Finding the Way

         The sound of the passing by train pulled Devin from his slumber; he opened his eyes slowly, adjusting to the early morning sun that shone through his sheer graying curtains. The pain in his lower back was the first indicator that he in fact lived to see another day. He wasn’t particularly thrilled about this fact, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Just yet.

         He struggled to an upright position, the king-size mattress groaning with each of his movements. He looked around the small, dank room he shared with his kitten, Sheba; the tiny, black ball of energy that pounced at any and everything moving. He noticed her tiny hind wiggling at the foot of his bed, readying her body to attack his large feet.
         With a sigh, Devin swung his legs over the side of the bed and planted his feet on the cold wooden floor. He slowly stood up, feeling each vertebra protest as he stretched. Sheba, sensing an opportunity, leaped toward his feet but missed as he moved away just in time. He chuckled softly at her persistence.
         He trotted towards the bathroom, relieving himself. He rubbed his hands against the gruff stubble that covered his large chin and cheeks. He hated this part of the day, waking unhappily and forcing himself to appear normal like everyone else around him.
         Devin, shared a dilapidated two bedroom apartment with Tony, a man fifteen years his senior who had posted an ad online a little over a year ago after divorcing his wife and needed someone to help with the bills, the apartment was not much: two small bedrooms, a shared bathroom and kitchen, a living room that they both avoided like the plague and a small porch with wooden beams that creaked and cried every time someone walked across them. It didn’t matter much what the place looked like to Devin he just needed a place to sleep.