A Dark World (old-please see new book)

A New Friend 75

Charlie frowns at the sound of his fathers voice through the cellphone.

Mr. Chapman: "How are you feeling today?"

Charlie: "Fine.."

Mr. Chapman: "Hm..I wanted to...apologize, son."

Charlie eyes widen slightly. In all his years, he's never had his father apologize to him.

Mr. Chapman: "I realized that I was hovering over you. Expecting you to live in a fine line. You've yet to disappoint me, and I am proud of you. It's time I let go of my chains a bit. Let you decide some life choices yourself."

Charlie's voice is low..he doesn't really know what to say, other than...

Charlie: "Thanks dad."

Mr. Chapman: "I like your little boyfriend. He's got spunk telling me how I should raise my own son."

Charlie laughs a bit: "He's not..." then he stops, and blinks.

Charlie: "He's important to me."

Mr. Chapman: "I can see that. I approve."

After a while, Crip wakes up. The soft and heavy bedsheets clinging to him as he sits up from the bed. They needed to get to the hideout. Where was Charlie?

He gets up, pulling on his clothes and opening the door, wandering through the large, fancy house. Finally, he finds Charlie, who's rubbing his temples at the kitchen table.

Crip: "Hey.."

Charlie's brown eyes ease over to the smaller male, and he smirks a bit.

Charlie: "Bout time you got up. O'Riley'll be fussing about us being so late."

Crip nods, knowing he's probably right. At this point, O'Riley probably wouldn't be surprised though.

They get ready, and head to the hideout. It's a rather short day, simple and sweet. Just how Crip liked it.

In the evening, he walks towards his apartment. Along the way, he passed people. Some, couples, others, obviously just friends.

Friends...

That's something Crip didn't know much about. He had a friend, a long time ago. The boy in school...how tragic.
Crip frowns thinking about it.
Edgar was a friend. Though his cousin, Crip always considered him to be his only friend. He just couldn't tell him the truth...how do you tell your cousin, your friend, that you're a gang member, still fucking up your life after almost dying from the same kind of people?

He shutters at the thought of Edgar finding out the truth. No. He couldn't tell anyone about his life. He was pathetic...weak...

"Ah, shit!"
A raspy voice yells in frustration.
Crip looks up ahead, seeing a man on the ground, trying to grab a bunch of papers. Crip rushes over, grabbing the few papers that started to drift away.

He kneels down, picking them up, and looks at the first one.

It's...art?

"Ah.."

His eyes meet the mans. He looks about Crips age, with light blue eyes, and orange hair, with light facial hair, and a bandage wrapped around his head, covering the left ear completely.

Crip smiles a bit, handing the artwork back to the man.

"Thanks..."

Crip: "Did you paint those?"
He asks, maintaining eye contact, though it's obvious this guy gets nervous around strangers.

"Y-yeah..I paint as a hobby. Nobody's really interested in buying my art."

Crip: "That's a shame. You're super good. Looks like it should be in a museum."

The man can't help but smile a bit. Crip stands up and holds out a hand. The man takes it, and stands up as well.

Crip: "My names Everett. Do you live around here?"

The man nods, eyes darting away before returning to meet Crips.

"I usually doodle at the coffee shop, then go home and paint..sometimes I need references from my older art, that's what these are for."

Crip smiles big.
Crip: "I love coffee! What cafe do you go to? I've never seen you at the Coffee Spoon."

"No...there's a quieter one a little further out, nice music, not a lot of visitors..Cafe De-Lite."

Crip: "I'll have to go check it out then. I stopped going to my usual shop because of...a bad relationship. Maybe I'll see you there one day."

"Most likely..."

Crip: "I'll see you around then." He smiles and turns to leave.

"I'm..Wilbur. If you see me at the cafe sometime, you can sit with me..I'll move my papers to make room."

Ah! Does he..want a friend? Could this guy become a friend?

Crip: "Thanks Wilbur. I look forward to it."