Page 26 of Apricity
Reaching up, I pull box number ten down and my eyes just about pop when I hear a telltale jingle ring out from the inside.Oooooh baby, here we go!I get a little tap happy, bouncing on my toes as I lift the lid but turn murderous when I see what’s inside.
Bells?!
BELLS?!
Who in the fuck keeps a twenty-gallon plastic tote full of antique goddamn fucking bells?! I don’t even care if they all break when I heave the thing across the room.
Christmas shit. Winter holiday shit. That’s all I’m asking for. This place looks like it was owned by fuckinggeriatrics. It should be covered in Christmas crap! Where the fuck is it?!
A knock at the sliding glass door pulls me out of my frustrating internal dilemma. When I pull the curtain aside, Jax is outside with a confused look on his face so I open the door to ask him, “What’s up, dude?”
“What the hell was that noise? Sounded like a damn avalanche out here. Everything ok?”
“Yea, just… bells and a China shop,” I sigh, rubbing the back of my neck as I point my other hand over to the giant pile of absolute garbage I was gifted. He looks over with raised eyebrows at the mess I made of the room.
“Any luck with the decorations?”
“Nope.” I pop thePat the end, my frustration displayed in neon colors on my sleeve. “Any luck with the generator?”
He nods back and points behind him to a lawn mower with a trailer attached. “Sure did. It’s not big or anything but it’ll suit our needs for powering the bungalow. Plus, I figured we could fill this thing up with any supplies and shit we find, that way we won't need to haul it all back by hand.”
“Uh… you sure it’s a good idea to ride a lawn mower right now? Those things make a fuck ton of noise. Gonna attract all kinds of shit our way.”
He winces, placing his arms on his hips while looking back at it. “Yeah, I thought of that too but it’s only just up the road. Hopefully I can put this baby into rabbit mode, speed my ass all the way back home and not draw too much attention.”
“Ok, and what about when we get back home? You do remember how loud a generator is, right?” He stops my question in its tracks with a shake of his head.
“Actually, this type is a lot quieter than the one I had. It’s smaller, uses less kilowatts, so it’s probably a good thing the old one got busted up. It won’t be able to power the entire place but it’ll give off enough energy so we can at least use a few things.” He lifts his fingers and starts ticking them off. “The water pump, for sure, so we’ll have running water again, warm water at that since the water heater will also be able to work now, and some lights when we need them. Can even power the fridge… maybe. You know, now that I think about it, with the weather being so cold we probably won't even have to worry about that just yet. I don’t know. We’ll figure it out. Gotta get those other ones tapped in first.”
I turn back to the doorway when I hear the hinges creak. “How goes the search?” Cole asks, looking at both of us.
“Great!”
“Shitty…”
He places one hand on the door frame and raises the other in question as his eyes dart between Jax and myself. “You found a generator?” he asks and Jax nods excitedly, happier than I’ve seen him since the hurricane. “Wonderful,” Cole replies, definitely not as excited but he’s doing his list thing so I’ll let him off for now. “Decorations?” he asks me next.
I throw my arms up, huffing out a defeated sigh. “These people must hate Santa or something. Can’t find a damn decoration in this entire place.”
He looksto the pile of totes tossed unceremoniously in the corner then back to the ten or so still untouched. “Uh… what about those?” He points to them, proving that I did not actually rummage through the entire house yet like my temper tantrum had so plainly indicated and there may still be hope. Well, screw him and those bells. There’s only one person that can make my day better and…
“Where’s Aly?”
“Oh, bathroom. She’s stocking up on everything she can get her mitts on in there. Not sure why she thinks she needs bunion cream but she seems to think it’s important so I’m just gonna let her do her thing.” He looks back to the boxes. “Want some help?”
Jax enters from the deck and together we tackle all but two of the leftover totes when Aly enters the room. I open the second to the last box and tilt my head at the contents. Unable to tame my curiosity, I reach in and grab one, lifting it for the others to see.
“What in the motherfucking produce aisle from hell isthat?”
Chapter 16
Alessandra
“Is that… an ear of corn?” I point to the gelatinous vegetable flopping around in Hawk’s hand as he waves it around, showing each of us.
“It looks like this box is full of nothing but fruits and veggies.” Jax picks one up that looks like a giant carrot and squeezes it. “Do you think these are dog toys? They’re like… squishy. Like a chew toy.”
Curiously, I reach in, plucking up a cucumber and testing it in my hands. It looks real enough. Almost like play food but not. Who in their right mind buys silicone play food. Plastic, yes. Silicone or whatever the fuck this is? No. It’s like… sticky. So much so that mine has little dust mites stuck all over it.
