Teach Me To Behave

22. Home Is Where the Hurt Is

The early morning grass glimmered with dew and the sun was shining over the horizon of the awaking city. The normal warm weather of the city had finally kicked back in and was nearing in the 70's (Fahrenheit). It had been an unusually colder winter this year, nothing that couldn't be cured with a light fuzzy jacket, but I was loving the warm weather permanently moving in.

I fought with the cheap motel door, as I did every morning, until it finally locked safely. I jumped into my car quickly, tossed my backpack in the passengers seat, and reversed out of the parking lot and on to the empty roads.

I was early this morning so I decided to take a longer route to work. On my ride down the blocks toward the cafe, I passed Justin's house where I assumed he was sleeping. That is, until I saw a dark-blonde haired boy sitting on the steps of a beautiful house. Justin recognized my car almost immediately and stood up from his crouched position. I pulled into the driveway.

"What're you doing up so early?" I asked although I already knew Justin was an early riser.

He twirls his healthy energy drink between his bold fingers, "Morning run, just finished."

I nodded at his rosy cheeks that appeared whenever he worked out. "I was headed to work a little too early, thought I'd take the detour route." I say. He offers me something to eat, but I declined with the loss of appetite at this early hour.

He sits back down on the second step off the ground and takes a gulp of his drink. "Rough night?" I then ask sitting down beside him after noticing is weary attitude.

"Drowning in thoughts." He says. "I talked to Travis last night, he came by." He raises his brows and looks over at me.

I'm positive he has more to say, he's just waiting for me to give him the green light to keep going, "About?"

"Jeremy." He answers quickly. "I told Travis I wanna do it, I wanna find him, but now I'm not so sure."

I nod my head. I know I was the one who initially pushed Justin for this, but now things are getting much more complicated. I didn't think about what would actually happen if Justin comes face-to-face with the man who completely stripped him of himself. Anyone who's ever said one word to Justin knows that he's got a temper on his shoulders. Rather he's waiting to lash out on Jeremy or expecting some type of father-son moment, there will be a heavy possibility of disappointment.

"I think if you do decide to meet up with Jeremy, you need to make sure your head is clear of any fantasies. I don't wanna sound harsh, but you should be prepared for the truth. You haven't seen this man in years and all your memories of him are . . . dark. You might not find what you're looking for." I explain hoping that Justin understands.

He nods slowly, thinking about what I just said. He steps off the porch onto the pathway through the front lawn, "It's a nice morning, let me walk you to work, you have time?" He asks putting his hand out.

I smile gently and put my hand in his. I still had a good 20 minutes before my shift began and the cafe was only a few blocks from Justin's house. We walked down the sidewalk toward the direction of the cafe. Once we got there, Justin decided to go home and shower and said he'd meet me back here in a couple hours.

My shift was slow in the mornings as usual. The streets were rather quite except for a few early runners and the old couple sitting in the booth at the café. Vicky walks in around 9 that morning.

"Hey Vic, where you been?" I ask realizing it's been a few days since the last time we got together.

Vicky stomps up to the counter and angrily sits on the stool in front of the counter, "Travis and I broke up."