7 Chapter 6: I love you (Josephs POV)

I woke up, it was a bit early but I was not surprised that she was gone. I was surprised however that she had not at least said goodbye, maybe she was in a rush though.

Normally we did not work around the same shifts besides Friday nights when it got really busy. I worked a lot of that day and she did as well. I didn't think about her not saying goodbye too much though. I'm sure she did care, she had really seemed like it last night at least.

It was such a fun time, we had only worked together so I never really got to fully know her but last night she had really opened up about a lot of things. She had told me she had feelings for a while but she was always just too scared to confess.

If I had not opened up last night then I probably would have never gotten the chance. She had told me that she was going to move in with me though. She said her rent was basically all of her money and it was going up for a run down place.

I was happy to have her, if my sister Maria ended up staying with me which I had a good feeling was going to happen I would just have to go buy another bed at the workshop, I had money for it so I was not too worried about that.

After a few moments of just sitting at the ceiling not really thinking about anything I finally pulled myself up. I wondered what I was going to do today, the place was still fairly clean even though I had Julia last night and she was always a bit of a mess.

I figured if my father would let me then I would probably just go ahead and see my mother and sister and see how they are holding up for the first 2 days. I figured that they should be fine, he didn't have his outburst as much as he used to.

I mainly just wanted to make sure that they were okay, and I already missed their company even though I had Julia's all of last night. There's just always something different about hanging out with a friend and hanging out with family.

They are both special times, do not get me wrong, I felt loved last night, but I knew my mother and sister my whole life and being with them was completely different. I loved them and just wanted to make sure that things were going okay.

With my father drinking, and going to parties, making a mess everywhere, I was kind of like the father of the house almost. I taught my sister what was good and what was bad. My father never really taught me that even before he went on the deep end.

After I stopped thinking I slowly pulled myself from off of the bed, my muscles were cramping a little bit so that was a bit of a problem, I had stayed up pretty late I could only imagine my father David what he must feel after waking up after being drunk and partying all night.

He was probably used to it honestly, I always make sure that I get a solid amount of sleep. Last night was a bit rough, but I had already woken up and I was not about to just head back to sleep. I walked into the kitchen and then looked at what I should make for breakfast.

I found some ham and some eggs and I pulled them out of the bin and put them on the counter. I began making them, making sure I did nothing wrong. I made a mental note to leave some for Julia in case she did come home tonight.

I then turned on the stove and began cooking the eggs, I would scramble them that way they would not go bad when Julia came back. Once I was done with that I put it in some Tupperware that Pop and Susan had kindly bought for me.

They were good owners, I was surprised they did not have more business because they offered a pretty fair price compared to places like where Julia lived. I felt bad for her, I wondered how long she had been living low on funds.

I hope I could help her out, I don't know why but somewhere deep in my mind I thought about a life together with her. I didn't need to think those type of thoughts quiet yet though. We had barely even officially started dating. I just couldn't stop thinking about her.

She was so beautiful and I had cared about her so much for a long time. I had always just been so afraid to tell her and yesterday Jim had really exposed our feelings for each other.

I was thankful to Jim as well, he had just helped me so much in my life, not just in that aspect. He had taught me how to make it on my own, and I know it just started but it felt like I was already there and ready for it.

After I finished off the ham I put that in a tupperware as well and then I put them in the bin. I sat down on the couch and looked at the bookshelf to see what I should read before I went to go talk to my mom before eventually heading into work.

I looked at all of the stories that were on the shelf. I then picked up one that looked exciting. It was about the dead coming back to life and eating humans. I heard about them, something about the undead or zombies as a few people liked to call it.

It seemed pretty interesting so I decided that I was going to read it.

After I was about halfway through the book I dropped it down and then put on some shoes. It was about time, it was a little past noon, not only did I want to go see my mother and sister but I also wanted to go see Pop and Susan to make sure everything was okay and to fully thank them.

I looked around trying to remember where I had put the key to lock my door when I got out. I did not trust this city especially after what had just happened last night. Last thing I needed was someone coming into my place and destroying anything important to me.

And I had forgotten that Julia had left her necklace her mother had given her shortly before her death. I had gone to her funeral and Jim had closed the bar that day to go there as well.

Jim had been good friends with her grandmother, they had almost gotten married until Jim went of the the army and she ended up marrying another man. Jim had been pretty heartbroken about that. He said he tried dating again but none of it ever really worked out for him in the end.

I had thought of it like that as well. My mother told me families just were not meant to be. Either the man is bad or the woman is bad, sometimes they both are. I figured I would at least give it a shot with Julia and I'm sure my mother would be happy to see that we were finally together.

I had expressed my feeling about her to my mother several times. She told me that I should shoot my shot but I was always a bit scared of failure to even try. Jim did it for me though, even though I said in my mind that I would I just wasn't all that sure if I could really bring myself to it.

I had always had problems with talking to women, I never had problems talking to anyone else, but when it came to a women that I had affection for I always choked on my words that I really wanted to say in my mind.

I found the key to my place and then I grabbed it and then walked over to my door. Once I was there I opened it and the closed it from the other side. I made sure that it was fully locked my trying to open the door. I was worried about the Padre guy. The Police in this city were not good according to a lot of people.

If he did somehow get out this would be the first place he would search. He would not have known he knocked him out but he would beat me to death questioning who it was. He didn't seem as evil as most mobsters but I could tell that he was still evil though.

He was a bit younger as well, he could only be a few years older than Julia, Julia was 20 coming up on 21 pretty soon. I thought about them together and shook my head. I don't know why I was already worrying about her going around messing with other guys.

I knew her pretty well and I trusted her, besides why would she go after a guy that held a knife to her neck for a few minutes and threatened her life? I felt bad still for what I had said, I was just trying to get her out of the situation. I knew she said she did not blame me for it but I still had a thought it my head that maybe she would.

I shook my head and then began walking down the steps. My legs wobbled a bit clearly I had not stretched out enough when I had first woken up. I felt dizzy for sitting down on the couch for the last little while as well.

But I continued walking over to Susan and Pop's place. All of the sudden I stopped to a hualt. There was someone walking right to Susan's place with their back turned. He had what looked like the same outfit that Padre had on last night. I was tempted to run at him and then tackle him.

But I figured I would just sneak up on him to see if it was actually him and not some other person that just lived here and was just paying their rent. "A rare thing" as Susan was telling me. She had said that a lot of people were holding it of lately.

I was pretty good at hiding my footsteps and I continued walking just a few steps behind the guy, but then I cracked on a stick that was on the ground from some nearby trees. Damn it! The wind must have gusted them over to where I was at right now.

The guy turned around and I noticed thankfully that it was Pop's. I gasped a sigh of relief and then walked over to him. He had a bit of a smirk on his face and he looked a bit confused at the same time. He was just staring at me waiting for me to catch up to him.

"What's up?! You're a pretty quiet walker. Did you need something from us?" He asked me. I shook my head and then sat down at a nearby bench, I was a bit tired already because I wasn't in the best condition but I also was tired from last night.

"Nope, you scared me though! Thought you were that Padre guy from last night, you're wearing like the exact same clothes that he was." I said to him. He looked down at his clothes and then just shook his head. He then began to laugh a little bit. He was like Jim he thought a lot of things were funny and he liked to crack pretty bad jokes from time to time.

"That's cool! Sorry didn't realize I was wearing the same stuff he was, just was in a bit of a rush this morning." He said to me. I nodded to him not blaming him, his job did take a lot of time and effort taking care of 32 places and making sure that everyone was okay.

"It's all good, I just wanted to thank you for what you did to my place. Its really cool of you." I said to him. He smiled at me and then nodded his head. He then put his hands to his shoulders and just shrugged at me.

"It's what we do for everyone! Thank you for saving a whole lot of money and a whole lot of trouble last night." He said to me. I nodded once again and then moved in towards him and just shook his hand and gave him a quick hug.

He was good friends with my uncle, I knew he was exaggerating when he said it was what he did for all of them. He even gave me dishes and towels, I don't think that was necessary for a normal person here. He deserved the thanks and he did a damn good job running his business.

"It's no problem, I do my best to help when I can." I told him. He nodded back at me and then sat down on the bench and just stared at nothing. He then looked at me a little bit sad. "What's wrong man? Looks like you have your head down today?"

He sat there looking a bit more sad, and he took a few moments to finally respond to my question.

"Susan's mother and father died yesterday and she just got the news. Some sick dude went and killed them... I hate it for her." He said to me. I shook my head feeling bad and a bit upset, life was not being to kind to them lately and I felt pretty bad about it.

"I'm sorry to here that... Tell her I wish my condolences to her and her sister." I told him. He nodded still just staring down at the ground. I felt bad for them, even though life had been rough on me lately it was nothing compared to the stuff that they were going through right now.

"Yeah some sick dude burned them, they're bodies are barely intact at this point. They could hardly tell who it was it took them a few days to find out." He said to me. I sat there at the ground just like he was having no words really to say to him. Nothing I could say could make him feel any better right now.

"I'm sorry to here it... Life's been rough for you guys lately... But I have to go see my mother now and then head into work." I said to him. He nodded and I got up. He didn't get up he was still just staring at the ground. I wondered what was going through his head at this exact moment in time.

"Thank you... Good luck on your first day back to work... Tell your mother I said hello and I wish that she can get through what she is going through right now." He said to me. I nodded to him and then I wished him a goodbye.

I then began walking to the streets. I had forgotten that Jim had given me money for a carriage ride over to work. I thanked him in my head for it, I was just a mile or two away from there but if I was in a rush or not feeling too good on a certain day it was always certainly appreciated.

Once I was there I held my hand out for a carriage. It took a few moments but finally after a few ignored me or already had passengers one finally stopped to pick me up.

"Where to young guy?" The guy said to me. I hopped on the side of it and then responded to his question.

"Heading over to Jim's bar please?" I asked him. He grunted and then looked at me a little bit confused but then he let out a little bit of a laugh.

"Jim's bar? Huh, you seem a little bit too young to drink... But hell! What do I know?" He said to me. I laughed at him and then payed him 2 coins, sometimes people did not pay until the end because they did not actually have money on them.

This was always a sigh of relief to the person that was riding it, they often did not get payed but in the end they always came home with a fair share of cash. So you could not be too upset with you're cents of pay in the end.

"I work there, I don't drink there." I said to the guy. He then nodded looking like he seemed a bit stupid and he didn't really look at me for the rest of the ride over to the place. I sat back just enjoying the scene and a comfortable little ride.

Once we were there he whipped the horses to a stop and then he nodded to me his thanks and then he began heading off to wherever he needed to go next.

I was at Jim's bar but my mothers place was literally right across the road from it. My father had made a smart decision on where he moved in because of how much he really drank. I looked at the place, I was a tad bit early but that just meant I could talk to my mom a little bit more and also talk to Jim and the regulars that went into the bar. I could also talk to Julia as well.

I took a quick jog across the road and then a walked down the sidewalk over the my old house. I then knocked loudly on the door. After a few moments my sister opened the door and I gave her a hug right away.

"How are you doing today sis?" I asked her. She smiled at me and then nodded for me to come in. I was a bit surprised because I would have thought that my father would not want me in the place. But what she told me next instantly made sense as to why she let me in.

"I'm not doing to bad Joseph. Just worried because mom and dad went out on a walk last night and they have not come back since." She said to me. I looked at her a little bit confused. I was worried about them because the city had gone downhill over the past couple if years.

"That's a bit strange... Well I am sure they are okay! Just tell mom I came in to tell her hi! Just wanted to make sure things were going okay around here." I said to her. She nodded looking a bit sad and I felt bad for her. She must be going through a lot mentally with all that has happened to her in her life at such a young age.

"Thank you! I will tell her when she gets back." She said to me. I came in for one more last hug and then I got off from the chair that I was on at the table. I would miss living here even though I repeatedly said how I hated living here.

"Goodbye Maria! Remember if things get to rough I will be here for you to take you in okay?" I said to her. She nodded and then said goodbye to me. I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and then walked through the door. She said one last thing to me that made my smile.

"I love you!"