Shellville, which was really more of a large town for that matter. A little piece of butt-fuck nowhere in the midst of glamorous Californiacations just out of San Diego's reach, but which luckily had a beach front.
And like many cities or towns or even all, Shellville held a common atmosphere on the best of nights.It was cold, bitter and yet beautiful all the same.Minus the people...Night seemed to be the only time a man could quench his thirsts and never look back in regret until later the very next day. Men and women alike, throwing a couple of pennies or paper rolls as well as hours at each other for sex or for drugs all in good neighbourhoods.Being the world we live in now or rather, the world that has always been a current and fashionable norm as cycles turn in order to try and stop it.And one could be, although shouldn't be fooled by the Emerald city atmosphere in day time's delouse. For, it was the night time that which most people are skeptic of, that many come to show their true colours. As the real things that go bump in the the darkness of night; and in a town like Shellville, or as the youth claim it to be named "Hellville" after the vacuumus hole in the earth they saw it to be, around midnight...things would always start to get...rowdy in it's vast and eerie ambiance of buzzing streetlights and melancholy night owls. They each had their story...And as Oliver knocks off of his day job, later than usual as the middle manager of a corner café near the town square called "Locale" - which on most days was filled with college students.For some reason, Oliver believed that he had it (in some way) made; he didn't have to buy for more than one person in his house hold so the disposition of minimum wage didn't bother him, especially as his parents - who were tired of secretly locking their bedroom door at night; threw him into a fully furnished apartment at age eighteen, rather than a room with padded walls. That which was bought for a handsome amount of money in order to pay off the rent and to overcompensate for their silent hoorahs of ridding themselves of him, but with not so much a view to die for of the dark blue empty ocean far off into the distance since his apartment was built inland. Not to mention that they also gave him a car just so that one: Oliver couldn't complain about being kicked out and two; he wouldn't notice the joy in their faces when they did so.Oliver's parents were never fond of his almost compulsive behaviorisms although, they did their best to except him as he was and tried to in some ways give him some kind of guidance, but Oliver never seemed to be interested; this made them usually suffer in silence and become rather conscious of his appearance in social gatherings and family events.They went so far at times as to be very cautious not to stand in his way when he threw one of his many tantrums, it sometimes seemed better not to intervene.It got so bad to a point of which they didn't even have the guts to tell him he was actually in fact adopted...They were sweet, they didn't think that he needed to know, they were hopping that it would be much easier to love him all the same.But that did not bother Oliver all that much, because he always in some way knew...It was either that or his mother had an affair, seeing as he was the only one in the house hold to have speckled green eyes and a scalp caked with wild curly strawberry blond hair.He shaved his head to spite his appearance and identity once he ran away from home in the midst of one of his silent crises and it gave him a morose and anaemic light; this made his mother furious, that is after they had finally found him with the police. But she knew that there was very little she could do without finding a rat's head in her coffee or some other vicious consequence to that degree.And dare she ever mention a therapist...They had bought him a few of his favorite things in advance in fear that he would do something much worse if they simply kicked him to the curb and pretended as if it were the best gift any parent could ever give their already spoilt rotten ankle biter, for nothing ever seemed like enough.And on his birthday, they had basically celebrated their new life without him and he was out by the next morning; with his parents believing that the days of mangled puppies, mutilated birds and squished bees along with the haphazard yelps from crying siblings now estranged were finally behind them.Which led to his simple life here, as he continued to "peacefully" sweep after he told a fellow green eyed peer that he would helpfully take over the duty (even though he was practically done), pretending that he didn't notice that their shifts had ended about two hours ago in order to get his boss to pay him overtime."Hey, what are you still doing here? Your shift ended two hours ago, and where's Row? ", Oliver's boss - Mr. Moloi said as his jolly Fatman figure stopped and turned in front of him, blocking his seemingly bleak view of the inky space beyond the glass door and windows and even furthermore past the street lamp lights."Oh, I told him I would help out and that he could leave. I hardly noticed time fly by, sir.", Oliver lied."Come come, I've got to wake up early tomorrow.", Mr. Moloi spoke up."Taking the misers out to brunch again, sir?", he asked as he leaned on the broom stick."Why yes I am.""I tell you, you spoil her, sir.", Oliver joked with a blank yet joyous smile."Well...like all women, she'll complain if I don't.", Mr. Moloi said with such a smile that made him look like the jolly Fatman's spitting image as his round belly shook with laughter, complete with a short greying beard before he turned for the front door which opened with a jingle bell."You'll lock up won't you? The spare key is on the hook.", the old rustic-fadora-wearing and slightly tan Santa cooed while he span on his heel as he waved goodbye to Oliver, who smiled and waved his farewell.Pretending came very easy to Oliver, a talent or rather a game he had mastered years ago, when he could still play innocent when a window would break or when a sibling would suddenly lose their hair after using the shampoo or conditioner, and it seemed as though he was only getting better with time.For you see, Mr. Moloi has had this quaint diner so to speak for years and practically treats Oliver, if not all his employees like a daughter or son; seeing as he has none that anyone knew of.That made Oliver personally believe that he put himself in good terms with the elderly gentleman. Oliver seemed to believe that he practicality had him wrapped around his finger, and he would never admit the fact that he actually liked the old man, but if he were to die, then Oliver could quite probably own the café with a bit of elbow grease and shoe licking.He truly believed he had a reputation to uphold.And as soon as Mr. Moloi was out of sight, he locked the front door behind himself and immediately turned around to face what he would prefer to be known as trash world, or earth as we know it.People are strange, but townsend life, am I right?Shitty cops parading their badges for credit yet only able to think as far as their noses, litters of shitty people who all thought themselves better than one another, with their noses in the air whilst parading around under Oliver's very own as he climbed a nearby gas station kiosk's roof top to his secret hide out. Grabbing a pill and a cigarette.As he sparks up, he then spots three loud idiots who are either teenagers or were acting like ones; who were - as many have heard people who fit the same description to be known as 'fuckboys' walking towards the rarely used train station as one of them puff on an e-cigarette or something to that effect.Oliver rolled his eyes and trailed off to the sound of foot steps that came out of the darkness from a rather good example of 'No honer among thieves', as he spots a man not too far from under him flipping through a wallet which the stranger swiped from a busy and slightly deflated-looking mother of two monsters a block down from the station; both tearing her in different directions as she was dragged through the streets from an apartment building, at this hour.She obviously hadn't known it dropped out by the time she had gotten into her car, tisk tisk.The night was getting dark as the hours crept towards Midnight, but the people's needs were darker, so dark they appeared unseen, and Oliver was a testament. The man who swiped the wallet called for his undivided attention; walking amongst the few other nocto-freaks who roamed the streets at night with a smug look on his cheap face just before he crossed the road, no one in his shoes would shame this slimy stranger for his current choice, seeing as he got away with a thick and fancy wallet, who wouldn't feel lucky?Oliver smiled having a knowing feeling that he was going to have fun tonight, starting with him.But the night was still young,he figured he might take his time.He tailed the thief with his eyes to a dinky and rusty yellow lemon of a car, which Oliver figured either belonged to said lowlife or rather a car that he saw fit to steal at some point. He spotted the car ten feet away from the shadows cast by the lamp post as the stranger made his way across from the dodgy alley
As you now know, Shellville was a small town, but not nearly as quiet. Street corners buzzed here and there accompanied by police sirens which zoomed through the city-like lifestyle on a Saturday afternoon, as Oliver sits and eats cereal while watching his favorite cartoons. Typically, he would want to be left alone, stay home and mind his own business, but the night that which slowly shoved the sun down beckoned him to partake, and who was he to say no?One after another his boredom had gotten the better of him as he huffed out smoke from his hand made joints that which he mixed with other things, his excitement made him fidgety, he wanted more than that.Something was going to happen tonight, and Oliver would hate to miss it.The night before to him was peaceful surprisingly so, but that wasn't what he was going for. Oliver thought as he blankly stared at the clock on the wall, which he thought was broken, and waited for the short hand to fall on the six; it was not for any reason
So Oliver waited just outside the convenient store until the dark stranger came out and walked by him seemingly without any knowledge of his presence. He first waited a bit before he then dropped what was left of his cigarette and crushed it as he quietly tailed the stranger, keeping his distance while he eyed his surroundings and watched as the stranger turned a corner after a block away from the convenient store. Oliver picked up the pace a bit to catch up and see where to next... But the stranger was gone. He walked on a little further down the street and found a club shnob at around a minute past ten and decided to go inside, only after being roughly stopped by a large black woman by the door who asked for his ID. It was a good thing he had his wallet...Looking for the nearest public bathroom he could find to splash his face and change his apparently dull red hair to what the package said was midnight black, he went straight to the men's room. Hoping that this was the place that
Humdrum neighborhoods down on the coast in the somewhat very last sweet drops of summer. Bring out a certain type of sunlight for the occasion and which stand out to some individuals who seek a specific asceticism in their lives, such as of beach palms and vast panoramic views of seemingly endless oceans.Especially to one individual in particular, whose backdrop consists of all these perfect little things.This individual is named Rowland. And to further identify this amateur photographer, slash graffiti artist; who would spend most of his time defacing walls and billboards where ever he could get a chance as he walked the sandy streets on his own, being one of many of his favorite pass times. Being a young messy-haired, fair and yet dopey looking coconut *coloured kid from South Africa, he lived in a quaint apartment with novels and comic books and strange nit-picks that which he fancied, staked about him and plastered on walls.Working for minimum wage at a café and carrying the b
Once he found his allusive lighter, he resumed his recreational activities on his shabby balcony overlooking the horizon, now black-blue with pale moonlight unfortunately cloaked by street lamp lights below. It was going for two in the morning, but he simply could not sleep. Sound of the music and the sound of his thoughts mingled peacefully, enjoying the ambience. Sinking to the floor and following gravity as he sat down on an old lawn chair he found...comfortable. Thinking of a story he heard on the news of a another missing persons case the day before and wondered if wandering the streets was worth the risk considering how far he was from anyone he knew, he was certainly a long way from home, home being on an entirely different continent.He had decided to go anyway, out on the town. Rowland at the time believed that he needed the excitement, staring at the waning moon through the bars of his balcony like a prisoner would through his only window - a morose pale blue with the wi
With only three hours of sleep under his belt, the morning was filled with the sounds of clinking plates and screaming chefs in far corners of this dainty kitchen that somehow echoed internally in his very own coffee dunked mind. Now, only ten in the morning and the sun was fierce with it's heat as Rowland scrubbed and piled plates blankly in a small scullery tucked behind everything except a mostly empty staff parking lot behind the building which entailed nothing other than a few cars and a large rusty old garbage bin. With breakfast rush hour almost over to Rowland's relief a small break was sorely needed as he finished wiping and scrubbing the extra pot or pan that lay dirty.Once done, he picked up the garbage bags he had left earlier in one hand and put a cigarette into his mouth with the other. And as he put the bags beside the steps that lead out the back door someone called after him:"Hey, don't let me catch you smoking in my kitchen, young man.", a round man of average hei
Turning the same corner at the end of the corridor, he skipped steps as he climbed the stairs to the roof top three floors up, hoping that Nick would be there waiting, which to his relief was true. Still panting heavily from the unexpected cardio workout it took to reach him, Rowland muttered a breathless 'hey' before bending over to catch his breath.'Fuck! I'm unfit!', he thought, shaming himself for his sloth."OH!", Nick exclaimed with nonchalant attitude, "You came." while lighting two cigarettes, one of which he gave to Rowland once he recovered from his sprint. Which to a confused Rowland seemed odd; "You were expecting me?", Rowland asked, now standing beside Nick who leaned on the brick wall facing the horizon. He noticed that Nick carried a scent of rosewater or a rather sweet yet earthy musk from where he stood, as if dried roses were thrown into a fire. Rowland turned, now both facing and overlooking a decent horizon, seeing as though it was partially blocked by office b
The last hours of the day before were...abrupt, and on this particular morning, it decided to heavily rain, a rather perfect day to Rowland, who enjoyed the smell of rain and felt most calm under the dark clouds that lay over head. The lively colours of summer were waving their goodbyes as a light yet chilled breeze blew them away along with a few damp leaves from trees not evergreen and with of course some litter. It was five in the morning, Rowland lay awake on his bed even after his alarm had sounded, and while listening to the rain as it hit the balcony, he concentrates on a few drops that trickle and then melt into nothingness, subconsciously drifting back to the events of yesterday and on how normal the first half of it felt to him and yet how that very night seemed to be it's polar opposite. The conveyance of Nick's arrival and the opportunity that came with him, seemed all too strange to Rowland but the idea of what type of proposal Nick would bring to the table made him fee