Chapter 6: Understanding Reality
"Shit…" Justin muttered kicking a trash can as a small kitten quickly ran by him.
"Damn cat…" He rounded the corner trying to dodge the kitten that was purring softly at his feet. The kitten sniffed at his pant leg and purred again.
Justin wiggled his leg attempting to force the cat off him; he was not succeeding. "Hey come on cat I have to look for something."
After two minutes, Justin stopped and sighed. He had already been walking for more than an hour and he was so many blocks away from his house that he had lost count. What was the point he was never going to find it anyway? Besides some junkie may have already picked it up and sold it just to get a hit.
Justin looked around at his surroundings; he noticed that he had ventured into a somewhat of a suburb-like neighborhood. Nice houses. He certainly would not mind living in a neighborhood like that.
"Well I guess it's time to head back…" Justin looked down at the cat still lingering below him. When he was about to stoop down to pick up the cat, a gleam caught his eye.
Curious, Justin walked over to the item. It was a picture frame. Thank God! He bent down to retrieve the item that was wet from having lied in a puddle of water for who knows how long. The water seeped through the frame partially ruining the picture so that he could barely make out the face of the man. The mumbling of voices pulled Justin from his thoughts. He looked up to see two cops coming toward him.
Shit! Just my luck! Justin thought lifting the frame and kitten from the ground as he stood to his feet.
"Hey young man. Do you have somewhere to be at this hour?" One of the officers called out to him.
"I just came out to look for my cat." He gestured toward the kitten in his arms.
"At this time in the morning? It's like four o' clock." The second officer did not seem convinced.
"Yeah the wife wouldn't let me sleep until I got Brandy here home safely." Justin lied smoothly.
"How old are you young man?"
"I'm twenty-one."
"And you're married? Well anyway I guess you better get home to the wife." The officer gave him a no-nonsense glare.
"I will you officers have a nice day." He waved his hand and began walking rather briskly down the street.
"Hey young man wait a second!"
Justin stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around to see the officer rising from the ground.
"You dropped this." In his hand he held a slim piece of paper.
The officer looked down at the picture, "Who's this in the picture?"
"Damnit." Justin cursed, the picture must have slipped from the frame in his haste to appear innocent to the cops.
"It's my father-in law. My little girl had lost the frame…" He held it up for proof "So I came out to look for that too." Justin knew he was going to run out of lies soon.
"Oh well here then." The officer handed over the picture.
"Thank you." He mumbled and walked off back toward his house.
Justin shook his head and ran his fingers through his ruffled curls. He winced when he brushed over the wound that covered his forehead. Suddenly he realized just how much the day was taking a toll on him. He hadn't had a decent sleep at all, which would be about five hours for him on a regular basis. However, tonight he only had two maybe two and a half.
It didn't look like he would be meeting for work in seven hours…
"Ugh!" Celeste huffed exasperatedly, tossing the covers aside and climbing out of the bed. She had been waiting for Justin for almost two hours and still he had not returned. Celeste just hoped nothing happened to him. The thought of just thinking that he had gotten hurt trying to make her satisfied made her insides stir.
Celeste paced back and forth through the tiny bedroom, the little puppy's eyes following her every step. She glanced at the clock again, which read 4:59 a.m. Where the hell is he?
Fed up, Celeste retreated back to the bedroom. She shut the door behind her. Oh God what have I done to deserve this? First the death of her father, next the disappearance of her mother, and then Justin. Should anyone who attempted to care for her be careful? Did she have some kind of curse on her? A lone tear slipped down her cheek, Why me?
Celeste heard the door open and without thinking she quickly rose from the bed and headed to the living room.
Justin shuffled into the apartment tiredly. He allowed the cat to enter before closing the door. Hearing the sound of footsteps, Justin looked up to see that it was Celeste coming toward him.
Celeste smiled weakly when she saw him. She wrapped her arms around him in a loose hug. "I thought something had happened to you. You took so long." She pulled away to look at his face. He didn't have to say anything, Celeste understood completely.
She looked down at the small kitten lying at his feet and stooped low to cuddle it, "Aww did she follow you home?"
Justin nodded slowly. Her hug a little different from before gave off a sense of compassion for the things he had done for her. That was the first time someone was grateful for a deed he had done. He was used to people taking and not giving in return. So yes he did enjoy her hug, very much. It made him feel as though his two-hour walk was not wasted.
"I named her Brandy. Oh I found your picture frame. The picture is a little messed up because it was lying in a puddle of water." Justin explained and handed her the frame.
At this Celeste brightened, "Oh thank you Justin…this means the world to me." She pecked him on the cheek before she had the chance to stop and rethink the action.
"Your welcome." Justin slurred. A warm sensation flowed through him and damn if he knew what to do about it.
Celeste moved away from him and smiled shyly, "Are we gonna keep Brandy?"
Justin raised his eyebrows. She included herself in the decision as if she had been living with him for more than 6 hours. "Yeah I guess. She's nice company, but only if your pup doesn't get jealous." He released a tired chuckle.
Celeste smiled, "He won't." She stooped down to cradle Jinx in the other arm.
"I really would like to thank you again. I appreciate everything you've done for me and Tati."
Justin watched her walk away and plopped down on the couch. "I am dead tired." He ruffled his fingers through his hair and curled up on the sofa.
Unknown to him, Celeste stood by the door watching him. "He looks exhausted." She whispered inaudibly. She knew that if it had not been for her invasion on his life he would not be exhausted. He had gone out of his way to give her a place to stay and help with Tatiyana and he did not have to. Celeste knew that he easily could have taken them to the police district, but he didn't and she will always admire him for it.
"Justin?" Celeste called hesitantly.
Justin groaned and sat up. How long have I been asleep? He wiped his hand over his eyes and turned toward Celeste. "Yeah."
"Can I sit with you?" She didn't want to be by herself right now.
"I guess so I can't sleep anyway." He lied not wanting to upset her, besides he wasn't getting any good sleep.
Celeste scurried over to the couch and sat near him, "How's your eye?"
"My what…oh that. It hurts like hell." Justin leaned his head back on the couch.
"I think you should put something on it before it gets infected."
"Yeah I usually do it's just that today is very unusual." He explained he took a peak at her and noticed a frown had graced her features.
"Oh…I'm sorry for invading your personal life. It's just that we wouldn't have had anywhere else to go if not for you." She brushed a stray tendril away from her face.
"I didn't mean it like that. You see I never had to care for anyone else besides me and no one has ever cared about me either so I'm not used to this stuff." Justin sighed and curled back upon the sofa into his sleeping position.
Celeste reached over to smooth a hand over his curly tendrils then leaned over to whisper in his ear as not to disturb him, "You won't regret your decision about letting us stay here. I promise you. Have a nice night." She brushed her lips over his cheek and retreated back to her room.
Justin fluttered his eyes and smiled. He hoped he wouldn't regret his decision because Celeste was proving to be a greater challenge than he was willing to accept.