After seeing John off, Mateo clocked in on the signboard and walked towards the managers office, there he saw a middle aged man around his fifties, grey hair, pale blue eyes and a thick moustache dominating the entirety of his wisened face. Despite his relatively young age of 55, the aged man still gained the moniker of "old man" due to his rough leathered-like face.

"Afternoon Commander Wayne, sergeant Mateo here for deployment", Mateo thought it were a good idea to mess with the old man but to his dismay, he saw a bulging vein pop out from the mans face just like an army general would.

"Stop with the bullshit Mat, I've got enough trouble this morning with that ape screaming his head off, you're on duty in 5 minutes and by the way see if you can finish what John started, my wife has been nagging me about it".

"Well if you say so boss", Mateo rolled his eyes the moment he turned around, he always had to fix whatever his dear friend started on, just his luck.

After an excruciating day at 11/7, Mateo clocked out of his work and started to pack his things up, Wayne always left early at 6pm so it was always himself and another worker doing rounds at the shop. Mateo held the responsibility of closing the building down due to his responsible nature and he didn't really mind it, it was just another day at 11/7. Nothing interesting ever happened at work except from those rare times a customer asked to speak to the manager, he loved seeing the inevitable chaos that would ensue, especially Wayne's facial reactions, boy were they funny to look at. He couldn't stop grinning thinking about all those times Wayne got shouted at, serves him right, the uptight bastard.

Mateo walked home at night but this time without listening to his favourite music, it's because he was paranoid. He doesn't want to become easy prey for low-life thugs looking to rob him off his valuables as he walks down the shady streets of Chicago. All of this could be avoided with a smart investment in a vehicle but alas such is the life of a frugal character. Mateo always thought it was better to walk than pay taxes for a car. In the event that he wanted to visit his mother or go to some far away place with his friends, he would usually take the bus or hitch a ride in one of his friends car, it was much cheaper than renting or owning a car. In fact he didn't particularly mind walking, he liked the solemn atmosphere that walking at night instilled in him. Chicago was often quieter at night and Mateo loved that serene feeling of almost being one with himself, there was beauty in it and Mateo understood it perfectly.

"Maybe i should try buying a gun", you never know just when it becomes useful, in fact John was a huge advocate for owning guns, his father often took him to the firing range where he tested his personal collection of firearms. But then again it was hard to get the qualifications for a gun, maybe something slick and small could do like a knife of sorts. He imagined himself defending against an assailant with a short knife, nah he would probably get shot instead, throwing the thought to the back of his head, he continued his journey back home.

Before going up the stairs to the third floor of the apartment where his room was located, Mateo knocked on the door of his landlord, Mr. Hopkins, it was situated on the ground floor to the far right, "I'll be there, hold on a minute" shouted a man from the other side of the door in a weak frail voice.

After a series of clicks and clacks, an old man in his late seventies emerged from out the door, "Oh hello Mr. Reiner, would you like to come in?".

Reiner was Mateos last name and he always cringed when he was called his last name rather than his first name solely because he thought it made the conversation oddly serious as if he were in a job interview.

"That would be nice Mr. Hopkins, please excuse my intrusion", He was always polite to the landlord not only because he lets him rent a room for cheap but because the man in front of him was always welcoming and friendly towards him. He understood that Mr. Hopkins was somewhat lonely in the way he was alone most of the time, his grandson was a wealthy businessman but was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer and died months later so Mateo often visited him for talks as he felt pity for the aged man.

"Would you like a cup of tea?", Mateo knew this question was coming as he was always asked whenever he visited,

"No thank you, I'm just here to pay my rent, I don't mean to waste too much of your time", in fact he didn't forget his mother's reminder about paying rent, he withdrew $500 from the ATM machine at work,

"Here it is" he pulls out an envelope signed "500" boldly on the front and hands it over.

"You're too kind Mr.Reiner, here have a little something" Hopkins proceeds to open the letter and hands a $50 note back to Mateo. Mateo tries to discourage the kind man from doing so but the aged man just stuffs it down the front pocket of Mateos vest.

"Mr. Hopkins I can't keep taking advantage of you like this".

"It's not an issue, Mr. Mateo, I'm getting old and one of the many things that I have learned through these years is the fact that money never truly mattered, please don't take it to heart", Mateo always thought of this man as a father figure because he admired him very much, although the man had his own difficulties and inadequacies, it didn't stop Mateo from seeing him as a person of idolisation.

After a brief talk in front of the fireplace, both men said their farewells and Mateo went back to his apartment room. Seeing the mess that had gathered in his room, Mateo groaned and slapped his face lightly preparing for what seemed to be a rare clean-up operation. He wouldn't classify himself as a "clean-obsessed freak" since he hardly found the time to clean his home environment due to work and college but he felt good talking to the wise landlord that he gathered enough courage to finally clean his room. It was the little things in life that encouraged him.

In the corner of his eyes, he saw a buzzing little insect inspecting his voodoo toy, it was that "fucking fly", he felt a bit embarrassed that a living thing took interest in his 'bank dumpster', thankfully no one visited his home in the past week. He carefully walked towards a cupboard and took out a swatter before running like Forest quickly swiping at the damned fly, *squish*. After what seemed to be an hour and a half of cleaning, Mateo looked at his phone and found that it was nearing midnight so he finished up and decided to visit the local corner shop for a midnight snack.