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Chapter 8: Soft Jazz
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Monsoon Chapter 9: The Most Selfish
Akio woke up in the motel room, which was weird because he was pretty sure that wasn’t where he fell asleep. He was on the floor, still wearing his bloody button-up, grimy bowtie, and stained lab coat. A grey towel that had once been white had been thrown over him in lieu of a blanket, and there was a small pile of clothes next to his head. His glasses sat on top. There was a teeny crack along the edge of one of the lenses. Great.He sat up and yawned, scratching the back of his neck. Light was streaming in through a gap in the curtains. On the bed, the lump of blankets and pillows shifted. He put on his glasses so he could see.Levitan and Ryan were tangled up together, pressed so close it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began. Ryan had his limbs wrapped around Levitan, whose head was tilted back. They were snoring loudly.The clock on the side table said 8:40 in little red LED digits. Akio’s clothes were gross and crusty and he was pretty sure he had blood and g
Monsoon Chapter 10: The Hole
It had been five years since Levitan had eaten waffles. Next to cigarettes, waffles were probably their favourite indulgence.The three of them were sitting in Denny’s. Ryan had a massive pile of food in front of him, consisting of sausages, bacon, pancakes, waffles, hash browns, smashed browns, with syrup and whipped cream on top of everything, and was shovelling it into his mouth faster than seemed humanly possible. Then again, Levitan remembered what it was like to be fifteen and have the appetite of ten men. It was so long ago.Akio had picked out plain pancakes with no sides. Boring, but he mumbled something about having an upset stomach and Levitan didn’t care enough to ask. It was also stupid, because this was probably gonna be his last meal for a long, long time if Levitan had anything to say about it.Levitan had their waffles, bacon, and black coffee. The daily paper was in their hand. A good breakfast, in their opinion. Nothing to complain about.Ryan slugged back his secon
Monsoon Chapter 11: Snowfall
In Akio’s mind, this was going a lot better than it could have gone, potentially. They were in a car, driving across the country to Los Angeles, and he wasn’t stuck in a hole. Yet.Ryan had taken control of the radio and had changed the station to punk rock. “London Calling” was blasting through the speakers.Akio looked out through the window at the passing signs and billboards. A green sign that said “Cambridge 10 Miles” zipped by. He gave a small sigh. This whole venture wasreallynot gonna end well for him, not at all.It was starting to get dark out. There were fewer cars on the road. Akio was desperately trying to think his way out of this situation, but at this point… he was just so tired. He didn’t have any energy left to think. He hadn’t eaten since breakfast, he hadn’t slept more than fou
Monsoon Chapter 12: One of Us
Levitan browsed the racks at the thrift shop, trying to keep their head steady and stay focussed. Their mission was to find some shirts to add to the duffel bag of clothes in the back of the car. It had been two days, and the tank top they were wearing was already gross and grimy.Once again, they were staggered by the amount ofchoicesthey had.They hadn’t counted on how much the outside world wouldoverwhelmthem with all thepeopleandnoisesandcolours.Every little detail from crows on the telephone lines to the fibres of their shirt were new and fascinating and required attention. As exciting as it all was, it was almost too much to deal with.Levitan had the basket over one arm. They felt the fabric of one shirt with their hand, then the fabric of the next. Jesus, how were they supposed to
Monsoon Chapter 13: Inciting a Scurry
Another day of driving, and they were in Nevada. There was no snow here, the skies were clear, and Akio was beginning to realize that his plan was probably not going to work. How thehellwas he supposed to get back to New York with no money? He should have run for it when they were in still Pennsylvania.Well, he was never much good at these kinds of things.He had somehow managed to score shotgun. Ryan sat in the back seat, playing on his gameboy, his lanky legs curled up to his chest. He honestly had no idea how this happened, but Levitan asked if he wanted to control the radio and Ryan had wordlessly climbed into the back.Weird, he supposed, but kinda cool.He was watching the hills roll by. It was sunny and warm, he’d ditched his jean jacket in favour of a rolling stones t-shirt. Levitan’s jacket was sitting beside them for once, which meant that Akio
Monsoon Chapter 14: Desert Sunset
Akio woke with a pounding headache and a crick in his neck. He was lying on dusty, reddish-brown dirt that stuck to the sweat on his cheek. He groaned as sensation came back into his body, namely the sensation ofpain. “Ow…”“Hey.”He looked up. Levitan was sitting next to him, leaning against a boulder in the shade. Their stomach was covered in blood, there was a new hole in their shirt, and they were smoking a cigarette.“Hey,” he croaked. “What’s going…” He looked down at his body, trying to situate himself, and he realized that something was very wrong. “Oh my god, my neck is broken!”“Here, lemme help you with that.” Levitan reached over, took Akio’s head in their hands, and with one quick movement, snapped his neck back in place with a gross cra
Monsoon Chapter 15: Poker Tables and Police
There was neon everywhere.Akio was practically dragging his feet by the time they reached Las Vegas. His stomach rumbled loudly and he felt a bit weak. He wondered if this was some sort of side effect from coming back to life and having to heal from a broken neck.Ryan had been practically asleep on his feet when he’d finally relented to letting Levitan carry him half an hour ago. He snored lightly, arms draped loosely around Levitan’s neck, as they walked into the city. Akio pretended not to see Levitan’s silly little smile. He knew that they liked carrying their son.The lights were so bright and it was soloudcompared to the dark quiet of the desert. Akio’s eyes stung a bit from the bright lights and his ears were ringing from the sounds of people shouting, the loud music pouring from every bar and club that they passed by, and the traffic whizzing by
Monsoon Chapter 16: Lies Uncovered
There were three queen-sized beds in the motel, adeepbathtub, a minibar, and a flat-screen TV. The sheets were soft, it was nice and quiet, and the bathroom was sparkling and clean. There was even a balcony with a view.“Thisis what a hundred bucks a night gets you!” said Levitan, waving their arm extravagantly. “Magnifique!”Ryan wore a grin like a kid on Christmas. “I call the bed farthest from the window!” He hopped across the room and threw himself onto the queen, bouncing once before settling. He grabbed the remote from the side table and switched on the TV. “Ooh, X-Files reruns! Nice!”Akio kicked off his shoes and sat on the bed closest to the balcony. It was a gorgeous view with all the neon lights and the desert in the distance, but it was bright even though it was about three in the morning. He yawned and pulled off his jeans and sweaty t-shir
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