Journey Home

Two

I know you're all wondering how Aster's special meal was. The food was okay. I didn't really like it because there were so many fruits and vegetables, and I am not about that healthy life. Although, the meat was nice and all. I didn't promise him that I would ever eat it again.

The next morning I put on one of my good outfits, getting ready for work. Yay! I worked at Belk in the Mens section, and I can't enunciate enough how much I hate this job. People can be so rude and bossy and whatnot, but, alas, I must get money to pay rent, so I can't complain. Jumping into my car with a cup of hot chocolate, I turn on the ignition. Aster works night shifts, so he gets to sleep in all he likes. Bastard.

I pull out of the driveway, hooking my phone up to the radio to play some music and head to Belk. Pulling into the parking lot, I wait in my car for several more minutes. I don't have to go in until 8:00, and for some odd reason, I was exceptionally early this fine morning. I finish my hot chocolate and get out of my car. Who cares if I've got half an hour to spare? I unplug my phone, hiding the cord under the driver's seat and stuffing the keys in my jeans pocket.

I enter the store to be greeted by Lilian, my manager. "You're here awfully early, Kane. It's good to see you."

"Yeah. I got up a little bit earlier this morning. It's good to be here," I say. Lilian nods, and I see this as my opening to leave. Heading to the back, I sit in our designated worker chill area. I pull out my phone, scrolling through Instagram until I needed to clock in.

...

I throw myself into my car at the end of my shift. It's 5:00 pm, and I'm ready to fucking nap. Alas, I wasn't able to do that. I had things to do! Rooms to clean! Food to eat! I plug my phone up in my car to 1) listen to music and 2) charge it since it's at 47%. I drive to Wendy's, getting two wraps and a frosty, eating it as I drive home. Sipping on my frosty, I enter the empty house.

Aster and my jobs are a bit inconvenient. I get off at 5:00 and that's when Aster goes in. We only usually have later hours together. By later, I mean from midnight onward. Okay, we also spend weekends together.

Whenever I'm preparing to do some deep cleaning, I put on my comfort clothes. So, I slip on a pair of tall socks, heels, spandex, and a t-shirt I cut into a crop top. I run through the hallway hearing the heels clack onto the floor. I open up the hallway closet to grab some cleaning supplies-- Windex, bleach, a trash bag, the broom, the mop, and a bucket. I do a freestyle tap dance back to my room to set down everything.

I flip on the TV in my room, putting on Spotify. As the music plays, I toss useless paper, receipts, and trash into the trash bag. I dump out my incense holder ashes in it as well, mentally noting that I need to scrub it. I pause my cleaning to light a stick of White Sage. I sing along to the song playing, continuing to my next step. I take off the sheets, blankets, and pillowcases on my bed, tossing them into the hallway to wash.

Next, I pick up all of my shoes and set them on my mattress. I fit everything else that I have on my floor onto my bed, including my rug and some semi-clean clothes. I sweep. I throw away what's in the dustpan into the trash bag. Then, I go into the kitchen to fill up the bucket with soap and water. I add in a dash of bleach.

I mop my bedroom floor. I then put my bed stuff into the washing machine. I bring the trash bag from my room into the kitchen, throwing away any trash I see. That includes an empty ketchup bottle that was hidden behind our paper towels and the corpse of a spider in the corner (I did not jump and scream like a child upon seeing it. I am not lying). After that, I tie up the bag and put it in our trash can outside for the garbage man.

I put everything back on the floor once it's dry, and my cleaning stops there. Originally, I had planned to try and clean the whole house, but alas. It seems today wasn't the day. I turn off my bedroom TV.