Apollo opened his eyes, yawned, and stretched out his arms and legs. He took a glance at his watch: 5:42 a.m. I overslept again. Apollo pushed the blankets away from over his feet and went underneath his bed to grab the backpack he stored his clothes in last night. Even though he missed the five o’clock bus heading east to Toronno, there were hopes of catching the one coming just a little after six.

Apollo quickly got dressed and quietly raced to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth.

Upon returning, Apollo went into the closet, reaching for the shoebox carrying the stash of one hundred dollar bills he saved up from his time working at CineMax. This will come in handy. Apollo carefully closed the closet door, slid the hundred dollar bills into his wallet, swung his backpack across his shoulders, and took one last glance at Odion as he switched sleeping positions, one foot laying off of the bed and a hand firmly placed inside of his crotch.

Like I said before, stay the fuck away from me and my friends, or else I will kill you with my own two hands. Those may have been the last words Odion ever said to him. Apollo sighed. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t bring himself to hate Odion despite the number of times they had their disagreements. To hate someone who looked exactly like you was—in a strange way—like looking in the mirror and hating your own reflection. It didn’t feel right and Apollo wasn’t going to go against his spirit. Farewell bro. Maybe one day you’ll realize I’m not your enemy.

Apollo cracked the door open and took a peep outside the hallway. Light was shining from underneath Marcella’s bedroom door. Shit, she’s getting ready for work. Apollo bolted down the stairs, slapped his shoes on, then grabbed his keys hanging on the wall in the kitchen.

A strong gust of wind blew across him as he locked the door, his dreads flapping across the back of his head. Feels like a storm is brewing. He made a break for it, jogging across the sidewalk in hopes he could’ve reached the bus terminal before the rain started. Hopefully, this journey wasn’t a decision he’d regret later, even though it was hard to imagine anything worse than staying in that miserable environment for two weeks.

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