3 Chapter 2: A new life (Josephs POV)

I would miss all of them, even my father, I would miss who he used to be at least. I gave him a hug before he left which he seemed a bit strange and surprised about it but he took the hug none the less.

I gave my sister one last hug before I left, as well as my mother, my sister stayed back in the house but my mother followed me a block before eventually holding me to a stop. She gave me one last hug and then she began talking to me.

"I will do my best to take care of your sister, but if things get to rough between me and David then I need you to promise me that you will take her in." My mother said to me. I nodded to her, David was my fathers name, I was used to her calling him that than saying my father.

She gave me one last hug and then a kiss on the cheeks and then she waved goodbye as I began walking away. I would miss her, but I was ready for my new life and ready to be out on my own no matter how much I really did not know about it.

Jim, the owner of the bar told me he would do his best to teach me but there were some things that I would have to find out for myself. I had to be ready though... If worse comes to worse, I cannot do any worse than my father was right now.

I continued walking to the area where the lady was going to be at to finish the deal on the little house on the 3rd floor that I would be living at for a long time. It was not cheap, but it was cheaper than most things that were in the city, and I still wanted to live near the bar so that I could still work there.

I would have a feeling that my dad would still go there but I don't think he would talk as much about me anymore than he normally did. He could not talk trash about me if we were not in the same life together.

I saw the building right next to the small house that I would be moving into, they had a bed and a couch and all the things I needed to live on them already. That was the benefit of moving in there as well. I did not have anything to move into a place so they provided me with all the necessaries.

They were by no means a bad company, I had heard stories about all of the bad and evil companies that were out there on the market. I could tell that they did a good job with it, I could have just moved in with a rent, but I just decided it would be best in the long run to just buy the place straight up.

I sat knocked at the door to the small little room that the man and his wife worked in, they owned the company and they were making a fair share of money from it.

The lady said something to tell me that they were there and I could come in. I opened the door and it was just the lady that was there at the moment, the man usually went around cleaning up and getting people to rent out the houses. She smiled at me when she noticed it was my and she nodded for me to sit down.

"How are you doing today Joseph? You have the money paid to move in correct?" She said to me. I nodded, I had gone by the bank on the way over to the place I was moving in at. I was smart when I chose the bank and the place I had moved in at, I could just go by it everyday to and fro work.

I grabbed the bag and gave it too her, she opened it up making sure it was what actually the correct amount I had given her. She looked at all of the cash one by one which I could not blame her for. I'm sure a bunch of people had shorted them out several times.

"Not too bad of a day out there if I say so myself... How's Pop been holding up on you lately..." I said to her. She continued looking through the cash and after a few seconds she finally looked up and then she responded to me.

"'Not to bad, we've got some guys that have been throwing rocks at some of the people's windows, caught one the other day but he ran off. Been starting to get a bit low on funds, people are not paying their monthly rent." She said to me. I had figured so when I noticed she was taking a while to look through all of the money I had given.

"That's rough... If they keep doing it then you should definitely kick them out and maybe take them to court to get your payment." I said to her. She looked up and then nodded realizing that it was probably a good idea.

"Alright... You paid me a little bit too much, here take it." She said to me. I thought about it for a few seconds but then I just shook my head. I still had about half the funds that I had just payed her in my bank.

"Nah... If you are getting low you can take it, might only be enough for a couple of nights of food but I still got plenty of cash in my bank." I said to her. She nodded thankfully and then I began heading out of the door to go check out my place.

I had already seen it before but I just wanted to see what it looked like with all of the new stuff in it. It was just a 1 bedroom place with a living room, and bath, and a kitchen with it, but it would be enough for the next few years to get me by.

I would spend a few more hours now per week working at the bar. I would probably live at this place for a few years and then have them rent out the place for me and give me half the money or something along those lines.

I walked up the steps to the place that was now my home, I lived right next to another person whom I had never met, pop had told me that there was someone that lived there but he worked a lot. I would probably meet him at some point.

Right as I was about to unlock the key to my door that Susan had given me to the house. Pop walked right out of the house that was right beside me. He smiled at me and then he walked over to me.

"How is it going Joseph... Glad to see that you are heading in today..." He said to me. I nodded to him and then looked at him a bit confused. Normally they did not walk into people's houses unless they were worried about it being disgusting and having to kick them out and make them pay for all of the nastiness.

"Not too bad... Just happy and ready to be out on my own... What's up with that guys place?" I asked him. He looked a bit sad which confused me a little bit and he looked down at the ground for a few seconds. Had he done something that made the guy mad and made him leave that he did not want to tell me?

"That's good... I don't know what happened to him... Someone must have done something to him... Never knew much about him so I could not tell you who it might have been." He said to me. I looked at him a little bit confused, he was still looking at the ground but it made sense why he was sad, it was not his fault.

"That's sad... What do you mean? He is dead or something? I said to him. He sat there a little bit empty for a few seconds before he finally looked up at me and then he responded.

"Yes... They found him burnt up along with 2 others near the outside of the town in the woods... He had been gone for a few days I had wondered what had happened to him." He said to me. I looked at him and nodded to him, I could tell he was a bit sad about it.

"Was he your friend?" I asked him. He looked at me and I walked over to him and gave him a slight little hug. He nodded his appreciation to me.

"Thank you... Yes we grew up together when we were younger... He wasn't my best friend... But he was still my friend." Pop said to me. I nodded to them and then he began heading down the steps to probably go back to where Susan was right now.

I opened the door to the house. I walked into the house and then looked around. There were a few things around to get me by for the next while. I would have to buy the rest myself afterwards. It would be enough to get me by though...

In the kitchen there was a stove and then a little bin for me to put all of my cold foods into. Then I walked into the living room to see what was in there.

There was a couch and a bookshelf in there and I felt like sitting down on the couch because I was a bit tired and it looked like a nice comfortable couch for me to sit on. Clearly they had not bought me any low quality furniture.

I sat down on it, it was indeed pretty comfortable. I got up before I went to sleep. I walked into the bathroom, everything was the same but they had cleaned up the walls a bit and made a new tiles and put a matt down for the bathtub.

It looked a lot nicer and a lot cleaner, I would go thank Pop and Susan tomorrow for them making everything so nice. I knew that I was moving into a good housing community, Jim had told me very well.

I left the bathroom and then I began walking to the bedroom, in there, there was a bed a dresser for me. I walked over to the dresser and began putting to few pairs of clothes I had with me. I would have to go back in a few days one night and have to get the rest from my room.

It would be enough for now. When I opened the drawers I was a little bit surprised to see that there were a bunch of pairs in there already for me. I nodded keeping a mental note to thank pop for that again... They had gone a bit out of their way but they did know the situation thar I had been in.

I sat down on the bed, it was very comfortable and the blanket warmed me up surprisingly fast.

I was about to fall asleep but I woke myself up realizing what I needed to go and do next and I groaned to myself just even thinking about it. I had to go to the market and get me at least a little bit of food for the next few days.

I pulled myself up and then walked out of the room that I was in. I then walked over to the front door. Once I was in I made sure to remember to lock the door. I figured no one would break in and if they did there really would be nothing in there for them to sell besides maybe a little bit of clothes and some books that I probably would never read in the first place.

I used to be a big reader but after I had started working I really did not get to read any new books. I went to the library and read a bit every once in a while but not nearly as much as I used to but that was also because I did not have as much time.

I just needed to get in a steady habit of doing that like Jim had told me he did every night when he locked the doors to his bar. Once it was locked I put the key in my pocket, I realized that the pocket I had put it in had a hole in it so I put it in my other pocket.

I then began to head to the market that was right across the street to me. It wasn't as cheap as the other markets but it was not as expensive as some other ones in the city. It was the closest one to me though, and the closest one to where I used to live.

Jim had chosen this place very well for me, That was also because Pop was his nephew. He had originally thought of turning the bar to Pop when he died, which would probably be some time really soon. Pop's hair was already turning grey and Jim already looked very old.

He looked as if he was still in good shape but you can never know. He then told me that he would give it over to me, since he was friends with my uncle, even though he was quiet older than him. I had also been working there for nearly 4 years now and he trusted me to keep it in his family line.

I walked into the market, I was normally the one to go there in the first place. I took some of the money my mother and father gave me and bought all the things they needed me to get. They spent a fair amount of money on their products but I knew I could definitely buy it for cheaper.

I walked in and began choosing through some meats and eggs, and other things that I needed to keep me going for the next couple of days. I knew how to cook, maybe not as good as my mother made food but she had taught me a fair amount of what she knew to make good food.

When I had the time of course, I worked a bit of a strange schedule at the bar so I often did not get to be around her all that often. Once I was done getting what I needed I headed over to the front of the store and walked to where I needed to pay to food.

There were a few people right now, but around this time most people were at work. So there was no one at the front besides the lady that was working at the front. She lifted her head up noticing that I was waiting for her. I instantly realized who it was a stood back a little bit for a few seconds.

"Sorry! That just surprised me! Did you stop working at the bar?" I asked her. It was the girl that worked at the back of the bar with me. Her name was Julia, she was nice, I hated that the guys at the front said nasty flirts and other things to her when she walked up there.

"Nooooooo... I still work there, my rent went up so I needed to work 2 jobs, I've just been working here about twice a week to make up for it." She said to me. I smiled at her and then I nodded, I hoped that she had not noticed I was just staring at her not really paying attention to what she just said.

"Dang... That sucks, you can come move in to my place I just bought if you want..." I said to her. I instantly knew it was a stupid move and I questioned myself wondering what I had been thinking. She just laughed and the looked and me and nodded.

"Thanks... I will think about it if things get a bit to rough... I don't like the area I am in right now... I think they might have raised my rent simply because I'm a woman." She said to me. I thought it was a bit messed up but it made sense. I don't think it would be like that where I lived at right now.

"Alright, I don't have a rent, I saved up to buy it when I was 18... So yeah I'm 18 now, only have one bed so you'd probably have to share it with you..." I said to her. It was a bit of a dumb move and i questioned myself again for being so dumb. She smiled at me though which actually surprised me.

"Hmm... Sounds interesting I will think about it..." She said to me. I smiled and then she began checking out my order. She probably was just messing with me but at least I knew that I was somewhat good at flirting.

I put my hand into my pocket and then realized that I did not bring my cash with me. I looked up to her as she looked right at me ready to tell me the price.

"Hold on... I don't have my cash on me right now... I live right down the road, it will only be a few moments." I said to her. She smiled at me and then shook her head which confused me a little bit.

"Don't worry, I got you, just pay me back I'm about to get of work when the guy gets over, I'm getting overtime right now. I'll walk over and see what your place is looking like." She said to me. I was actually surprised, I thought that maybe she had just been joking a little bit. Apparently I could not read women very well.

"I'm not joking... I only have one bed... I just moved in today there's not much in there... Only one room." I said to her. She smiled at me and then she moved right towards me as if she was almost about to give me a kiss.

"That's okay... 1 bed is all we need... Next!" She said to me, she then threw me my food in 2 bags. I hadn't realized how long we had been talking a looked behind me and said a sorry to the guy behind me. He looked a bit ticked off but he just nodded to me.

I looked back at her as I walked out of the marketplace. She was too busy with the next customer to notice me smiling at her. I had failed to notice that I was walking right into the street. One of the guys that was riding a cab yelled to me and I said sorry to him.

"Watch the hell out little guy! My horses could have walked right into you." He said to me. I said sorry to him and then continued walking to the houses that I lived out now. He shook his head, made a grunt to me and continued getting his horse ahead.

I don't think the horses could have killed me and I definitely was not a little guy. I was nearly 2 meters tall and a bit stronger since I carried a lot of boxes around in the back of the bar.

I walked over to my house to drop of the bags. I remembered my mental note to thank Pop and Susan for what they had done to my place. They normally worked til late at night so there was still plenty of time to get om my feet before I went over to their place. I opened my pocket to pull out my key.

I realized as soon as I did that I had put it in the wrong pocket anyways even though I had literally just made a mental note not too. It could not be that far away, I could just go look for it, if someone picked it up and took it I would have to get Pop to change the lock and get me a new key.

I dropped my bag off and then began walking down the stairs to go ahead and look for them. Once I was down the stairs I saw them right at the bottom, I had gotten lucky again today. I picked it up and then began walking up the stairs.

I wondered how I had not noticed or heard the key drop, but I suppose that I had other thoughts on my mind during that time. I just thanked god for having it not drop somewhere like the streets or the marketplace.

I opened the unlocked the door and then opened it. I walked in and then dropped off the bags in the kitchen. I then put the cold stuff in the bin that I had. I sat down on the couch and then walked over to the bookshelf that was sitting there.

I looked at the books, a couple of them I had already read, there were only a few there that were halfway decent, I saw a few that I had not read however. I suppose I would start I book and then get through a couple of chapters before I went and thanked Susan and Pop if he was there.

I began reading it, it was a bit of a stale and boring book as I found out once I got through the first couple of chapters. I looked at the front and wondered how it had gotten book of the year. There were tons of books that came out, to many for me to even read 1/1000 of them. Even back when I used to read a lot. The library was always completely full.

The library was huge though. The book, looked like the guy had just spent a little bit too much time on it. There was nothing fun or funny about it. I put the book down and then put it back up into the bookshelf, maybe I would finish it some day but I kind of doubted it, I was about to work even more than I had even worked before. I decided it was probably time to go see Pop and Susan and thank them.

I walked out the door and then closed it, this time making sure that I put the key in the right pocket, I probably would need to go and buy a few new pants, the ones I had were a bit torn up, I played with my friends out in the park areas around the city. Playing little games and tearing up all of my clothes.

Now I probably would not have as much time to play games with them, they were mostly working jobs as well, and there were only 5 of them that I mainly talked to. It would be hard to get all of them together for a long time.

I knew where they lived, they were all older than me besides my best friend Bill.

I shook my head and then continued walking over to Pop and Susan's building. Once I was there I saw that the door was already open which did surprise me quiet a bit. Normally Susan would not leave the door open, I had only seen the door open once before and that was someone holding it open while they were still talking to Susan.

Now that I thought about it, it was Pop's friend that had just died recently and lived in the house right beside mine. I felt bad for it even though it was not my fault what had happened. I felt bad because it was one of Pop's only friends, the other one had been in my uncle's army, but he had died in war unlike my uncle.

Once I walked in a noticed that Susan was standing up with her hands in the air. Someone was standing in front of her with a knife in his hand. Susan looked right at me and I instantly knew what was going on it there.

But she had made a mistake looking at me because the guy turned around wondering what she was looking at. Once I saw him I instantly new who it was. It was the guy that was in the cab on the street from earlier. He instantly realized who I was and he smiled at me which kind of confused me.

"Oh this kid from earlier... Welp... After I'm done with your friend Susan, your next... No witnesses..." He said. I instantly felt 100 times more angry than earlier when the guy had cursed me out. The reason why he was driving in his cab earlier was to go rob this place.

I knew that Susan had a lot of cash on her as well because I had just bought that house...

The guy then ran at me which surprised me and I hopped backwards. The guy cut a little bit into my arm though and it began bleeding but not all that much. Susan began yelling at the top of her lungs and he turned around and then ran at her looking very upset.

I could see why, she yelled so loud people maybe near that were in the streets might have heard her. Im surprised he didn't just turn and run. But I ran at the guy, he was a bit bigger than me but I think I could fight him off especially if I kind of got the first hit. My arm was spilling quiet a bit of blood at this point though.

I hit him in the back of the head and it knocked him to the ground. He looked at me and then yelled at me looking even more angry than before. I knew what people did when they were angry. But what he did not know was that I was angry as well.

He jumped at me with his knife, it was not a fair fight at all, one slit with a knife and I could be dead. I dodged the attack and the dodged his next one. Suddenly someone walked in and ran at him. He knocked the guy to the ground.

He continued hitting the guy, I instantly knew who it was when I saw his face. Pop had probably heard the yelling and he had instantly began running over to the building. Pop kept hitting him over and over again. By now there was blood spraying from the guys face with each punch.

I grabbed on for Pop to stop and then pulled him back when he did not stop. He looked at me a bit angrily like he was about to punch me but then he realized he I was and he stopped.

The guy was laying on the ground crying like a little baby. But once he realized there were no more punches being thrown he instantly got up and then ran out of the building.

"Yeah! And don't you come back ever again!" Susan yelled to the guy. Pop still looked a bit upset but he was not mad at me. I could see the reasoning as to why he was so upset.

"That's the same guy that robbed us a few months ago, we told the authorities about him last time... They came over and told us that they had him caught. He was supposed to have a court date... Clearly they did not have him caught though." Pop said to me. Susan looked a bit angry when he said that and I could not blame him.

"That's a bit messed up, I don't think that he is coming back though." I said to him. He laughed and then nodded to me. He thanked me and then I sat down at the little table at the front.

"I just wanted to say thank you for the place and all of that... You guys do a great job, a lot better than some of the other people I was looking at... Also I might need another key to my place, someone might be moving in." I said to them. Susan nodded and then Pop sat down at the table and he smiled at my gratitude.

"It's no problem, it's free for the 2nd key, you just saved us a lot of money... Take that as a thank you from us." He said to me. I smiled and then shook his hand, Susan was smiling from right behind me as I could see when I turned around.

I shook her hand as well and she leaned in and gave me a hug. She then looked down at the cut that was in my arm. There was blood all over the ground and all over my shirt and my arm.

"Let me get that patched up really quick, Pop can you clean that up for me." Susan said to Pop, normally something like that was her job but he needed to clean it up before it got stuck in the ground. That was not one of the things you probably wanted stuck on your flooring either.

Pop nodded and then he walked into the other room and pulled out a mop and began washing it up, I turned back to Susan and she had a large bandage for my arm.

"Thank you, hopefully he does not come back, I will keep an eye out for him." I said to her. She nodded to me and then smiled. She then began putting the bandage on my arm. It hurt a little bit but I did need it to stop the bleeding.

Once she was done I thanked her and she did the same to me, Pop stopped me right before I walked out of the building and closed the door.

"I cant thank you anymore... Your going to do great in a new life..."