The house was up on stilts to avoid high tides. Its stoop ran the entirety of the front, ended to its left, and wrapped around the home to the right. That area was now covered in bushes, mitigating the wind from blowing the leaves and dust that were piling up. My dad's wooden chair was still out on the front stoop, some of those leaves were sitting in it.

He was in jail right now for something he didn't do, and which he assumed I had.

When I was younger my uncle would've been my idol. He had money, a bike, he had jewelry, the man was a wonderer. He was my perfect future self, or what I had imagined myself being. He'd been to places that weren't even mapped, yet, or if they were, weren't disclosed to the general public. He was empowered like me, me not knowing I would be, allowed him to be who I looked up to. I found out he sold drugs and wanted a part in it. Thankfully, he had said no.

They weren't the sort to give someone power. They were for numbing or hiding.

But, maybe it had been my invitation, or, thinking back, maybe it was this type of decision making that made my father dislike his brother. Either way, almost being caught by the local cops, he stowed his drugs beneath our wooden cabin. He knew its layout because he'd grown up in it; so well that we didn't notice, before the cops brought their dogs, with a search warrant.

The floorboards creaked as I walked in.

………………..

"The house was empty."

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Edward Corrington was my closes friend, and also my roommate; he and his girlfriend. They were a young white couple. A handsome, dark-haired man, and a glasses-wearing brunette-beauty. Their looks went well together.

"Yeah. I went down there, forgot to tell you, sorry. They were old stuff, anyway... Deer shit was all over the place, anyway. Let the fuckers keep it."

"Come on."

"What?"

"Be considerate. I'm sure he lost a lot of important stuff."

"I am. He needs to hear this. The guy has a tendency to get stuck in his head." He looked at me. "How's the pasta."

I called him an ass and shook my head. With a friend like Ed, I didn't need enemies. I complimented Miley, that it tasted nice. It was a white sauce pasta. The sauce was a little thin, but, being a former cadet, made me happy for anything with sodium. The carrots were sweet but soft.

The apartment we stayed in was a two bedroom, and part of a duplex. One of the rooms-- theirs --had a bath. I would use the guest bathroom-- which wasn't a problem since I had met the couple here. Though Ed would rub most people the wrong way, they had been kind by letting me stay. And I would be moving out tomorrow, so they would no longer have a maid.

I looked at the dishes, still filled with food. I would clean these... and they would be my last, I swore to myself.

After we were finished, I spoke to them, about me leaving.

"Oh," Miley said. We hadn't interacted much, but we got along well enough.

Edward said, 'Oh', too.

"So I need some reimbursement. You eat a lot. You aren't moving out broke, right?"

"You know, Ed, if I didn't miss you, I would've kicked your ass by now?"

"I'm insured."

..………………………...

"I'm gonna be on tv, later."

Both said, 'When?'

"Around eleven. I think."

They mumbled at the same time, saying they'd be busy tomorrow.

[author]Please comment to let me know if you like the novel so far. My first novel had consistency issues, and spelling errors, if you see any, don't hesitate to point them out.

The next chapter will introduce the first conflict, other than the lizard, count on it to be a longer chapter.[/author]