A young man sat at the bus stop bench, his hanging dreads partially biting his azure eyes as he moved his head back down from staring at the full moon.

The sound of the incoming bus brought him back from getting lost in the night sky as he rubbed his bag-covered eyes. The bus pulled up to the bench. 

Andre got on the bus and found an empty seat up front. The Greyhound was empty for the most part; aside from a man reading a newspaper, just behind Andre sat an old, short lady with dark gray frizzled hair over a bit of laid-back Andre on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, young man, would you mind if I sat next to you? I would love someone to talk to before I get off at my next stop," she said in a raspy voice.     

Andre looked at the elderly lady."Oh, uh, sure thing, ma'am," he said, a bit caught off guard by the woman's approach and scooting over to make room for her."I'm sorry for the trouble, dear; you look so tired. You must have just gotten off work, hmm?" the asked.

Andre yawned, starting to feel even more tired. "Yeah, I decided to work a double shift by covering for someone else," he said, rubbing his eyes and growing even more exhausted.

"You look exhausted, sweetheart. Here, you can rest in my lap, dear," her raspy voice suddenly became very soft and sweet. Andre swayed back and forth a bit as he responded as politely as possible, "I'm sorry, but that's not necessary," before collapsing in her lap and immediately falling asleep. The old lady smiled softly as she placed her hand on his head. 

"I see a beautiful butterfly, dear."The Greyhound eventually came to a halt, the jolt waking Andre from his sleep."Gosh," Andre exclaimed as he woke up from the sudden stoplight the hell happened?" he said, moving his face up from the leather seat. "Where did she..." he trailed off as he looked around and saw that both the man and the old lady were gone.

"Are you!? Okay, man? We're at your stop," the bus driver said, looking back at him through the mirror. Andre Groggily stood to his feet. "Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't expect to fall asleep that quickly. Did that older woman get an offer to stop, okay?" he asked as he began to walk off.

"You need some rest, man; there wasn't an old lady who got on the bus,"  the driver said, sounding a bit concerned. Andre looked a bit perplexed  but chalked  it up to him being really exhausted.

"Yeah, thanks. Sorry for the trouble," Andre said, getting off the greyhound and heading up the stairs to his apartment. He unlocked the door of room 109.

 Upon entering Andre was met with his best friend Cody having another slice of pizza, he appeard to be eating finishing off a sixth box .

"Wassup Dre, God, you look like shit, dude," Cody says with his mouth half-full, getting up to help Andre sit down. "Here, sit down, man."

Andre tiredly accepted his help and leaned back. "Thanks,  man. Sorry for the trouble; work just took a double shift today, so I'm a bit exhausted".

"I get it, but you should cool it with double shifts, man. It's not like we're tight on money," Cody said, finishing the final slice of what appeared to be his sixth box."I'm good. I need some rest, though Andre retorted as he cleaned his pink polished nails with a nearby napkin 

 Also, do you mind giving me a ride to work next week on Monday?" Andre asked, getting up and letting his dreads down. "I'd going to hop into the shower and be back in a second. "Yeah, no problem," 

Cody said as he patted the couch beside him. Andre had placed his nightclothes nearby and entered the shower.

 As he washed, he saw a blue butterfly outside the shower curtain out of the corner of his eye."I guess a window must have been open," he said, finishing up showering and turning off the water. 

He got out, but the fluttering butterfly seemed to disappear even though the door was closed."What the hell ? I've got to be tripping or something," he said with a sigh as he got dressed and headed back out. As Andre closed the door, the shower curtains developed slits all over the surface."You a bit better now?" Cody asked, playing a game of Road Brawler.

"Yeah, I am probably going to go head to bed after I wash up for the night," Andre said, grabbing a slice of pizza and eating it quickly. 

Cody put on a pouty face and leaned over. "Come on, can't you play a few rounds?"Maybe tomorrow, it's my off day," "Come on, Dre, please, don't you love your best friend?" Cody said, pouting even more and tilting his head towards him. Andre sighed and had a seat, grabbing a controller. "Fine, fine, I'll give you a round.

"I appreciate it, man," Cody said, picking another character."Yeah, yeah," Andre said, slightly annoyed, but he knew this wouldn't last long.

As the game booted up on a beautiful mountain stage, Cody, as always, loved to pick the scenery, making him swoon."What's the deal with you and this stage? Is it that beautiful?" Andre asked."It's enigmatic, man. I wish I could paint a landscape like that," Cody said, seeming to get lost in the scenery but snapping back soon after.

The screen fighting graphic popped up, and an announcer shouted, "Begin! " The two began playing, and the fight was one-sided fast as Andre started winning and going for the kill immediately.

"Jeez, dude, you can't cut me a little slack, huh?" Cody said, frantically button mashing."Sorry, I want to get to bed as soon as possible," Andre said, putting his poor opponent in a 20+ hit combo before pulling off an ultimate.

Cody hung his head in defeat. "Fine, I guess you need to rest. Budo, you want to do something tomorrow since you're off?"

"Actually, I promised Grandma that I would come out there to visit; I'm going to catch a bus in the morning." *Andre says in response* 

"How about you just let me take you?" *Cody says, feeling like it was a clear choice*

"Besides, It's your Grandma. That means she's going to have a feast ready," Cody said, licking his lips in anticipation.

"You know what, sure, why not? Besides, I'm sure Grandma will be thrilled to see you anyway," Andre said, opening the door to his room. "Anyways, night."Yeah, night, man. Sleep well," Cody said, leaning back and continuing to play. 

After Andre got out of the shower, he drifted off to sleep and saw a blue outline of a woman with butterfly wings. Andre couldn't speak or move as if he was mesmerized by the woman. 

As he stood there silently, the woman with butterfly wings said to him, "I think it's time for a new chapter, Andre, dear... We can't keep living like this," she said as she began to fade slowly. Andre wanted to speak to the woman before she faded away, but words would not come out. 

"..." As the visage of the woman entirely faded, Andre went back to a night of total sleep. Andre heard the sound of his blaring alarm clock as he woke up, still a bit rattled from the strange dream.

 As Andre got himself freshened up and ready for the day, putting on a black T-shirt, hoodie, black tennis shoes, and socks, he walked over to the still Cody-occupied couch.

 "*sigh*, I should have figured," he said with a disappointed look on his face. Cody was fast asleep on the couch, half of his skinny body hanging off it. 

The console had likely put itself in rest mode rather than being correctly turned off. Andre cleared his throat and shouted, "FOOD'S DONE!!"

Cody's eyes shot open. "Foo-" His utterance was cut short as he fell off the couch. "Oww shit, not again," he said, looking up to see a fully dressed Andre.

"You can only blame yourself, you know; go ahead and get dressed," Andre said as he made his way into the kitchen and made a cup of coffee with two tablespoons of sugar and a bit of creamer. 

Cody grumbled under his breath as he headed into the bathroom. "Yo, Andre, why did you cut the curtains, man?" he shouted from the closed bathroom door."Huh," Andre yelled back, putting down his coffee mug. "Maybe they are just old and torn or something," he said, picking up his coffee and sipping it again. 

Cody left the shower a long while later, coming out fully dressed and freshened up.

"Yo Dre, I'm done," he said, walking out and stretching."It's about time; it's already 10; we should head out now," Andre said, tossing Cody his keys. 

Cody barely caught the throw. "Oww, sorry, but I don't feel like driving today; you do it," he said, throwing it back in what seemed to be a pretty off toss. 

Andre caught the badly tossed keys one-handed with ease. "...Alright, then let's head out." The two boys made their way to a blue vase. Andre took the driver's side, and Cody took the passenger seat.

"Whoa, it's clean here, I'm surprised," Andre said, backing out into the road."Oh yeah, a friend of mine got sick of looking at it, so she decided to clean it all," Cody said calmly."This person sounds pretty nice to clean your entire car for you," Andre said, a bit surprised.

"If you met her, you'd see it's not out of kindness, and more so she couldn't stand looking at it any longer," Cody said, appearing almost to be grimacing.

"Sounds rough, buddy," Andre said with a sympathetic tone. 

The two young men continued for about 45 minutes with general conversation until Cody asked a specific question."It looks like you haven't missed a step back there with that catch, huh? Have you been practicing ball yet?" Cody asked. 

Andre was a bit slow to respond to the question but did speak. "No, just muscle memory, I guess."

"Oh, Sorry if it's still a sore spot; it's just that even someone like me can see how good you still are at it. Maybe you can pick it back up as a hobby," Cody suggested...

"Not really, to be honest. Whenever I look at baseball now, it still feels disgusting," Andre said, looking a bit downcast about the whole thing.

"Sorry for bringing that shit up, man," Cody said, looking to the upcoming dirt road and pointing to a brick house. "Oh shit, we're here." 

Andre wore a slight smile on his face as he pulled in and parked behind a big black truck. "Yeah." The two boys made their way up to the door. 

Andre knocked three times before it opened to the sight of a short black lady who looked to be in her late 50s with brown curly hair, wearing a yellow sundress with a beaming smile on her face.

"Hey!! How are my babies doing," Grandma Middleton said, kissing the two boys on the cheek.

"Hey, Grandma," Andre said with a soft smile."Hey, Grandma," Cody said with a large, expressive smile."You all, boys, come on in. The food is always ready," she said I did, waving them in.

 The boys headed in after taking off their shoes and leaving them by the door before sitting down at the dinner table. Looking like a starved animal, Cody asked, "So, Grandma Middleton, what all did you make?" 

"Well, I decided to go light on cooking today, so we just got some pork chops, jambalaya, pot roast, some turtle greens, and some cornbread," Grandma Middleton replied.

"...Light?" Andre said, never quite getting used to his grandma's magnitude of cooking. 

After washing up, the two boys dug into their now-ready food. The two had quite an appetite. Andre ate three plates, and Cody licked clean his eighth, all having a conversation.

"Oh man, that hit the spot; Granda, I appreciate it," Cody said."Of course, baby, you boys need to come by more often; you all both know I'll cook for you anytime," Grandma Middleton said.

"We appreciate it, Grandma. Sorry, I've just been busy with work as of late," Andre said apologetically."Being a hard worker is all good and fine, baby, but you have to rest. You still have bags under your eyes. You're not sleeping right, baby," Grandma Middleton said."...Yeah, you're right. 

I was planning on taking a nap after we did the dishes," Andre said, suddenly feeling tired and yawning.

"Don't you or Cody worry about no damn dishes? You take a little nap, okay baby," she said, placing her hand on his cheek."Okay then...Cody, do you mind if we stay a bit longer? Do y-" Andre started to say. Still, he was cut off by Cody munching on cookies."Huh, wassup?" Cody responded, his mouth full.

Andre shook his head and sighed. "Never mind," he said, getting up and heading back down the hallway to his old bedroom for another nap. 

"Damn, why have I been so sleepy lately," he said, believing it to be more than work. Before he reached his bedroom, he went inside the one right beside his.

Back in the kitchen, Grandma Middleton spoke to Cody. "I know this is out of the blue, Cody, but thank you for being such a good friend to my baby through all these years," she said with a bright smile but a shaky voice.

 Cody put the pack of cookies down and faced her. "Of course, Grandma. I'd do anything for him," he said reassuringly."I know, and I think that's one of the things that keep a smile on his face. 

After we lost Jonathan, he doesn't smile as he used to," she said, tearing up a bit."Yeah, I could tell. He's been doing anything to keep himself busy, throwing himself into work...but I'll be there for him whenever he needs it," Cody said. 

In the bedroom next to Andre's, he looked around the room, seemingly reminiscing.

 In the corner, he saw an old baseball bat, and he stared intently at it until tears welled up and began to fall from his eyes. "....I'm so sorry," he said as he felt a memory well up through the tears.

Chapter End