[mood]: ...quiet.
[music]: High Road, and the breath of my oscillating fan.
[msn]: Pirate-Slave
Gimme a SPARK! ... SPARK!
...and it ends up spelling "Wal-mart", somehow.
Thirty forty-two; we go the extra mile for you.
I shit you not, folks. Welcome to my new employer. Madison works at Walmart. Interestingly, they don't appear to have the letter "A" for their nametags, so they use upside-down Vs and put a little bit of blue in the middle to make an A. Cute.
On a more introductory note, I'm back. Hopefully for a while now. I've missed blogging my every little worry and woe, and receiving feedback from the various sources who read this chatter. So I return.
Recently I took a trip home to Cranbrook, picked up a new car that works mightily better than my old one, and got to chatting about life in general while I was there. That is probably mostly what this particular entry will be about... I'm going to try to avoid tangents but they will crop up. Forgive. Enjoy the headings!
1.0 ENGINEERING
So far... I've decided to stay in. This semester, can't lie, I did shit all and got the marks I deserved. I failed Transportation (sucks to you, Lovegrove) due to failing the final, which I do think is a touch unfair, but considering I failed nothing else, I'm feeling pretty good about myself. Hopefully next year I will have more of a will to survive. The reasons I think I didn't do well this year are as follows:
- Several profs BLEW. MASSIVE. CHUNKS. I'm talking didn't know what the variables meant in formulas they were writing down for us, or called us idiots fairly regularly, or wanted to talk about their Prius more than they gave a shit about teaching us anything.
- The work was dull. They say third-year Engineering is much easier than its predecesors. They are correct - at least for Civil at UBCO. You go from "HOLY FUCK THIS IS HARD" to "a + b = c" where a and b are provided. Sometimes even c. I was bored as FUCK, and did not give a shit about doing pointless busiwork. Pointless. Busiwork. If I wanted to do that I would work at Walmart. At least they will pay me for the complete mindless nothing that I do.
- Madison is depressed with life. I blame this partially on Kelowna's clouds, and partially on a number of other factors, but mostly... I just... am still really not sure about this degree. However.
Yup, however. I'm still here. As far as I can tell at the moment, I'll be doing all the classes I need to in the fall, and picking up Transportation again next January. Doesn't that sound fun, kids? And now we forget about school for two more glorious months.
2.0 BOOK WRITING
I finished my paper edit. So now I get to edit it on computer. And then off to some new publishing company. The end is quite different now, and (if I may say so myself) quite a lot better! I'm pretty excited about it. You sould be too. Because someday you will buy it, and it will burn a 20$ hole in your pocket. Unless it's paperback, in which case you are a CHEAP BASTARD.
3.0 ART
Have a cool painting I'm working on... which... I can't really show you at the moment I don't think... I have a photo from when it was no where near finished... it's much closer now, but here's the work-in-progress anyway:
I am aware of its weirdness. Next is one that I drew just recently! Hurrays!
Less weird. Yay!
4.0 OTHER WRITING
...and here is a taste of some randomness I am currently working on... and by working on I mean it's sitting on my desktop trying to make me work on it, but I glare it down in favour of 2.0.
Orion Yoshida slowed his pace as he approached Aldo – as he did every time he was a few minutes early for his shift at GAP. His black eyes flicked to the inside where some blond employee was gabbing to her equally fluff-headed friend, neither of them paying much attention to anything. The store was already crawling with customers even though it was only noon, and the usual size eights were sitting outside on display – all left feet, all stunning. Would anyone notice? He doubted it.
Orion made his way to the front of the store as though vaguely interested in some shoe. He raked his long, thin fingers through his black hair, knowing it would be the same disarray as usual by the time he got to work. He picked up one of the heels – a white leather pump with a glossy black toe cap. The stitching was a rich red to match the insole. Italian. It reeked of leather, and he loved it.
And it fit so perfectly into his bag.
Without a backwards glance Orion turned and left the store, heading around the corner for work. The mall was busy – it was Saturday – and his ears were suddenly tuned into everything. Once he’d entered the GAP, however, with its trendy music and clean décor, he knew he was safe, and Aldo probably wouldn’t notice its missing treasure for days.
“Orion, hurry up; that late order finally came in,” came Sandra’s voice from the desk, where there was already a line. What an exciting day awaited. The young man moved to the back of the store and pressed through the door labelled Employees Only. Behind, there wasn’t much more than a set of lockers and a bathroom, both of which he quickly made use of – the locker to stow his bag, the bathroom to wince at himself in the mirror.
Half Japanese and dark-skinned, the dull blue-grey GAP uniform had never suited him. It was starchy and always looked too big for his frame, which was entirely too thin. His eyes were laden with dark bags and were red from staring all night – he’d hardly slept a wink between his shift at Seven Eleven and the walk to the mall. He sighed, ran a hand through his hair once again and headed out onto the floor to unpack new merchandise. The entire delivery had been late, and they were supposed to be having a sale. What did Americans call that..? Murphy’s Law?
** ** **
“Excuse me?”
Orion turned around, internally thanking higher powers that it was almost five. The girl who was talking to him made him regret it a little, however.
“Do you have these in a size seven, or is this all you have..?” she asked, holding a pair of dark blue pumps. She was gorgeous – narrow chin, long chestnut hair, doe eyes outlined in thick black, the curvaceous body of a flexible dancer. Orion faltered for a moment, feeling suddenly very lowly in his untucked shirt and too-short black slacks. His shoes were another matter altogether, and he tried not to think about them.
“Ah... unfortunately, if there are no size sevens on the shelf, we probably don’t have any,” he said, careful of his pronunciation. When the girl’s shoulders slumped he hitched a smile onto his face. “But I will go look in the back for you.”
Orion shifted by her and again pushed into the back, where there was no storage except for the hallway, and he knew very well there were no shoes there. Hidden behind the swinging grey door he sighed, leaning against the wall. He waited a few minutes to allow himself to calm down, then headed back into the store, spotting the girl over in the tiny shoe section. He walked over to her.
“Sorry, these are the last of them,” he said, shrugging apologetically, and the girl pursed her lips and shrugged.
“Damn,” she breathed, and Orion couldn’t help but smile a little. The girl shrugged. “Alright, thanks anyway.”
With that she started to turn away, clearly headed for the door. Orion hastily picked up another shoe from the dismal collection.
“Excuse me? Sorry – if you don’t mind..?” he said quickly, and the girl glanced back, curious. “Perhaps you’d like to try this one..?”
“Is this your clever ploy to get some commission?” she asked, smirking a little. Orion knew it was a joke but he shook his head anyway.
“We don’t make commission... Otherwise I don’t think I would stack so many clothes,” he said, still holding the shoe. It was a dark purple heel with a thin tee strap, patent leather with black detailing. The girl pursed her lips again.
“I don’t think I really like purple.”
“I think it would look good on you,” Orion insisted, and the girl raised her eyebrows.
“Do you really?” she asked sceptically, still smirking a bit. “Do you have size seven, then?”
Orion nodded, motioning for her to sit down on the one small bench that was provided. The girl sat, watching with mild curiosity while he searched for the right size. The shoe section was always in a disarray – usually because people were doing exactly what he was doing at present, and made a terrible mess of things while searching for their size. He finally found a seven and held it out to the girl, who took it in a delicate hand.
“Here, try this and I will find the other...” he muttered, wondering how the two shoes had gotten separated in the first place. He rummaged a while more and, when he eventually found the other shoe, turned to find that the girl hadn’t even put on the first one yet. A look of confusion swept his face until the girl held out the shoe.
“Try it on me?” she asked, and Orion’s heart skipped a beat. Without thinking, he took the shoe and knelt in front of the girl, GAP’s tacky Indie music and the buzz of customers fading to somewhere unimportant in the back of his head.
“Of course.”
She had the most beautiful feet he’d ever seen – white and small and perfect, pointed and soft. She was wearing only green flip-flops, both of which Orion quickly removed and replaced with the purple heels. They fit like she’d been born in them.
“Huh,” the girl said, mildly surprised – or impressed? She stood up, and Orion watched her foot arch and her calf tighten. After taking a few steps and watching herself in a nearby mirror, she smiled and looked at Orion as he stood up. “What do you think of them?”
“They look good.”
“I could never wear them with these shorts,” the girl pointed out, laughing at her reflection, and Orion smiled and shook his head.
“No. Not unless you really, really wanted to.”
“I think I have clothes that’ll match...” she muttered, still watching the mirror, then she turned to Orion again. “What do you really think of them?”
The young man looked left, looked right, then shrugged, muttering, “I maybe should not say this... but they are sexy.”
The girl laughed and sat down again. Orion knelt to take off the shoes and she asked, “Where are you from?”
“Japan.”
“How long have you been in New York?” the girl asked as Orion helped her back into her flip-flops. He shrugged.
“Five years, and my English is still terrible,” he half-stated, half-guessed what she was going to point out next. The girl laughed.
“No, it’s good!” she insisted as she got up, taking the purple heels from him. She motioned to the counter and Orion led the way.
“Thank-you,” he said with a smile, stepping up behind the till. He rang up the shoes, discounting them as much as he knew he could without getting in trouble. The girl raised her eyebrows but said nothing, handing him her credit card.
“Orion?” she said, reading his nametag, and the young man nodded. “Did you choose that name yourself, when you came here?”
He laughed, moving like a machine to tear the receipt from the printer. He’d done it countless times.
“No, my mother was Irish, so she gave me my first name. My second name is Japanese.”
“Ah, I see. Well, Orion, my name is Emily. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you,” he repeated, nodding the way he always did – substituting for a bow in some way Americans seemed to find acceptable. The habit had become less and less apparent over the years, but had never quite left him, especially when introductions were made. He stapled the receipts together and handed them to her. “Thank-you.”
“Thank-you,” Emily said with another laugh, then glanced towards the doors. “Hey, do you get out of here at five?”
“Yes...”
“Wanna grab coffee or something?” the girl asked, and Orion struggled. ‘Coffee’ usually meant spending five dollars, never mind if he paid for her or not. He wondered how much was in his wallet out back... probably enough. He nodded.
“I would love to.”
“Cool. I’ll meet you at Starbucks, alright?” Emily asked, but was waving goodbye even as she said it. Orion nodded and watched her leave the store, only to be kicked in the ankle by Sandra a few seconds later, which snapped him right out of his daze.
“You know, you’re not a shoe salesman,” she said with a sly grin, leaning against the counter and flicking her short hair out of her eyes. Orion blinked.
“What?”
“But she did have nice legs,” Sandra commented with another smirk, then straightened. “Get out of here and go have coffee with her, I don’t need you for the last ten minutes. Looks like you’ve got most of the unpacking done anyway.”
“Sandra, are you – ?”
“Yeah, Ri, get outta here,” the girl insisted, waving him off as she walked towards the women’s dressing rooms. Orion glanced at the clock, then headed towards the back. When he’d retrieved his bag from the locker, however, sudden uncertainty hit him. Showing up with an expensive size eight shoe – and only the left one – weird or not?
Definitely weird. He fished his wallet from out of the bag and then stowed the rest back in his locker; he could get it later. After that it was only a short walk to the coffee shop, which he could practically identify by its smell. Another ten hours and he’d be on the other side of the counter.
** ** **
“Pius? Sebastian?”
Orion entered his damp basement apartment, jamming his keys onto the hook by the door and stepping awkwardly out of his ramshackle shoes.
“Hey, Orion,” called his youngest brother’s voice from the kitchen. Pius was barely sixteen, with a head of flaming red hair given to him by his mother. It had been a source of amusement to the other two brothers since he’d been born, but he still wore it long like a badge of honour. “How’re you?”
“Good. Great, actually,” Orion admitted, moving into the kitchen and opening their fridge. He always did it – there was always little to nothing there. Pius was seated at the kitchen table, schoolwork covering every inch of the tiny circular surface.
“You’re late,” came a dull voice from the living room. “I thought you ended at five tonight?”
It was more of a statement or an accusation than a question – Sebastian always knew exactly when Orion was supposed to get off work, as his work schedule was magneted to the fridge. The older boy tried not to let it get to him. Couldn’t – not tonight.
“Why great?” Pius asked, looking up and raising his eyebrows, a small smile playing about his lips. He was always in a better mood than Sebastian. Always in a better mood than anyone, really. Orion grinned.
“Had coffee with a girl.”
“Oooh, what’s her name?” Pius asked, dropping his pencil on top of a pile of what looked like physics problems. Orion kept smiling, getting himself a glass of water from the tap, and Sebastian came to join them in the kitchen. He was dressed to the usual nines, short dark hair coifed impeccably, and wearing a much more impressed expression than his voice had suggested.
“Where’d you meet her?” he asked, and Orion sat down at the table, full of energy despite the fact that he’d been awake for over twenty-four hours.
“At the GAP. Beautiful girl; she’s nineteen, has gorgeous eyes and wants to see me again on Saturday.”
“How’d you meet her at GAP?” Pius asked, resting his cheek on his hand and – Orion was sure – holding back laughter. He shrugged.
“She asked for some shoes,” he said, and there were groans all round. Sebastian rolled his eyes and Pius laughed.
“So you wooed her with your shoe-choosing ability, did you?” he asked, and Orion’s shoulders slumped.
“Yeah, I did,” he said matter-of-factly, and the other two both laughed this time. Sebastian ruffled his hair as he returned to the living room.
“Good for you, Orion. Did you manage to catch her name while you were infatuated?”
“Of course I did! It’s Emily,” Orion said, starting to get annoyed, but Pius gave him the thumbs up.
“Nice job, seriously. Anyone who manages to get a girl while in work uniform deserves congrats; in my books, anyway,” he said, picking up his pencil again, and Orion smiled.
“Thanks, Pius. What are you up to tonight?”
“Physics, and then can I borrow your phone?” the younger boy asked, looking up and Orion nodded, getting up and fishing his cell from his pocket.
“Long as it’s after eight and not long distance. I’m having a shower,” he said, leaving his phone on the counter before making his way back through the entrance hall and into the bathroom. He closed the door as much as the warped wood allowed him, though none of them could ever get it locked. He glanced in the mirror, doing his best not to notice his reflection or the greyish mould that had taken polka-dotted residence on the once-white ceiling. The rest of the bathroom was for the most part clean, but Pius couldn’t reach the ceiling.
Orion spun the hot tap until the water was a steaming jet from the shower head, then turned the cold on until he could bear the temperature on the back of his hand. Hot water was the only commodity he didn’t pay for directly, and he used that to his full advantage. He turned the fan on, slipping out of his clothes and letting his heavy belt buckle clunk to the linoleum. He stepped onto the scale and sighed.
“One fifty... not bad, Orion, that’s alright...” he muttered to himself, stepping off the scale and watching the needle swing wildly. He’d started to watch his weight only recently. Apparently it wasn’t healthy for someone who was six foot six.
** ** **
“Hey! Sebastian! Wait up, huh?” Pius called, running down the sidewalk after his brother. His backpack was loaded, something Sebastian never seemed to worry about, as he was too fast in class to really ever have any homework leftover.
“I told you, I’m not walking home with you tonight,” Sebastian said, obviously somewhat annoyed. Pius caught up to him anyway.
“But I wanna know where you’re going. Orion will want to know where you are, because you’re not gonna beat him home, right? He’s done early tonight; he’ll probably be there when I get there, and he won’t be asleep, because he doesn’t work until tomorrow night.”
“Well, tell him I’m still at school.”
“Doing what? And I’m only telling him that if you tell me where you’re actually going,” Pius bargained. He had been the family secret-keeper for ages – ever since he could remember, really – and wouldn’t say a word to Orion either way... but Sebastian always got him so damn curious...
“I’m going to a photo shoot,” the older boy muttered quietly, as though he were ashamed. He blushed, and Pius laughed.
“Seriously? That’s awesome! What for? Clothes? What kind? Where? Are they paying you? How’d you find the job? How come you didn’t tell me sooner?”
“Look, Pius, I’ll tell you later, alright? Just... go home for now, and tell Orion I’m still at school helping someone, okay?”
“O-kay,” Pius chimed merrily, then stopped, turned around and headed back the other way. A minute later he turned around, and before Sebastian could disappear he yelled, “I wanna see the pictures!”
The older boy made some gesture with his arm that Pius was sure meant derision, then disappeared around a corner and was gone.
“Jerk.”
** ** **
“O-ri-ooooon!” Pius sang as he entered the apartment, kicking off his shoes and wincing as they hit the dirty wall under the coat rack. “Where are you my favourite brother?”
“Favourite brother, huh?” Orion muttered from the bedroom. Pius bounded through the door into the darkness. “What do you want from me now?”
“I was think – Were you asleep just now?”
“I was...” Orion muttered, sitting up in bed. His was the tiny single bed – tiny, but at least he didn’t have to share the double with Sebastian. “I didn’t take lunch today so I could come home and... I think I was going to fix the drain in the kitchen sink, but then I fell asleep.”
“Good thing Sebastian didn’t catch you,” Pius said with a sly smile, and Orion rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, well, Sebastian wouldn’t fix the sink to save his life. Where is he anyway?”
“Helping some girl at school, I think. I saw them when I was leaving. Not sure when he’ll be home, she sounded pretty hopeless,” Pius invented, shrugging and tapping his head to suggest unintelligence. “Anyway, yes I’ll help you fix the kitchen sink, but then can you make sushi for dinner?”
“...not sure we have supplies for that...” Orion said uncertainly, getting up and stretching. Pius prodded his stomach.
“Well you need something to eat. Besides, I don’t need proper sushi I just want rice and nori mostly. You can put in whatever else we have in the fridge.”
“Can I really?” Orion asked with sarcastic enthusiasm, as though he were being given a privilege. Pius rolled his eyes and left the room.
“You want my help with the sink or not?”
“Yeah, I do,” Orion admitted, following his brother into the kitchen. The sink had been clogged for nearly a week – it was unexplained and a little frightening, and Orion was dreading having to solve the mystery. He sat on the floor and opened the cupboard, muttering, “Get a bowl or something...”
Pius obeyed, handing him a bowl, and Orion picked up the monkey wrench that was there under the sink. He’d had it for a few days, but there were two sinks in the apartment, and – quite frankly – he wasn’t looking forward to opening this one up. It smelled bad enough through only the drain.
“What else can I do?”
“Just bear witness,” Orion muttered, beginning to unscrew the pipe fittings around the U-bend. Pius crouched down beside him to watch. “Then you can tell Sebastian how disgusting it was...”
Sink water slopped out over Orion’s hands, and the young man winced, trying not to inhale. It was revolting – a pale brown in colour and thick with black and green specks.
“That’s gross.”
“That was probably dinner last week...” Orion dared, trying not to remember what exactly that had been. He twisted the pipes so that the U was free from the straight sections that came down from the sink... and immediately wished he hadn’t.
Pius let out a squeak and stepped back against the opposite counter as a solid, wet mass of green, brown and black was drawn from the pipes. It slopped down into the bowl – which, thankfully, had been well-placed – and spattered its foul secretions all over Orion’s face, arms and the inner cupboard.
“Well... That’s what’s been blocking the drain, I guess... ...get me a towel..?”
5.0 END TRANSMISSION
That's about all I have to say for myself right now. Mostly it is an information dump, but... screw y'allyall. I will be updating more regularly from now on (hopefully!) with much more insight, hilarious anecdotes and hopefully less complaining about my life than recent entries have had.
Speaking of less complaining, pretty sure I'm going to be taking some counselling to make my brain feel better. Then maybe I will stop getting weird rashes.
Speaking of rashes! One of my wisdom teeth is coming in! He's cute ^^ and I hope I don't have to get him pulled out. I am thinking of naming him soon.
THAT IS ALL! I hope the entry wasn't too long and I didn't bore you with that long bit of writing in the end. See most of you at James' tomorrow. HEARTS.
<3
/mads
