Page 39 of Four Letter Feelings

“You’re shittin’ me. That’s crazy!”

Jeremy glanced around the sparsely decorated room and shrugged.

“Am I setting up a viewing?”

“Absolutely. Mom’s already in town for the weekend so she can come with us, just to make sure it’s not falling down or anything.”

“Good idea, we should totally have adult supervision when we’re shopping for something big like a house. How very responsible of you, Pim.”

“You sure you want to take on a contract together?”

“Are you?”

At that moment what sounded like a herd of bison charged down the hall outside their door. Boisterous laughter and obnoxiously loud shouting and jeering ensued, Jeremy closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

AJ chuckled and shrugged. “I’d rather that than end up doing time for you, man. We’re gonna end up in jail if we don’t get you the hell out of here.”

“Ding!” Jeremy imitated the noise of an elevator arriving at a floor. “Next stop: soft furnishings.”

***

The following morning, they met Cindy on the steps to the apartment they were scheduled to view and by lunchtime they had done a thorough walk-through, signed the contract and moved what little stuff they owned across town from the dorms into their new place. They had toyed with the idea of taking the three and a half hour each way road-trip across state lines into Georgia to their closest Ikea in Atlanta. Cindy reminded them that considering it was only days before Christmas, it probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, so they opted to shop in Target and Walmart and to order whatever else they couldn’t get in store, from Amazon.

Cindy went with them to Target and helped them pick out a few things they needed. They had asked their landlord to take away the bed in the extra bedroom so they could turn it into an office-come-study space for them, so they needed work desks, office chairs and lamps. They needed some storage solutions that would require that road-trip to Ikea in the new year but for now they’d make do with what they had considering they were already on winter break.

The beds in the apartment were bigger than in their dorm room so they needed new bedding, they also needed some groceries to stock the pantry and fridge. Cindy insisted on paying, and when AJ tried to protest, she reminded him that she paid for his credit card bill, anyway so it made no real difference. He reluctantly backed down and Jeremy made a point of asking if he’d heard anything back from the two job interviews he’d been to the week before. He’d been on the receiving end of that conversation before and felt sorry for him. It was something they’d talked about before, how their parents didn’t seem to mind putting them through college, but at the same time making occasional barbed comments reminding them whose money it was. Both men had resolved to start hunting for work to make their own parent-independent cash. Jeremy had picked up some hours behind the bar at a local restaurant starting when he got back from Canada after the winter break and AJ had applied for part-time work at the local music store. He’d taken on some pee-wee hockey coaching, too, which left his free time restricted, but he was trying to crowbar everything to fit into his schedule – Jeremy was both impressed and concerned about his friend. From the moment AJ had told him he suffered from Bipolar, Jeremy had been aware of his friend’s behavior, constantly on the lookout for warning signs.

“What jobs?” Cindy asked, as she swiped her card at the checkout.

“Oh, just at the bookstore and the music store.” AJ answered.

Jeremy could tell he was trying to brush it off as no big deal, but he also knew that AJ really wanted to start bringing in his own income and show his parents he could function as an adult, independently of their credit card. Jeremy knew the feeling. Having wealthy parents often felt like a blessing and a curse. Jeremy wanted the same thing as AJ, but trying to keep all the necessary balls in the air to make that happen was going to be hard as there were only so many hours in the day.

“Oh,” Cindy answered, sounding impressed. “That’s great news. Will you have time with the coaching you’re doing?”

She slipped the card back into her wallet and AJ pushed the overflowing cart towards the exit. As they made their way out into the winter sunshine Jeremy slipped his shades on.

“It’s a good question, Pim.” Jeremy stated, somewhat reluctantly. “You don’t want to be taking too much on or anything.”

AJ shot Jeremy a withering look as though he were taking Cindy’s side and Jeremy cringed.

“I mean, if anyone can do it, it’s you,” he added quickly. “I didn’t mean anything by it. Just worried about when you’ll get time to sleep with everything you’re doing.”

“I know my limits,” AJ mumbled gruffly.

But do you? Jeremy wondered, as Cindy popped open the trunk and the boys loaded the contents of the cart into it.

“Well, I hope you find your balance, AJ,” she cautioned. “I feel like it’d be good for you to gain a little independence, not to mention it’d be good for you socially to get out of that locker room and make some non-jock friends.”

“Ouch! Mrs. W! You wound me!” Jeremy clutched his chest and leaned against the side of the SUV feigning injury.

“I feel like you’re plenty jock-friend for him to handle, Jeremy Lewis.”

“Actually, that’s a true statement. Maybe I’m needy though, maybe I don’t want to share him.” He wrapped his arms around AJ in a mock-possessive action and AJ immediately started to struggle against his arms. “Dude, you need to go to the gym. Or at least learn how to break a bear hug. C for effort, Pim.”

“Would you two quit acting like children and get in the car!”

“Yes ma’am,” they answered together.

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