Chapter 29
After a stack of pancakes and some coffee, I'd bid Aspen farewell. She'd promised she'd call and text me as much as she could while she was in Ireland. But I had no expectations.
I did get to kiss her before she left, so that was at least something. It left me feeling both optimistic about our future and depressed that I'd be without her for an undetermined amount of time.
When she'd walked away down the street, I felt cold and alone again.
I went back to the apartment to pack up my stuff. At least Mr. Chen had given me thirty days to get off the premises. I had twenty five of those left. I was hoping it was enough time for me to figure out what I was going to do.
I unlocked the door and pushed it open. I stepped over the threshold and sighed. Everything was basically the way it was those five days ago. I'd managed to clean up most of the mess, but there were still some things that remained broken and piled into a corner. Like the wall unit. I didn't have the heart or the strength to buy a new one, or attempt to put that one back together.
So I just stacked all my CDs and DVDs that hadn't been busted along the wall. The DVD player and stereo system had been smashed, so it wasn't like I could watch or listen to anything right now.
I collapsed onto the sofa and took in a deep breath. The curtains at the window rustled and Bali jumped in. She padded over to me and jumped onto my lap. I ran my hand over her furry head.
"I'm sorry about your dad, Caden. He was kind to me when you weren't looking."
That made me smile a little. "I know. Thanks."
She purred softly and rubbed against my arm. "Now that you have to leave here, where are you going to go?"
"I'm not sure. I won't leave you though. I made you a promise and I will keep it. I just need some time."
She gave me one of her odd kitty smiles. "I know and I will give you that time."
"Good."
I glanced around the place again, realizing I had a lot to do still, but didn't feel like doing any of it. I just wanted to eat some pizza, drink a few sodas and play Xbox until I passed out from exhaustion. Was that really too much to ask for?
"I didn't know what you wanted, so I got a Hawaiian and meat lovers."
I turned around to see Dan setting down a couple of large pizza boxes on the counter, along with a six pack of Mountain Dew. He pulled one of the cans off and tossed it to me.
I caught it, popped the tab, and took a big satisfying gulp. I lifted the can to him. "Thanks, man."
"No worries."
Bali jumped off my lap and padded across the room to perch on the only remaining shelf attached to the wall. She gave Dan a green-eyed glare.
Dan promptly ignored her and grabbed himself a soda, and bringing a pizza with him, plopped down on the sofa next to me. He lifted the lid and offered me the first piece. In a way, it was an apology because Dan always took the first slice.
After folding the first piece into his mouth, he took a second and looked at me. "So, what now?"
"Don't know. I need to find a place to live and a job I guess. All my money's gone. Dad didn't have anything to leave me. What I see is what I get." I gestured to the vast emptiness of my wrecked apartment.
Dan shuddered. "Just hearing the word job gives me the creeps."
"You and me both, brother."
"Well, maybe something good will turn up."
Just as he spoke the last word my cell phone thumped from my pocket. I fished it out and answered.
"Yup."
"Caden Butcher?"
"Yup."
"This is Trey Summers. We met—,"
"I know who you are."
"Great. Look, I'm putting together a TV pilot. It's a reality show type of thing. And I'm hoping that you'll be in it."
I paused, not sure I heard exactly what he'd just said.
"Hello? Caden, you still there?"
"Yeah, I'm here. I'm not really sure I get what you're asking me."
Trey laughed. "I'm asking you to be in my TV show, dude. I got the idea from you anyway."
"How so?"
"From a news report I saw the other night about how you raised a cemetery full of zombies."
"It wasn't the whole cemetery."
"Well, regardless, it gave me the idea for the show. You'd be the star and I'd offer you about fifty grand to say yes right now."
I glanced at Dan. He was busy eating and trying to fix the Xbox remote. He looked at me and grinned.
I shook my head. He never smiled unless he'd done something either cool or really really bad.
"I'm in."
"Cool. Look why don't you fly down here to LA next week so we can talk logistics. Does that work for you?"
"Yeah, it works."
"Excellent. I'll text you the rest of the details. Chow." Trey disconnected.
I brought the phone down, pushed the end button and tossed it onto the table. I stared pointedly at Dan.
"Did you have something to do with this?"
"With what?"
"Don't play around with me, dude."
He set the remote down. "I may have whispered something in the guy's ear when he was sleeping."
I shook my head but grinned despite myself. "You're unbelievable."
"Think about it this way. You won't have to get a job. You can take that flake's money and run around and stake zombies or some shit. It'll be like a paid holiday for you."
I laughed, and it felt good. "Are you coming with?"
"Duh, of course I am. Have you not seen the chicks in LA? It'll be a virtual playground for a guy with my extreme good looks. Chicks dig bad boys. And I'm the baddest there is."
"You're not that bad." I picked up the remote and jiggled it. The little green light blinked on.
"Besides it'll be good for us. A new job, a new city. A new beginning. We can bury all of this behind us."
I nodded, not sure if I believed all that. Could a person really bury their past? It did have a tendency to pop up at the most inconvenient times. I've experienced that first hand. It was why I lost my dad.
But maybe Dan was right. A change might be good for me. I was sure the city of Toronto had enough of my destructive ways. The I.O would be more than pleased to know I moved on. Except for maybe Claudia. I know she cared.
Aspen was leaving the country, and I lost the apartment and my job, so it wasn't as if I was leaving anything behind except for bad memories.
Briefly satisfied, I turned on the TV and Dan and I played Xbox until the pizza was all gone, the soda cans were empty, and for just a moment I had a fleeting hope that everything would turn out all right. That maybe I could move on and be someone different. Be the man that my dad always hoped I'd become and hope the past stay buried.