very flirtatious questions. They weren’t unwelcome, considering the guy was blond, blue-eyed, and had a killer, dimpled smile, but the main person I was interested in getting to know was Todd himself. Unfortunately, he returned to his dismissive self, and I felt like I was just in the way of him having a good time with his real friends.

I wondered what I did to deserve such a reaction. I mean, we weren’t close by any means, but I thought we were neutral acquaintances. But apparently, I was wrong.

“He was hitting on you or anything, was he?”

Where did that come from?

“No. Why are you asking that?” I asked.

“Just curious. He had a little crush on you back when we were in high school and seeing you at that bar might’ve given him an idea about you.”

“What idea? That I might’ve been into men too?”

And wait. Todd had a crush on me?

“Yeah, of course. You’re not gay, am I right?” Anthony asked with a raised brow.

The sudden urge to confess to my best friend about who I recently discovered about myself was interrupted when Jenny, the ambulance driver, appeared.

“Hey, we just got another call. A client complaining about chest pains that might be signs of soon-to-be heart attack. So, put your happy meals away and let’s go.”

Anthony sighed, but he did as ordered and placed our food into a small cubby. “Ready, partner?”

I forced a smile. “Always.”

Other than that one client whose chest pains were only a bad case of heartburn, the rest of my shift went by smoothly. Despite my better judgment, I allowed Anthony to eat my leftovers as I had little interest in cold, greasy food. Instead, I decided to go to a local grocery store called Marty’s that Sabrina told me about, supposedly having the best prices along with a deli that supposedly deserved the best subs in the city.

It was the evening time when I arrived at the grocery store, so thankfully there were plenty of spaces to park my car. And as soon as I entered Marty’s, a bagger and cashier both greeted me. I smiled at them and picked up a shopping basket before walking toward the dairy section.

As I skimmed for organic whole milk, a person restocking the aisle caught my attention.

“Todd?”

Todd stumbled back, almost dropping a carton of milk from his hands. He then turned to me, and sighed with what seemed like relief.

“Oh. It’s just you.”

“Yeah, hey. I didn’t know you work here,” I said, trying to strike a conversation.

“Yup. have been for the past year… Can I help you with something?”

“Sure. Can you point me to where the organic whole milk is?”

“Got one right here.”

Todd handed me the carton he almost dropped.

I smiled. “Thanks!”

“N-no problem.”

The slight blush on his cheeks brought my mind back to the shy kid brother of Anthony who always watched us at a distance, seemingly too afraid to join whatever fun we were having. However, he definitely got taller, only shy of two inches from my six-foot frame. His body filled out too with lean muscle. He still had the same circular, thin-rimmed glasses that made him look like a wizard; but not a bad look at all. He pulled off the nerdish look well, though, his reddish auburn hair styled perfectly with a strand loose on his forehead.

“So…I should get back to work,” Todd said, taking a step back.

“Okay. Have a nice…”

I eyed the milk carton in my hand and noticed what appeared to be a bandage with a cow print. A closer inspection revealed it was a sticker that had milk leaking from the bottom like blood. I then looked at the milk cartons to my right; they also had the same sticker placed crookedly on the front.

“You noticed the stickers too, huh?”

Todd was smirking.

“Yeah. What’s up with that?” I asked.

“Just some person doing sticker graffiti is all.”

“Sticker graffiti?”

“Yup. It’s like regular graffiti you see spray painted on the streets, but with stickers. It’s an act of protest in the form that is less destructive to property but no less powerful in spreading a message, like about society.”

“You seem to admire whoever is putting these stickers up.”

Smiling, Todd said, “You can say that. It’s very artistic–”

“And illegal.”

Both Todd and I turned to see a man, probably the store’s manager, approaching us. He took one glance on the milk cartons, jugs, and bottles labeled with the sticker graffiti and swore.

“Jesus! It’s everywhere in this section.”

“I know, right,” Todd said.

“How the hell did someone place all these stickers without anyone noticing? Todd…”

“I don’t know anything. I’m just your stock boy.”

The man grumbled. “I examined the surveillance footage too, but nothing. Keep an eye out, Todd. As soon as this person is found, I’m going to get their ass banned from my store for life!”

He stormed off, and my eyes returned to Todd who looked ready to burst into laughter.

“I’m assuming that’s the manager.”

“The manager’s grandson, actually, who thinks he owns the store and can boss anybody he wants. These stickers, you can say, are an act of protest to his tyrannical rule.”

I cocked my head at Todd who was doing a very bad job at convincing me that he had no involvement with whoever’s placing these stickers.

“What?”

I just chuckled and said, “Nothing. Nothing at all.”

“Do you need help finding anything else, sir?” Todd asked politely.

“Yeah. Can you point me to where the deli is?”

Todd pointed his finger to the back of the aisle, and I thanked him before walking away. I gave one last look toward his direction, him bending over with his ass on full display.

Crap. I shouldn’t be looking at Todd like that. He was the last person I should be checking out. He was my best friend’s kid brother. Christ, anybody but him.

I walked to the deli and ordered a foot-long sandwich and then went to get some vegetables and fruits. After checking out my items with a friendly cashier, I exited the store. The whole process only took ten minutes, and I could confidently say that I would be returning to Marty’s very soon.

Pulling my car key from my pocket, I heard an argument near where the shopping carts were stored. Nosy me noticed it was Todd talking to someone on his phone.

“Yes, Dad. I know it’s a minimum-wage job. But I’m working full time and getting a promotion is also a possibility… To what? To the head stock boy? Dad, stop worrying about me… Just let live my own life, okay? I’m not going to be like Anthony who graduated college and is working under your feet… Yeah, whatever!”

I watched as Todd ended the call and bowed his head. I heard what might’ve been a sob when he suddenly faced me.

Todd grimaced and stomped back into the store without saying a word to me.

Damn. I knew from Anthony that Todd and his father didn’t have the best relationship, but I didn’t know it was that bad. To be honest, I didn’t blame his father’s concern. Spending four years in college only to drop out and work at a grocery store as a stock boy. Not a situation many people dreamt of. Then again, Todd seemed happy with his friends and whatever stunt he was pulling with the sticker graffiti.

It was weird. Todd actually graduated high school a year earlier and was believed to be following his mother’s footsteps on becoming a nurse, perhaps even a straight-up doctor. Then I remembered his mother’s death and how Anthony said it affected Todd immeasurably when she died only a few days after he started college.

I felt bad for Todd, though any condolences I wanted to offer to him now would be harshly ignored. It was awkward encountering him at that bar, him offering me his disapproving glare. And yet, I somehow felt compelled to try to befriend him despite whatever animosity he held against me.

How I would do that, though? No freaking idea.

Back in my one-story bungalow located in a nice, quiet neighborhood, I began storing all my groceries in the refrigerator. Upon holding the milk carton, I checked to see if the sticker could peeled off. The process was actually very easy, and I discovered what looked like the user handle to a social-media account printed on the back of the sticker.

I made a mental note to check out the site later when my phone buzzed in my pocket. Pulling it out, I saw a text from Anthony asking if I wanted to attend a cookout being hosted by his father on Sunday.

Texting back, I replied with a yes.

He then texted a joke about eating a salad with his hamburger.

I sent a rolling-eyes emoji before returning to my task.

Anthony may have thought my concern for his health to be silly, but as paramedics, we saw numerous cases of treating our clients who had a range of health complications relating to poor diets. Sure, Anthony had muscles, but no amount of lifting weights could unclog an artery. He should really reevaluate his health because I didn’t want to think about living the rest of my life without Anthony by my side. And though they had their differences, I was sure Todd would be devastated if anything happened to his big brother.

Now that was thinking about it, was Todd coming to the cookout too? If so, maybe I could talk to him, get him to relax and be friendly towards me. Or it could just end up an awkward mess again. I guess I'll find out on Sunday.