Berry Juice Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Yelp’s eyes blink open. He looks around, confused at first. But then he remembers where he is.
He yawns and snuggles into the soft pillow. It felt odd at first, sleeping in a bed after five years. But after a while he got so used to it, he doesn’t want to leave now. It’s just so cozy.
Yelp rolls over and opens his eyes. Z’s gone. He didn’t wake him this morning. Even though he told him to last night.
Some things never change.
Yelp jumps out of bed and quickly leaves the room. He’s going to give his brother such an earful.
He jogs down the hall and to the stairs, spotting Z on the ground floor. But the second he gets a good look at him, his anger dissolves.
He’s all dressed up in black pants, white collared shirt, and a black jacket. His messy blue hair is combed neatly and he even looks clean.
Nava smiles when she spots Yelp on the steps. “What do you think, Yelp? Your big brother looks pretty dapper, eh?”
“He looks great,” Yelp beams.
“This shirt is uncomfortable,” Z whines.
“You just have to wear it for a couple hours,” Nava says, “now let’s go. We’re gonna be late.”
Z sighs and follows her to the door, ruffling Yelp’s hair along the way.
“We’ll be gone for probably an hour, Yelp,” she warns, “but there’s lots of food in the kitchen and you can watch some TV. Just make yourself comfortable. We’ll be back.”
“Good luck,” Yelp waves as they leave. Once the door is closed, he takes a quick look around the house, a mischievous grin growing on his face.
Meanwhile Z and Nava drive across the city to Talisman Graphics head office. The whole time Z keeps pulling at his collar. It feels like it’s strangling him. His fidgeting is driving Nava crazy. But she maintains her temper for the sake of the ruse, constantly repeating ‘I am a saint, I am a saint’ in her head.
They finally reach head office and exit the car. Z follows Nava through the front doors to the elevator, looking around nervously. He’s never been in a big, fancy office building before. It’s not particularly fascinating, but he feels like he doesn’t belong.
They enter the elevator and go all the way to the top floor. Then she leads him to a pair of double doors and they stop.
“Okay, just like I told you before,” she says sternly, “as long as you don’t mention you’re homeless, you’ll get the job.”
“I know. I just have to lie about everything,” Z nods.
“Exactly. You’re a shoo-in,” Nava smiles, “now prepare yourself. And try to look good.”
Z sighs and straightens his back. Nava opens the doors and they walk in.
It’s a large room with a big window on the far wall and a long table in the middle with a dozen chairs. But only three people are sitting in them, all men and all well-dressed.
Nava gives Z a quick pat on the back before taking a seat at the table.
“Welcome, Mr. Q,” the man at the head of the table says, “I am Louis Talison, manager of Talisman Graphics. It’s a pleasure.”
“Likewise. Thank you for having me,” Z says as he bows his head. He’s doing his best to stay calm and remember Nava’s advice from this morning.
‘Relax. Be polite. Don’t talk out of turn. Answer questions as generally as possible. But above all, show confidence.’
“So why are you interested in working here as an artist?” Louis asks.
“Well, I’ve always loved art and I’m really good at it,” he replies, “many people have said so.”
“I saw the work you submitted,” he says as he examines Z’s sketch. “It is quite amazing and very fitting for the field you’re looking to enter.”
“Thank you,” he nods.
“I just need you to answer some personal questions before you can join our business,” Louis warns, “first, Z Q. Is that your real name?”
“Well, actually it’s Mitchell Q,” Z replies, “Z is just a nickname.”
“I see,” Louis muses as he writes something down.
“So you last name is really Q?” one of the boys asks.
“Yes,” Z grunts.
“Moving on. How old are you?” Louis asks.
“23.”
“Do you have any family in the city?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have your own mode of transportation?”
“No.”
“Do you have your own art supplies?”
“Yes.” They’re not really ‘professional’ but they’re still supplies.
“Alright,” Louis grunts as he finishes writing whatever he was writing. “Everything checks out. Welcome to Talisman Graphics.”
Z smiles, excited and grateful. Nava can’t help but sigh with relief. Part one of her plan was victorious. Part two should go swimmingly.
“You just have to fill out some paperwork but Nava can help you with that,” Louis says as he stands up. “Meeting adjourned.”
Z sighs with relief, the knots in his stomach loosening a bit. He waits for Nava to grab the paper work and they leave together.
“See? I told you it’d be a cinch,” she smirks.
“Yeah,” he smiles awkwardly, “but it was still nerve wracking.”
“You have nothing to worry about. I’m here for you,” she says reassuringly.
It takes every bit of willpower not to grimace with disgust. Did she really just say that? Ugh, she cannot wait to wrap up this plan. All this niceness is going to make her sick.
“Nava!” They stop when someone calls her name. Nava glares with visible annoyance at her brother, Martín
“What do you want, Martín?” she asks.
“You must be pretty relieved, huh?” he says, “you get to keep full control of your branch. You must’ve worked really hard to find this guy.”
“Wait, what?” Z questions. He glances at Nava. She’s gone completely pale, either with anger or fear. Or both.
“What, Z, you didn’t know?” Martín asks, “Dad was gonna take control of Nava’s branch unless she got some new talent. That’s where you come in.”
“Really?” Z smirks and cocks his eyebrow.
“Yeah. You should feel lucky that Nava was so desperate,” he laughs, “in fact, you should both feel lucky.”
“I don’t believe in luck,” Z scoffs, “now why don’t you run along, Martin.”
“It’s pronounced ‘Mar-teen’.”
“Sure it is.”
Martín growls as he walks away. Z smirks and looks Nava. She’s glaring at the floor, her face flushed with anger and embarrassment.
She glances at him and snaps, “fine! You got me. Might as well tell the whole truth. Dad threatened to take control of my branch if I didn’t get some new talent. That’s the only reason I was interested you. Yes, your art is amazing. But that’s not enough to make me want to help you and your brother. The only reason I did was so you’d have no choice but to join me. It was a guilt trip!”
“There, now you know the truth,” she sighs, “and I’m fucking glad. It was making me sick being all nice. But I wouldn’t blame you if you quit right now.”
“On the contrary,” Z says, “I think I’ll actually be able to work for you.”
“What?” she questions.
“Before when you were being all selfless, it had my world view completely distorted,” he explains, “but now I know your true nature and all is right again.”
He stretches and sighs, “I can finally relax.”
“So you’d rather have an evil witch as your boss than a selfless angel?” Nava asks.
“Definitely,” he nods.
“Well, then you better prepare yourself,” she smirks, “because I’m through with being nice. I’m going to ride you into the ground. I just hope you can handle it.”
“Hit me with your best shot,” he challenges.
Their smirks cause the people around them to do their very best to avoid them. Their auras are so bone chilling and evil, it’s hard to believe they’re human.
“Oh, wait,” Nava groans, “I’m not quite done with being nice. There’s one last thing I’ve gotta do first.”
“What’s that?” Z asks.
“I’ll show you,” she replies, “but first we gotta get your brother and your stuff.”
The two of them leave the building and get into Nava’s car. She drives them back to her house and they walk through the front door to quite a messy surprise.
There are wrappers and half eaten snacks all over the floor. The TV is turned up to full blast with some kind of cartoon playing and the coffee table is completely covered in glasses half full of different drinks. Yelp is lying on the couch, shirtless and his hair soaking wet, fiddling with a handheld game device.
He looks at the door and quickly sits up. “Oh, hey. You guys are back.”
Nava growls with anger at the mess while Z holds back his laughter.
“Well, you told him to get comfortable,” he points out.
“Sorry about the mess,” Yelp smiles bashfully, “I got a little… out of control.”
“So, what’s this ‘last nice thing’ you gotta do?” Z asks.
“We are not going anywhere until you clean up this mess!” she barks, “and for the love of fuck, turn down the TV!”
She shouts angrily, calling the brothers an array of rude names as she stomps into the house. Yelp stands up and walks up to Z, watching her curiously.
“She certainly changed,” he comments, “did the meeting not go well?”
Z starts giggling almost hysterically. He wraps his arms around Yelp’s shoulders and hugs him from behind.
“Z?” Yelp questions.
“Sorry,” he snickers, “I just can’t stop.”
Yelp smiles. It’s been a long time since he’s seen Z so happy.
He takes a deep breath and wipes away the tears from his eyes. “Alright. I’m gonna go change. Yelp, clean up this mess.”
“Okay,” Yelp chimes.
Z changes out of those extremely uncomfortable dress clothes and into a striped shirt, old jeans, and dirty shoes. Much more comfortable. Yelp quickly cleans up the mess he made and gets dressed. And once Nava has finally calmed down, she drives them to their surprise.
“I swear, this is the last time I’m nice to anyone,” she growls.
“You’re a model human being, Nava,” Z comments.
“Fuck you, Q,” she snaps, “just remember I’m doing this for my sake. I don’t know how Dad would react if he found you’re homeless, so I gotta cover it up as much as possible.”
“Yeah, I’ve been wondering about,” Z says, “it’ll be difficult for me to work while living on the street. Not impossible, but difficult. Unless you want us to live with you.”
“Absolutely not,” she barks, “but don’t worry. I’ve thought of everything. Where do you think we’re going?”
Z and Yelp look out the windows curiously as they drive down an unfamiliar neighborhood. It’s at a corner of the city they’ve never been to before.
Nava stops and pulls over at the curb in front of a small apartment building with only four doors, two on the first floor and two on the second. They all have a ‘for rent’ sign on them except for one on the second floor.
Nava gets out of the car. Z and Yelp follow hesitantly. She walks up the creaky steps to the apartment door, pulling a key out of her pocket and unlocking it. She opens the door and presents it to Z and Yelp.
“There,” she grunts, “you’re no longer homeless.”
“Wh-what?” Z questions.
“I rented this place for you,” she clarifies, “of course if you didn’t pass the meeting I never would’ve told you. So consider this your reward.”
They walk in. The small living room is completely empty and the small kitchen only has a stove and a refrigerator. There’s a short hallway that leads to two small bedrooms, which both have a small mattress, and a small bathroom “There,” Nava booms, “my final act of kindness. Here.” She tosses the key at Z. He barely manages to catch it.
“Thank you,” he mutters.
“Forget it,” she grunts, “if I didn’t do this, I would’ve lost my branch. Anyway, I’ll let you enjoy your new place. Work starts tomorrow. See you then.”
She leaves quickly, slamming the door behind her. Z stares after her, his mouth agape. He swallows hard and looks down at the key in his hand. It’s a tiny little thing, but a huge symbol for his future.
He looks at Yelp. He’s just standing there, looking around in awe.
Z smiles and hugs him from behind, wrapping his arm around his neck.
“By the way, I almost forgot,” he says as he reaches into his back pocket. He pulls out a folded up piece of paper and quickly unfolds it before Yelp’s eyes. It’s an incredibly detailed drawing; the background is made up of trees and there are a bunch of people doing many different things. There are some teenagers sitting in a circle, a couple walking hand-in-hand, a few kids playing, a drunk guy bothering a couple of girls, a kid trying to steal from an old lady, and even more layers. It’s obviously a representation of the park, and it’s so breath taking.
“You drew it!” Yelp exclaims happily.
“Happy birthday, Yelp,” Z smiles.
Yelp beams and hugs his big brother. “This is the best birthday ever.”
“Yeah,” Z sighs as he hugs him back.
Yelp lets him go and stares at his present before running down the hall. “I’m gonna hang it up in my room.”
“Wait, we haven’t even picked rooms yet,” Z points out as he chases after him.
“That’s easy. Obviously I get the biggest one,” Yelp declares.
“How does that make sense?”
The brothers chase each other down the hall, huge smiles on their faces. They enter the larger of the two bedrooms and collapse on the mattress. Yelp rests his head on Z’s chest and they stare contently at the ceiling. It’s not made up of tree branches and there are no holes in it. It’s an actual whole ceiling.
“Five years,” Z mutters, “we lived on the street for over five years. And now we have our own apartment. It all happened so fast, I’m not even sure what to make of it.”
“Things are finally looking up for us,” Yelp smiles.
“It’s about fucking time,” Z grunts.
Yelp laughs. Things really are looking up for these two brothers who have lived hard lives since they were born. They really do deserve it. Instead of life’s usual lemons, it about time they got some berry juice.