I Call Him Amy

Amy had failed to mention that this building we are supposed to be living in was a former strip club/ apartment building. The building was 2 stories high. The main floor was the strip club, and above it are apartments, then below was the basement. The building was fenced in with fences that held signs that said "Trespassers will be Prosecuted" and had some number underneath that referred to the criminal law. Amy easily removed a section of the barbed wire placed across the top of the fence and hopped over. I threw the cloths over the fence and hopped over too. He then put the barbed wire back into place and said he'd make an easier entrance later.

People around here sure slept soundly during the morning. No one heard the small banging sounds Amy was making as he tried to force open the front door which was nailed shut. After a few more bangs and kicks, Amy decided it'd be best if we tried the back door.

We travelled around the building and found a back door. This one was a metal door with a faded piece of paper on it that may have once been an eviction notice. Amy dug through his pocket of useful tools and took out one of those miny screw drivers. While he grabbed a rock from the ground and started pounding the flat into the lock, I looked around.

The building was rectangular with a parking lot that travelled all the way around. A tall wooden fence outside the wire fence prevented the neighbors from being able to peek through their windows to see what the banging was about. It was the same for the neighbors behind us and on the other side of the building. They all had tall wooden fences, as if they were picky about their privacy.

"They sure have tall fences." I pointed out to Amy.

"I know that." Amy said. He continued to jam the screw driver into the lock. "This part of the city is where the rich people live. It's all about how well their yards and houses look. A while back when this place first closed down, the folks around here protested outside city hall to have this building torn down because it was 'embarassing the rest of us' "

I noticed an old green dumpter beside the metal door. I heard some rattling and squeaking coming from inside, so I thought it must be rats.

The sky was brighter and the sun was halfway up the sky. I felt useless watching Amy hit the screw driver.

"Need help?" I offered. I took a step closer and examined how Amy wasn't even trying to not hit his hand. He just whacked the screw driver as hard as he could, and if he accidently hit himself he didn't make a peep. His hand wasn't bleeding, but they were scratched up a bit, which isn't anything out of the ordinary.

"I'm fine. Just a little more. I can already feel the lock breaking." and he was correct. After a few more hard hits the door swung inward, revealing the inside of the strip club.

Amy was the first to enter with his things slung over his shoulder. The room we walked into was nothing but a simple locker room with rows of lockers and full body mirrors and coat racks. A few of the coat racks even had a few uniforms hanging off of them. There were a few tables and some dusty chairs. There was only one other door in the room which stood on the opposite side of the room.

Amy was quick to open that door and walk into the next room. I continued to follow him. This next room was more interesting to look at. Like the previous room, there were no windows in this one. Directly on the right was a bar that stretched to the right all the way until it hit another wall at 90 degrees. All the alcohol was taken off the shelves underneath and behind the bar. The stools in front of the bar were metal and rusted.

In the centre of the wall to the right was a long ten-foot stage with a large circle on the end with an pole in the centre. The stage was lined with chairs all the way around. Smashed lights hung from the ceiling and clean rectangles were on the walls where pictures had been removed. The walls were several faded colors such as pink and yellow.

Tables and chairs were scattered everywhere, and most of the tables had a stripper pole in the middle of them. The door that was the entrance was has nailed shut with boards on the inside.

"Why didn't you tell me this used to be a strip club?" I asked Amy.

"Was unimportant."

"Wait - didn't you say you've been here a couple times?"

"I did. What's your point?" He stepped over some broken glass. We were making our way towards another door way at the back of the room.

"I don't have a point. I'm just making connections between you saying you've been here a few times and the fact that this was strip club." I stepped over the broken glass too. I tried not to touch anything because there were small animal droppings on some of the tables and dust every where. The smell wasn't very bad though, fortunetely.

"Uh huh. You know instead of assuming things you could just ask me if I've been here when it was open."

"Okay. Were you here when it was open?"

"You don't remember? It was about 5 years ago. I came here to get more information on the manager who was supposedly blackmailing the strippers to sleep with him. After some persuasion, I got 80% of the girls to admit that to me. I came back a third time and killed the manager. About a year later this place closed down."

The next door he opened was also unlocked. Inside were stairs leading to the second floor and the basement. Amy walked up the stairs. I followed him. We found another door which lead to the classic hallway with several other doors leading to apartments, Amy chose the first one right across from the stairs.

Inside was just as dusty, but not as messy as down stairs. Everything looked normal. A normal living room with a normal bathroom and kitchen. Nothing was torn out. There was still furniture inside the apartment. The first thing Amy did was drop his stuff and head for the kitchen. A few seconds later I heard running water coming from the tap.

"I love it when I'm right." He said.

From then on it was all about cleaning and making ourselves at home. All the apartments in this building only have one bedroom, so before he could say anything I volunteered to sleep on the couch in the living room.

Of course, Amy quickly rejected the idea: "I don't think so. I'm the one who goes out most of the time, so you'll be here by yourself more, so you get the bedroom."

Naturally, I argued back: "But when you get back you should have a comfy bed to sleep on. You get the bed. I can deal with the couch. You work harder than I do so you earned the bed."

"You are a lady. I'm telling you to take the bedroom."

"I don't care if I'm a girl. That means nothing. I'm not sleeping in there. I'm sleeping on the couch."

He crossed his arms and stared down at me. "I'm sure I was just hearing things, but I swear I just heard back talk. What do you think?" He narrowed his eyes.

The words I prepared to fire back at him after he made his argument jumped off my tongue, leaving my mouth hanging open. I quickly shut my mouth realizing how stupid I must look. I puffed out my cheeks then let the air out. It always came down to what he says goes.

I buzzed my lips together. "I didn't hear anything..."

"Thought so." He said. He grabbed my things and brought them into the bedroom. I dragged my feet behind him.

It really would make me feel better if he took the bed. He does all the hard stuff and gets nothing for it. What he does, the good and the bad, is unrewearding. He gets nothing but a Wanted sign. As far as I know, he has no friends aside from me. Even though he kills bad people, he gets nothing.

I watched him place my things on the floor. When he pulled back the covers of the bed, dust flew everywhere. He took a couple steps back and coughed while waving his hand in front of his face. "Should have seen that coming." He took a deep breath and inspected the bed.

I watched rather helplessly as he removed the blankets, stared at the sheets covering the bed really closely to look for any signs of pests such as lice or bedbugs. He then went through the pillows and the rest of the bed. The single window in the room was covered with a curtain. Barely any light came in which made me question how effective Amy's inspection was.

"It seems to be alright. I do doubt there are any real pests here considering how much money is spent on pesticides and bug zappers for the neighbors alone." He slapped the top of the mattress with his palm. A burst of smoke came flying up at him. I chuckled as he backed up and started coughing again. "I suppose it'll be alright to open the windows this once just to air the place out. Just close them if you see anyone poking around if they notice them open."

I walked to the window and opened it. I had to gasp for air once the breeze stirred up the dust. From the window I could see a huge open field of grass on the other side of the tall wooden fence. Inside the grassy field was a playground with 3 sets of teeter totters, play equiptment complete with monkey bars and slides, as well as 4 swing sets. Further past the grassy field stood a long house that stretched horizontally for, what seemed like, miles. I almost forgot to breath. I had never in my life seen a house so huge. Since it was so far away I couldn't make out many details.

"It's huge! Holy cow! What it must be like to live in one of those houses! I'm gonna live there some day." I exclaimed. And should I really live in one of those houses, it's going to be with Amy. "How many people do you suppose live in that house. That's big enough to be called a country. I'll even name it. That house, from this point on, is called Holy Cow, an official country." I stared at the place in awe. "I'd love to live there. Imagine all the room to run around in and all the hiding places."

I jumped in the air with excitment. I was so excited I didn't notice Amy was standing behind me. When I was flailing my arms I accidently punched Amy in the cheek. I stopped jumping once I realized what I had done. I stared at Amy thinking I was going to get into trouble. He held the spot on his face where I hit him.

"First off, that isn't a house. It's called a mansion. Second off, you hit like a girl. You couldn't dent playdough with that punch."

"Oh yah! Let's go find some playdough and I'll prove you wrong."

He let go of his face. "Why are you so riled up?"

"Have you seen the castle in the backyard? What's not to be excited about. It's beautiful. I'm going to live there."

"If you want to live there you can't be hanging around me. You'll never live in a place like that as long as you stay."

"Well... if I get a place like that one day, maybe we could live in it... together." I said trying not to seem excited about the thought even though my heart was jumping up and down.

He scoffed. "Believe me, people who live in those places are all up to no good. They're selfish, greedy people who only care about themselves. It's always about power and money and who marries who from which family. It's all about looks over personality. Over there, possesions are more important than actual people. They're ignorant slackers who know nothing about the hardships of life. They all think they're better than the rest of us just because they're wealthy. They should all die" He growled. "Listen, clean this place up as best as you can. I'm going out." He turned around and walked out of the room. I looked back at Holy Cow. The place seemed so grand and fun and beautiful. How Amy described it couldn't be true.

Now there's something else I desperately want to know about Amy, and that is why he holds such a seemingly personal grudge towards people who live in mansions.