Chapter 10
Having a job, a new place to move into so he could get an hour more sleep every night, and having his…whatever Wyatt was or would be, close. Yeah, life didn’t get much better than this, Izzy figured.
He carried his last box out of the house and into the car, nodding at Vinny and Morales who were on the other side of the street, leaning to Morales’ car and shooting shit like they were bound to, because Morales still wasn’t set to step inside the house Izzy was moving out of.
He’d gone to see Mrs. Rossi earlier, and Justin had given him the day off to get the moving done during daytime hours and without it affecting his free weekend. It seemed a bit like a dream. Mrs. Rossi had changed their meetings into bi-weekly ones just so he didn’t have to drive into town that often. She’d also check up on him weekly, but that would be on the phone, which worked just fine.
She’d also told him she might drop by one weekend, if she had time and her wife—and hadn’t that been a surprise, and in some ways, not—wanted to get some first grade produce.
“You’re off, then?” Vinny asked when Izzy slammed his trunk shut.
“Yup. And here’s a hundred bucks more. I’ll get you the rest as soon as possible. It’ll be faster with me living there, with there being only utilities to cover.” He meandered over the narrow street to stand in front of the guys he was happy to be mostly rid of.
Morales snorted. “Living on the property with those rich fags…” He spat on the street, showing his derision clear as day.
It made Izzy’s skin crawl. He hated guys like this so, so much. “They’re good people, gay or not.”
“Nah, wussies all of them,” Vinny scoffed, waving his hand with a limp wrist.
Izzy felt the itch in the back of his head, the rage sliding down his back, but kept his temper in check. He couldn’t start anything, couldn’t give these guys a reason to start a fight, either.
Morales chuckled in an ugly way. “Yeah, I’m fuckin’ surprised they don’t have walls and gates and that shit. Fucking probably have their house alarmed and like those motion sensor lights in the yard in case a fucking coyote steps a foot on the property!” He cackled like it was the greatest joke ever, and Vinny laughed, too.
“No, there’s none of that there. They can take care of themselves.” Besides, they had a pack of dogs living under the roof, and Izzy had a feeling Lettie taught her dogs a lot of tricks that would be handy in an emergency situation.
“Yeah, yeah.” Morales snorted. “Well, you better run off now.”
“I left my key on the kitchen table. I’ll come give you the rest of the money when I come to see Mrs. Rossi the week after next,” Izzy told Vinnie, ignoring the asshole Morales completely.
“All right.”
With that, Izzy jumped into his car and started the hour-long drive to his new home.
* * * *
Moving in was easy. Sam was working since it was a weekday, but Izzy didn’t have more than one box with random stuff he’d managed to accumulate since he got out, his bag of clothes, and his old ratty backpack he still carried with him because of sentimental value. It had his stash of weed, enough for maybe two joints total at this point, in one of the pockets. He wasn’t going to get more, unless his anxiety got to be an issue, and then he guessed he could ask Justin if he could maybe help Izzy find a doctor who would prescribe him medical marijuana instead. That had to be okay, right? Getting it legally like that, for an actual medical reason? Instead of recreational smoking? He thought there were cards or something you could get. Seemed like a lot of bullshit now it was legal, but at the same time Justin was pretty hung up on his no drugs thing and Izzy had a good thing going.
Besides, technically his smoking was still for a medical reason, just that nobody believed it because he’d self-diagnosed and he’d once used heavier stuff. It was annoying that nobody believed a goddamn word out of his mouth these days, even when he was telling the truth, and he chose not to think about it as he made his new queen-sized bed in his bedroom in the surprisingly nice trailer.
There was a proper bathroom, kitchenette, and a little sitting area he’d share with Sam. So far the guy had been great, really nice and smart, and he didn’t seem to think Izzy was stupid, even though he’d been in jail. Then again, you couldn’t always tell at first. Izzy hoped Sam would be a good guy in the future too, when they got to know each other better.
The only thing Izzy knew about Ignacio, the guy who had lived with Sam before, was that he’d been a bit sloppy with his stuff and cleaning after himself in the common areas. Izzy had no problems with keeping everything clean and neat, that was how he preferred to live anyway. Besides, it wasn’t like he had tons of stuff to just leave around anyway.
Since he hadn’t eaten and it was already afternoon, Izzy decided to go see if there was anything extra in the break room to tide him over until he managed to get some groceries from Oak Glen.
He left the trailer and jogged across the yard and between greenhouses to the break room. He must’ve been smiling, because Patty, who was leaving the break room took one look at him and chuckled.
“You’re cheery today, Izzy my angel!”
“I am! I just moved into the trailer. I don’t have to drive back and forth anymore!” He wanted to do a little dance, but decided to be an adult about it.
“Wonderful news! There’s something else too, I can tell…” She looked at him with her inquisitive, wise eyes, and Izzy had no clue what she saw. “It’s almost that new love kind of vibe, but maybe you’re not quite there yet.”
Izzy felt a jolt go through his whole body at her words, and he laughed awkwardly. “Whatever you say, lady!”
“Wyatt brought over some pizza. There’s still a bunch if you hurry!” She waved over her shoulder on her way back to the booth someone else had been manning through her coffee break.
“Thanks!” Izzy went inside and found the break room empty.
