The next morning James was groggy as the sun shined in through his window. He remembered the stressful time he had with Aaron's inability to hold up to anything he agreed to. Sighing to himself, he got himself ready for the day. He worked a part-time job at a Starbucks just down the street.
Unfortunately, he had a bit of a rude awakening when he tripped on an empty bag on chips as he entered the living room of the apartment. Aaron was still lazily sitting on the couch. Stretching out some of the aches from the fall, James slightly limped over to Aaron.
"Seriously? You couldn't at least pick up the empty bags? You're acting like this is a garbage dump" said James, trying to be as stern as he could without yelling. Aaron nonchalantly looked back.
"Don’t worry I’ll straighten things up later, but if it really bothers you just throw it away." he replied, turning back to the TV. James could take a lot of crud from Aaron, but he was really pushing his boundaries now.
"Of course, As usual I throw away your crap. You're lucky you live here with me. You can't do anything by yourself" said James. That got Aaron's attention as he stood up.
"You sound just like my mother,” Aaron says laughing, “And I would be just fine without you." He says, "I doubt it." James replied.
The argument went back and forth after that, slowly rising in noise level as it did. Aaron threatened to really leave, but James doubted it. Even Aaron knew that he didn't have the income to live on his own for real.
As the time went on, James needed to get to work. With one last remark, he slammed the door behind him, still limping a bit from his fall from earlier.
Needless to say, things didn't improve that day. That argument stayed on James' mind and he was irritable all day. It caused him some trouble at his job when he acted a little harshly to some fellow employees. The only good thing out of this was that he only got a warning because he was generally a hard and generous worker.
Late afternoon came by, and James was walking home.
"Great, a totally cruddy day, and I still have Aaron to deal with when I get back" he sighed to himself.
James was so stressed that he didn’t look where he was going and bumped into an old man in front of him.
“Oh I’m so sorry!” James says.
“Well that is quiet alright my friend. I get bumped into all the time in this city, though it is nice to get an apology.” The man says laughing as he straightens himself up.
Upon closer inspection, James notices the multiple layers of mismatched clothes. He instantly knew the man was homeless but didn’t say anything.
“Ah. Yeah people can be pretty rude these days.” James says trying not to give any indication that he knew the man was homeless. “So where you headed?” James asks the man.
“The park, or maybe the bridge on 5th and Jefferson.” He says cheerfully.
“Ah that’s… nice.” He says.
“It’s okay to talk about it son, times are hard these days.” He says smiling. “But enough about me, I’ve been around long enough to know when a man has something on his mind. Care to talk about it?” he says
“Oh it’s nothing, just my life.” James says.
“Well that can’t be so bad. I see you’ve got a job, and I’m guessing a roof over your head, and maybe a girlfriend?” he says smiling.
James smiles at that. “Well two for three isn’t bad. I’ve never been really good with women, or most people for that matter.” He says depressingly
“Oh come on, you’re a good guy with a big heart.” He says placing his hand on James’ shoulder.
“Thanks, but as far back as I can remember people haven’t really been interested in that.” He says
“Well it sounds to me like you are too concerned with the physical. That problem is taking its toll on your spirit. Try looking at life from a new perceptive and see what you find.” The old man says. James really didn’t understand anything he had said about the physical or spirit but he felt sudden warmth in his heart when he heard it. He tried his best to downplay it though. He would be incredibly embarrassed if anyone else knew that.
“Well I’m headed this way,” the man says walking away.
“Ah hey thanks for listening, and ah... I know it’s not much but...” James says, reaching for his wallet. However, the old man just smiled and gestured for him to put the money away.
“It was my pleasure. I’ll see you around.” He says as he vanished into the night.
James continued home to find the same mess he had left that morning and Aaron passed out on the couch. He was still annoyed but thanks to the old man’s words found it easier shrug it off and call it a night.
"I don't know what that old man did, but maybe talking about it relieved me a bit" James said to himself with a smile as he closed the door to his room.
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