Sudden Roommate (1) -- An Old Friend

"Ryō Aomatsu! Long time no SEE!"

Even though it had been more than two years, the all-too-familiar voice gave me just enough warning to brace myself for the slap on the back that had once been part of my daily hell, just hard enough to knock a guy over if he wasn't ready for it.

"How the HECK have ya been?" One of Jun's better traits was that he usually moderated his language for me.

Ignoring the tingling in my back, I turned around and considered my options. I had gained the skills to take him on for real during my junior year of high school. But the headmaster had warned me that, even in self defense, using violence against him would put me on the wrong side of the law.

What kind of law is it that leaves the guy minding his own business at the mercy of the hyper-aggressive?

"Whuh? You don't look happy to see me?" His perpetually jocular grin was the same as it had been the last time I had seen him, well over two years back.

"Give me a break, Jun." I looked back at the express train passing behind me.

"Ya got no idea how hard it was ta track ya down!"

"So why did you bother?" The regular train would be coming shortly.

"Whaddaya mean? Yer the best friend I got!"

I didn't have a constructive response to that, so I didn't say anything.

"Two years outa the country servin' yer God 'n ya di'n' say a thing when ya git back. Ya jus' disappear!"

"Well, yeah. I needed to get a job. And start saving up for school." The PA announced the regular. Seven seconds to arrival is a good example of relativity. I ignored it.

"School, huh? Di'n' get 'nougha that?"

"No. I didn't. I like understanding what's going on."

"They jus' teach ya more lies. But tha's not important. What's important is I got a --" I detected a hesitation. "-- valuable li'l package needs takin' care of, 'n yer th' only 'n I c'n trust withit."

The train stopped and I ignored the opening doors. "The last package you wanted me to take care of would've had me serving two years of a different kind of time in a different place." But I did mark the nearest door in my mind.

"An' you talk' me inna makin' shur I di'n' have it long 'nough fer the police to catch m' withit, fer which Uhyam verih gra'ful."

"Why should I expect this package to be different?"

The conductor urged passengers to board quickly. Usually, the very brief duration of the stop would be an inconvenience.

"It is. Promise. I know yuh'll wanna he'p me wi'this."

The door warning beeped and, without answering, I turned and stepped through just as it closed. I didn't look back. I had timed it perfectly, and there was no way he could have gotten on behind me. The conductor was compassionately incompassionate, the doors remained closed, and the train started smoothly forward.

"Thanks," he called through the closed door. "'ll bring 'r t'nigh'!"

"How did he find me?" I muttered under my breath. "I sure hope he doesn't know where my apartment is." I didn't really wonder about the package itself, that question was irrelevant.

The woman standing next to me looked at me sideways, questioningly.

"But if he knew where to catch me on my way to work, I guess he probably does."

She was good looking, and I had seen her and exchanged nods with her somewhere before, and I suddenly thought I would prefer that she didn't think I was crazy.

I faced her and held up my empty hands and grinned sloppily. "No phone. Just thinking out loud."

She sniffed and turned away. Oh, well. Good looks aren't everything. Especially to me.

"I don't bite, promise."

She shuddered and moved as far away as she could on the crowded train, which was not far, and clearly not far enough for her.

I decided there probably was nothing I could say to reassure her, so I shrugged and pulled out my phone to start searching the web for a phone number for the police.

The Valuable Package

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Backed up at: https://joel-rees-economics.blogspot.com/2019/09/bk-sudden-roommate-1-old-friend.html.