Free Shelter by Ashley John

his mind hooked on, he knew he had to get out of the house.
    Only having a couple of numbers in his phone, he didn’t have much choice to get his butt out of the house. Some of those numbers would lead him into trouble so he opted for calling his sister. Caden’s digits were still attached to the fridge under a lobster magnet but Elias still didn’t feel right calling him, despite Caden’s assurance that he was there. It had only been a couple of days since he had seen him and there were only a couple of days until they were meeting at the Lobster Festival. Not wanting to seem too interested in the man who could potentially get him thrown back in rehab, he decided it was better to keep some distance. They may have shared a sexual preference but that’s as deep as Elias was willing to let the connection run.
    “I can’t remember the last time you just wanted to meet for coffee,” Ellie sipped her latte, “actually, I don’t think we have ever just met for coffee. Those pills must be working.”
    The pills she had given him had taken the edge off but they weren’t numbing his mind completely. Now that he was forcing alcohol out of his life too, he was suddenly so aware of everything around him. Everything was louder and more vibrant than Elias ever remembered and it was driving him crazy. Every couple of seconds the sound of the steam shooting into the milk jug behind the counter made him jump.
    “I needed to get out of that apartment,” he slurped the thick, black coffee, “I can’t watch any more TV. I don’t know how normal people do it.”
    “Normal people have jobs,” she said, “something you’ve dragged me away from.”
    “I thought you were on a break?”
    “I am,” she nodded, “you’re lucky it’s quiet today. Breaks are a luxury the residents of Havenmoore aren’t too happy to let me have these days. We need some more doctors at the office but all I keep hearing about is budget cuts. I'm going to bring it up to the state senator if he shows up to The Medical Ball in a couple of weeks. And then there’s that damn Obama Care. Don’t even get me started on that.”
    When Elias started to laugh, Ellie put her coffee cup on the table and pursed her lips, shaking her jet black hair from her face.
    “What’s so funny?” she demanded.
    “Nothing,” he laughed, shaking his head, “it’s just weird us sitting here chatting about trivial things. It’s refreshing.”
    Ellie let a smile flutter across her pursed lips for a second before reaching for her cup again. No matter what he had put her through, neither of them could ever destroy that bond they’d shared since birth. It was something only twins knew about and it couldn’t be explained. They didn’t even need to like each other that much. They were like two peas in a pod, even if one of those peas was slightly misshapen and an off shade of green.
    “Have you seen mom?” Ellie dropped the question in so casually, he had to admire her approach, even if Judy James was a subject he would rather avoid.
    “She dropped by for about five minutes last week,” he shrugged, “can you believe she has a key for my apartment?”
    “Well, she did pay for it -,”
    Elias shot his sister a ‘ don't go there ’ warning glance and she held her hands up in defeat, backing out of the conversation. Elias had never seen the point in talking about their mother. There was no resolution to be reached and there was no solution to the problem of their relationship. What relationship ? The window of opportunity for fixing that mess had closed sometime around Elias being in fifth grade.
    “How’s Kobi?” Elias headed towards the conversation Ellie didn’t want to talk about.
    Just the mention of her son’s name sent Ellie’s lips pursed impossibly tight. Elias knew there was no way she was going to let him see him and he wasn’t about to ask her to.
    “He’s fine,” she nodded, “he asks about you a lot.”
    Elias was suddenly regretting sending