Heart Of Hearts

Cassidy: Part 1

"Dad! Did you pay the cable bill?" I called. I was flipping through all of the channels on my TV yet none of them were working. 

"Not since last month!" He called back from his bedroom, completely unconcerned. 

I rolled my eyes and stood up, switching off the TV and grabbing my bag. "Pay the bill Dad!" I said. He didn't answer so I walked to the kitchen and grabbed a coke out of the fridge and left. I didn't bother telling him where I was going, he wouldn't care. He never cared. 

I was familiar with the walk to Johan's house by this point. He always insisted on picking me up when I needed a ride but I always ignored him. I didn't want to put him out of his way for me. As I was waiting to cross the street my phone buzzed. I dug it out from the bottom of my messenger bag and peered at the screen. 1 message from Daff_0907. Before I could open the message the cross signal came on so I tossed my phone back into my bag and continued on my way.

I passed by a park as I made my way down the road and couldn't help but slow my pace and watch the kids playing. Mothers pushed their kids on the swings, fathers caught their children as they came down the slides. I felt my eyes burn and turned away, instead choosing to look up at the trees that lined the edge of the park. 

"You're bound to run into something if you keep looking up like that, miss." A voice said to me. 

I smiled. "I appreciate your concern Mr. Lewis. I'll be more careful." Mr. Lewis was a homeless man that spent his days in a tent in a corner of the park. He was a very sweet old man and had become a close friend of mine when I didn't have many others. I bent down and handed him the coke I had snagged from my fridge. "How are you? Are you warm enough? Did you get enough to eat today?" 

"Oh don't make a fuss about me you hear? I'll be alright." He shifted into an upright position and took my hand, giving it a pat before letting go. "You're too kind for your own good." He shifted and picked up the book sitting next to him. "Now shoo, let me finish my reading."

I smiled again but just as I stood to go his stomach grumbled loudly. He ignored it but I dug in my pocket and pulled out a 10 dollar bill. It was all I had in cash at the moment, but he needed it more than I did. "Buy yourself something to eat." 

He pushed my hand away. "I can't take this."

"Yes you can Mr. Lewis." I said. "Please do." He still wouldn't take it from my hand so I set it on the ground in front of him, placing a nearby rock on it to keep it from flying away. I waved goodbye and continued on my way. It was about mid afternoon in September so the air was starting to change from the blazing heat of summer to the light breezes of fall. This was my favorite time of year so I took my time walking. I admired the flowers in the park, and watched people walking down the street. I soaked in all the vitamin D I could and breathed in the cool, fresh air. Pretty soon though I wound up at Johan's front door. I knocked a couple times and immediately the door was opened my Johan's sister, Ava. 

"Cassidy!" She yelled and threw herself into my arms. 

"Hey kiddo." I patted her back as she squeezed me. 

"You act like you haven't seen her in ten years. She was just here  last week." Another voice said from somewhere in the living room. 

Ava let me go and moved aside so I could enter the house, then ran upstairs probably to go find her twin sister. I made my way towards the living room where my best friend, and the source of that earlier voice, was residing. "Hey Johan." I said. 

"Hey Cass." He said. I made my way over to the couch and dropped down next to him and planted a kiss on his cheek, then leaned back and stretched out my limbs. "I came to watch your TV and smooch off your WI-FI. I said, pulling out my laptop.