Black or White

Chapter 4 )( Should Have Asked For Her Number

 Dan was taking his time in accepting that his sister probably held a very valid point when she said he was a little stupid. Although, the particular situation he has found himself in could better be described as irresponsible rather than straight up stupid.

"So, how am I going to find your girl? You don't have a name, an institution she's been to, an associate – you've got nothing, bro. If I was any of the other cheap P.I.s, that are really just crooks, in this city I woulda come up with some bullshit info to tell you then made off with your money." Dan kept his eyes trained on the air conditioning unit above Lee's head, his mind was made up and he would not look at Lee's judgy face again while this meeting took place. "You need to do better, Dan."

Dan's throat worked then, his adam's apple bobbed up then down under the skin, and he licked his dry lips a little, quietly anxious for the warm air outside the little office; if it could be called that. There was only enough space for two people to sit comfortably, there were also only two chairs and the back left corner had a tall drawer cabinet which was probably filled with papers and CDs. It had really dim lighting too, which provided a good explanation for Lee wore glasses with rims thicker than the fog in Dan's mind when he thought about that time his mother had accidently fed him a whole jalapeno pepper when he was about ten.

"Dan! Pay attention, bro. I don't have all day, just tell me if you have any way of getting something that will make me be able to find her." Dan squinted a little, the A.C. was really starting to make his eyes dry too. He turned his head to the computer hardware on the desk adjoining the one Lee sat behind for the moment, he thought about what Lee said.

"Um, I mean, I can try." Lee groaned and put two fingers against his temple.

"Ok, you know what, bro. I'm giving you till the end of this week. If nothing by then you get back half your money – cause you look too broke to swindle out of all of it – and our business is done." Lee gave him a tight lipped smile for politeness if Dan were to guess. "Now leave my office. Please, it's been three hours, I need to eat."

"Can I come with you?" Dan didn't think to not say it before the question made itself heard.

"You have money to pay?" A pause because Dan gave no answer. "Get out, Dan."

Dan walked into his rut of an apartment an hour later. He shrugged off his new dumpster coat and threw it over the back of the couch, making sure not to look at the kitchen for fear of his stomach growling. It was only three in the afternoon but he had to hold back on eating before four thirty; because studies (done by Dan) have proven that the ideal times to eat to lessen hunger pains were eight thirty a.m., four thirty p.m. and if someone was buying food for him, anytime they decided upon did him well.

He flopped onto the couch and threw his arm over his face. Then threw it off and wrinkled his nose like an upset rabbit. He twisted his neck so that he could stick his nose as close as possible to his armpit and huffed out a large breath in a fake gagging motion.

It was the price he had to pay, paying for that P.I. meant that Dan would have to make like the early Europeans and bathe once a week to avoid raising his water bill too much. Well, he couldn't handle once a week but it's been three and a half days since he last showered. However, Dan had always thought the pre-exploring (and conquering) Europeans were disgusting creatures, so he got up to go bathe. Dan also had not turned on his lights in a week; his bathroom had no windows so he bathed in the dark.

In the past three weeks Dan had made a lot of sacrifices, and one very stupid decision, all with the goal of finding Plum Girl. A week spent at internet cafes with his computer wannabe, entailing some useless social media stalking and a hacking attempt gone very wrong to the point that he had to trash the device then pray that incognito could actually conceal identity. The week after that he laid on his couch in defeat and sporadically confided in his sister about him not being able to find a girl that had caught his attention, to which she had deadpan told him if he was so obsessed he should just hire a Private Investigator with his broke ass. Last week Dan borrowed Marcus' computer and searched for an affordable P.I.; lucky for him, Marcus had a cousin who was a Private Investigator: Lee.

It had been three whole weeks since Dan had seen Plum Girl and he could feel his determination waning but he wanted to see his search through to the best of his ability. The fact remained, though, that Dan developed some manic tendencies when he became fixated on something and was prone to do very illogical things.

He dropped the only towel he owned in the dirty clothes basket in the bathroom after he put some old but comfy house clothes on, but had to pick it back up to dry the ends of this braids before he went back out to the couch. The bathroom opened from the wall opposite the door and so it took about four steps from the bathroom door to the couch. The cushions seemed extra tough in the last week with Dan knowing that he might have to sell his only object for rest if he did not manage to scrape up enough money for rent that month. Then again, if he didn't give Lee anything to work with by the end of the week he may be able to keep the couch.

Logically speaking, Dan ought to just let the week pass and get some of his money back to remedy the very tight situation he had put himself in. In reference to the mention of Dan's bad fixation habits though, Dan would not do that. Even though he knew he had no way of getting something to track Plum Girl within month much less a measly week. His sister really had every right to hit him over the head the next time she came to visit.

He allowed his head to roll to the side to look at the black TV screen. He reached for the remote on the floor and almost made the mistake of turning on the TV. Instead, he pulled his arm back up and breathed into both palms – in then out, in then ooooout.

As he breathed he ran through his schedule for the day in his mind. It was really such a surprise (to no one) that Dan had nothing planned for the rest of the day after his meeting with Lee; so he did what anyone with common sense and nothing to do would. Dan slept.

The damp morning air formed dew drops on his skin when woke Dan up at dawn. He blinked the sleep and matter from his eyes and soon afterwards felt his body shiver. One look over the couch back reminded him that he'd left the window open the afternoon before.

It seemed fitting that he moved to close the window like an animal slowly succumbing to a frozen tundra as that was how it felt walking towards the source of the cold morning air. Once the window pane reunited with the sill, he gave his body a good shake to get the blood flowing warm again. His stomach growled menacingly as he took a step back towards the couch; right, he had skipped meal number 2 yesterday.

Dan changed course, he headed towards the kitchen to make himself breakfast.

By the time he had topped his pile of plates with a new dirty dish and turned to take his original journey to the couch, the sun had begun to shine brighter.

Morning sun always shone the clearest and the brightest, only rivalled by morning sun after rain; Dan had always thought it made everything it shone on sparkle. Everything expect his dirt and clutter ridden apartment apparently. His previously open schedule for that day now had a slot filled for 'cleaning'.

Maybe he could even hit up Marcus for lunch later or stop by Damien, he thought as he stepped around the side table beside the couch; something fell to the floor when he bumped into it. He picked it up and sat down. It was a camera – the camera he had bought on a whim three weeks ago to film himself staying up all night just to prove to his sister that he could. It was dead.

Dan peeked through the little slot in the back of the camera just because. Maybe he could put it to use if he had money to buy batteries for it every once in a while. Dan had never been attracted to visual art related endeavors, that was his sister's thing, but the idea excited him for the time being. Of what, or whom, Dan would capture on film, he had no clue – no, he had some clue. He imagined taking a picture of Plum Girl, with the bright morning sun lighting up her features and her white hair, on the camera in his hand. He did not feel as infatuated as he had before their movie night a few weeks ago but that fact stood that she was someone to behold.

That's when it hit him.

His plans for the day now had the slot for 'Cleaning' replaced with 'Go to Lee and get him to pull the footage off the camera'. He banked on there being something on there that would guarantee he would not be getting his money back.