29 Old Habits. (2)

With that, Visuveus walked off and left the pair standing there, looking all kinds of surprised. As he was only half way from the halfway house, Vincent only had to take one bus. The entire bus ride over, he was looking at his phone, contemplating whether or not it was a good idea to call Evan, as in spite of the constant reassurance he had received regarding just that, it was still something he struggled with. Nonetheless, he ended up biting the bullet and calling him. The phone barely rang before Evan answered.

"Wow, it seems that you're getting better at calling, Vi."

"Yeah, well. I'm trying. Bumped into my coworkers, today."

"Where?"

"At the mall… apparently, they were on a date, but I'm sure the one is lesbian."

"Well, you've always been incredibly perceptive when it comes to other people's shit, and woefully dense when it comes to your own."

"What was that?"

The two of them continued the light hearted banter, and that more than anything, kept the intrusive thoughts at bay as well as actually leave Visuveus in a rather good mood. The good mood persisted all the way to the halfway house, which resulted in him actually sitting and relaxing on the porch – something he had never done. While Vincent was still on the phone, Simon walked out of the house, and stood by the gate, waiting much like he did the previous day. The difference this time however, was that his face lumpy and discoloured, his lip was busted and his eye was swollen shut. When he noticed Visuveus on the porch, talking on the phone, Simon suddenly panicked and tried signaling for his house mate to go inside or something. The abject fear that he was feeling was warping and twisting Simon's face, while Visuveus, having instantly recognised that fear as somebody who had routinely caused others to feel it, simply remained seated and continued speaking to Evan.

"Just a quick heads up…I may have done something stupid, that is going to result in me getting caught up in a sticky situation."

"…what happened, Vi?"

"Well… I wasn't able to mind my business, and have likely drawn the ire of somebody I probably shouldn't have."

"Somebody strong?"

"The other person isn't the problem here… Nisha is."

"Good point. What are you gonna do?"

"Play it by ear. I'll let you know how it turns out."

"Please do."

As much as the call ended, Visuveus kept the phone by his ear and pretended to still be on the phone, all the while keeping an eye on the panicking Simon. The cause of his panic soon arrived, as down lumbered another large man – larger than Simon, at least. He wasn't quite as tall, but he was vast – with massive arms, a barrel chest, beard and a receding hairline. Tatted, scarred and sunburned skin was exposed as he was wearing a stained and almost obscenely tight tank top, baggy pants and boots. He saw Simon looking panicked, and after looking around a bit, he quickly noticed Vincent seated on the porch furniture. He looked at Simon with a kind of animalistic possessiveness, the loud smacks and pops of his gum filling the silence. Simon, who was now shaking, whimpered as this man reached up and cupped the back of neck, and continued to stare at his roommate, before letting go of him, walking in and making his way over to Vincent, who was still having his fake phone conversation. The big guy stopped right in front of Visuveus, assumed the kind of posture that he had seen a million times before in the jail, and just stared at him. Visuveus on the other hand, paid him absolutely no attention, and continued speaking into his phone. This only served to annoy the large man, and Simon quickly tried to intervene, however he was smacked before he could even say anything.

"You stay out of this!" The man ordered.

"…can I help you?" Visuveus asked as he looked up at the man.

The man continued to glare at Vincent in complete silence, so he switched gears and looked over at Simon, whose black hair was now covering his eyes.

"You okay, Simon?"

"YOU DON'T GET TO SAY HIS NAME!!!" The man boomed as he stepped towards Visuveus.

"It's his name. I don't get why you get to decide that." Vincent said with a shrug.

"Because he's mine. No matter what you have or haven't heard! Everything about him is mine!"

Visuveus sighed deeply as he shook his head slightly.

"Look, whatever it is you two have going on, has nothing to do with me. But when you are so loud that it forces everybody here to bear witness to it, it kind of becomes all of our business. You have a choice right now: be more considerate when you do your shit, and back the fuck off right now, and you'll still be able to beat the shit out of Simon here all you like. But if you take one more step towards me, forget making Simon gag, you'll be eating through a straw for the rest of your days. Your call."

There wasn't even a lick of hesitation on the man's face, and he strode forward with as aggressive a smirk as his face could muster, causing Visuveus to slowly stand up in response and look the man square in his eyes.

"Simon, I need you to go inside and alert Ms. Mubi about what is going on here. If she isn't told about this, we could all be in a world of shit. Can you do that for me?"

"Don't fucking think about it!" The man shouted. "You stay right there!"

"Get up, and go fetch her."

"STAY RIGHT THERE!"

"Go, Simon. As sick as I am of hearing you cry yourself to sleep, I'd imagine it's far worse for you. This is a chance for you to take control of your life, Simon. As much as I shouldn't have gotten involved in all of this, involved I am, therefore, I will take care of this. I need you to stand up, and get that woman. Now."

Simon, who was still whimpering and cowering, somehow felt the strength to do what Visuveus had ordered swelling up within him, to the point where he was already on his feet and fixing to run inside. His roommate barked a few more times, but the near whispered, emotionless coaxing was surprisingly more effective, and the ex-con ran inside. Visuveus smirked and raised the wristband to his lips, before swiping, pressing and holding his way to the desired option.

"I'm glad I fiddled around with this thing... I discovered something useful." Visuveus said to the increasingly aggressive man. "My name is Visuveus Vincent, prison number 141166, currently a parolee, staying in the halfway house belonging to a Miss Wazewa Mubi. I am currently faced with a situation that is threatening to boil over and am in fear for my physical wellbeing. I have tried to deescalate the situation, but this man has instead borne his teeth and is about to attack me therefore, I will be defending myself. That is all."

Visuveus said all that, and smirked in an incredibly provative manner. Meanwhile, Simon, who was running frantically through the shitty halls of the crappy house, called for Ms. Mubi as he did. He burst in on her pulling something that both smelled and looked questionable out of the fridge.

"What do you want, Bitch? I don't have any fuckin' medicine to waste on you." She croaked cruelly.

"T-That's not it!" Simon retorted. "A fight is about to break out!"

"That's none of my business, Bitch. Ex-cons fight. It happens."

"It's between Visuveus Vincent and Mike!"

Ms. Mubi suddenly jolted and turned to look at Simon with absolute dread on her face, before tossing the food aside and absolutely booking it towards the front door.

"Not my precious Vincent!" She shrieked as she ran. "That piece of shit is going to ruin his face!"

Simon followed after the old woman, yet the two were greeted by something neither of them could have anticipated even in their wildest dreams. They found Visuveus, holding Mike up with one arm, his hand firmly gripping the big man's neck. Blood sprayed out of his mouth and nose as he gasped for air, mouth agape and nose crooked as both were rather brutally broken. One of his arms was also broken and dangling by his side. Mike's entire body hung limp and his gasps for air were somehow both frantic, and weak. Some blood had gotten on Visuveus' suit, however considering how adept he was at avoiding getting any sort of viscera on his body, it might have been intentional.

"Ah, you're here." He simply remarked as he glanced over at Simon and Mubi. "I was in fear for my life, so I fought back, and this happened." He said matter-of-factly.

"What the fuck…" Mubi mumbled as she could hardly believe what she was seeing.

"Stop." Simon said meekly. "You're going to kill him."

"It seems you two have history from your respective incarceration." Visuveus said to both Simon and Mike. "It also seems that history managed to follow you out here, and whether you wanted it to or not, repeated itself. I would appreciate it if this relationship of yours would not affect me again in the future. Clear?"

"…c-c-clear." Simon stammered.

"Good. Oh, and Simon."

"Y-yes!"

"Be sure to handle your own shit in the future, because whilst old habits may die hard, men, you will find, do not."

Visuveus, after what seemed like an age, finally relinquished the grip on Mike's neck, resulting in the ex-con falling to the ground with a gross, wet thud. He then looked up at the sky, which was painted in orange and pink hues due to the setting sun, and took a deep breath.

"The air here smells like shit." Visuveus remarked before making his way towards the front door, his steps not only feeling as though they were causing the ground to shake to those outside, but the sound they made came across as so loud, they couldn't hear anything else until he walked inside.

Afterwards, they all just stood there, unsure of what to do with themselves until both Mubi's and Simon's legs gave way, and they fell to the ground.