Preached By My Neighbor (LGBT/18+)

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Wesley Bennett

I don't even have any slightest idea why Ms. Barks asked where I'm living. When I ask her, she tells me that she would like to buy an apartment here in Brooklyn, considering that it's a beautiful city, to which I agree. But as my head tries to process her reason, I feel like there's something off. But I believe it anyway. Ms. Barks doesn't have any reasons to lie, so I believe her. I have provided her my address.

I just got done cleaning the place – everything is set up now, from the living room to the bedroom. Looking through the window, I see the Brooklyn Bridge from here, cars already lined up, stuck in a traffic jam. Sighing, I put my phone on the table just beside the sofa facing the television set I have just recently set up and head straight to the kitchen to grab myself a drink.

Sam had helped me on cleaning the unit, and I was thankful for him. Had he not offered any help, I would have been still cleaning by now. After that, he told me that he needed to visit someone and got out of the building. My unit is located on the 13th floor – when I saw the advertisement about this apartment when I looked it up online, they said that the 13th floor was available and had great view of the city. It was the reason why I wanted this unit in the first place, plus, I like being in high places.

The weather here in Brooklyn is great – sometimes it's too cold, sometimes it's too hot. But despite the hotness, when you take a stroll across the parks, you will feel the cold breeze of the air brushing past your skin. And a chill will run down your spine.

"A stroll in the park will not kill me," I mutter to myself.

So that's what I do – I head into the nearest park, which is the Commodore Barry Park. It's just a 20 minutes of walking from here. But I suddenly feel lazy. So when I'm on an elevator ride, I contemplate whether I should hail a cabbie or not. Of course, being the laziest person I am, I hail a cabbie once I get outside the building. The place doesn't have a lot of people – the place is somehow quiet, which I like since it will help me clear my head up. I'm also lucky since when you get outside the building, across from it is two grocery stores. So I don't need to go far if I want to buy something.

It just takes a couple of minutes for us to reach the Commodore Barry Park. There's only a few people who are strolling across the park. The park is just a green field, trees that are probably older than me surrounding the park. From what I've heard, sometimes, the park is packed with people who are having a picnic with their family. There's also a pool here at the far end corner, so if you want to take a swim with other people in it, you may go there. It's a public pool, so no doubt that it's always crowded.

The cold breeze of air soothes my skin, making me relax and I sigh in relief, feeling the warmth of the sun at the same time the chilly air. I walk, thinking of ways on how I'd be able to move on. I know that it will take a lot of time, but I'm willing.

The feelings I have for Dexter will pass. Our relationship, if there was any, was wrong, and I had to quit it. He has a family, a wife, so it's not possible for us to be together. Well, it's possible for us to be together, but that would mean he needs to leave his wife and son. I don't want to be a homewrecker, or be labeled as one. Dex will get over me. Dex will get over me. He will soon realize how dumb he is for having an affair with me in the first place. He will realize that he's really into women, and he will feel disgusted for himself, questioning himself on what entered his mind to try and have a s****l thing with a same-s*x gender. I have already ruined one person's life; I won't do the same mistake again.

There are a few kids playing catch with their dogs and I suddenly miss the feeling of being a kid again. When Jarrod and I were in high school, women used to love us. We were everything. People loved us, basically worshiping the ground we walked on. I remember when we were walking, and this was after school – we had endured the pain as our backs were really aching due to what our professor had told us to do; it had something to do with a ball, but I can't remember what we were playing. Jarrod found a puppy, a Shih Tzu, sitting alone, shitless scared. The puppy didn't have any tag, and we didn't know where we would return the puppy. It seemed like the puppy got lost, considering he was just cleaned. We could still smell the shampoo on him. Jarrod decided to take the puppy home and named it Alistair. Days had passed and Alistair and Jarrod got really close together – they were like a magnet. There were times that Jarrod would bring Alistair to a park and play catch there, and he always brought me. He was so happy, so happy that he forgot that Alistair had a home, and when that day came, when the real owners of Alistair found him, Jarrod was really devastated for days. I was there to comfort him.

Just looking at those boys playing with their pets makes me think of Jarrod. He's happy now with his boyfriend. If I was still in High School, and if you were to tell me in the future Jarrod would turn gay and had a boyfriend, I would have laughed at you real hard, like the full-blown hard where I would tip my head backwards and slap knees with my palm, until I lost my breath, until I had to stop to breath some air to fill up my lungs.

Deciding that I have had enough of strolling, I walk until I reach the street and hail a cabbie. After a few minutes of waiting, a cabbie pulls up in front of me and I climb in, telling the driver my address and in just a few minutes we reach my street. I give the number a couple of bills and thank him as I climb out of the cab.

"Welcome home," I say to myself as I jog until I get inside and reach the elevator.

There's an old lady whom is busy petting her cat on her shoulder, purring slightly and I look at her weirdly. The woman's hair is already gray due to how old she is; I'm guessing that she's in her early 80s. She's wearing a light blue robe that seems a bit baggy on her. The old lady sees me staring and gives me a crooked smile and I smile back, rather uncomfortably. When the elevator dings at the 11th floor, the old woman sizes me up and her cat hisses and I make a face. Very childish of me.

As soon as I get inside my unit, I size in relief once my butt lands on the sofa. Now that I have moved into a different city, I need to get a job. I'll do it tomorrow. Right now, I need to rest. Sweat is trickling across my forehead, and I brush it away with the back of my head. Pulling my cellphone out of my pocket, I decide to play some music while I prepare myself a lunch.

I choose Hate To Love You by Karmin as this is one of my favorite songs.

"Forever doesn't happen overnight and that's why," I sing with her voice, blaring through the speakers of my phone. "I'm doing time but I don't mind, I'll be just fine, sometimes I just hate to love you."

Smiling up to myself, I sigh in relief as I let myself relax to the music that is playing on my phone. Tomorrow will be a better day for me. First, I need to look for a new job, then when I get a new job, I'll make time for myself. Weekends will be spent in bars and clubs, weekdays will be spent at work.

"Sounds like a plan to me," I mutter to myself. "Bars and clubs on weekends; it sounds a good idea."

With that in mind, I lay down on the couch and stare at the city of Brooklyn through the windows. I feel myself smile despite the aching feeling in my heart. I miss him so much. I miss him so much it hurts. But I convince myself that this is the right thing to do – Dex and I are not meant to be.