A Little Excerpt

It was March 27, 2017, and Brody Ingram (Rockybado) had just received news about his new IT job for a good company out in San Francisco, California. His girlfriend, Julia Jaconetti, is going to move with him. She has been considering graduate school for marketing, but she is currently a full time online tutor, and her hours are a bit off. While maintaining this gig, she will look for a full-time opportunity out in the Bay Area.

Brody’s brother, David, is planning to go to a university in San Francisco next fall to study IT, as well as Brody’s best friend, Andrew McCalsky. Although they are planning to move to San Francisco, they are not going to do so until summer 2017, so that they can get organized for the time being.

It was 8 o’clock in the morning of moving day, and Brody was supposed to be awake by now. When David walked into his room to check on him, Brody was still sleeping soundly on his futon. He looked pretty comfortable, too. His comforter lay loosely on top of him, with part of it already on the floor. One of his pillows was on the floor, touching the farthest point of his comforter. Brody was lying on his stomach, on top of his blue body pillow that he has had since he was in seventh grade, shortly after he had his tonsils taken out.

Even though David wanted to let Brody sleep for a little while longer, he knew that he had to wake up Brody. His new job will start at the beginning of April, but Brody and Julia needed a little bit of extra time to get moved into their place, which they will be sharing with Brody’s cousin’s friend, Kevin Iacobucci and his girlfriend, Lesley. Brody has been battling a cold for a few days, and this was most likely going to put a damper on his moving experience from Merrillville, Indiana to the West Coast.

Brody, being as he always is, will make light of today, even if he isn’t feeling 100 percent.

There were a couple other things that David needed to help Brody pack, such as his futon and bedsheets, toiletries, and his laptop. David, Toby, who is David and Brody’s younger brother, Andrew, and Adam Levistad, David’s best friend, were going to help Brody and Julia move to San Francisco. David asked his fiancée, Olivia Flavenshevich, if she was available to help, and she said no.

David walked over to Brody and gently shook him. Within a few minutes, Brody slowly woke up. Then, he fell back asleep. Even though he has been excited about moving to San Francisco, he was not feeling too well this morning it seemed. His nose was all stuffed up, so he couldn’t breathe out of it. All he wanted to do right now was to sleep in as late as he possibly could.

“Hey, Brody,” David said to his younger Irish twin brother.
“What?” Brody answered in his sleep.
“Julia is here.”

Brody woke up slowly. He was still not in the mood to do much of anything. His throat was still a little sore from the cold that he was battling, and it was pretty hard for him to breathe. David felt pretty sorry for Brody, since this was all very bad timing, but he still needed to get ready for his move to San Francisco.

In general, Brody was pretty excited about the move, but the cold was not doing him any favors whatsoever. While waiting for Brody to take his sweet little time getting ready for the day, David invited Julia inside their apartment for a cup of tea. They both knew Brody would take a while, so why not wait for a bit?

“How’s Brody doing?” Julia asked David.
“Well, he could be doing better,” David half-joked.
“Of course. I’m assuming it’s just a cold?”
“That’s all it is, the man cold.”
“He needs to man up, then!” Julia joked.
“Of course!” David replied.
“What time do we need to leave?”
“I think noon. Andrew, Adam, and Toby are coming over around 10 am.”
“Oh, okay.”
“What kind of tea would you like?”
“Oolong.”

David set out his pot of water on the stove, and waited for it to boil. Julia couldn’t wait for her oolong tea fix. And, once Brody would finally wake up, he would likely make English breakfast tea for himself. Since that is always his go-to flavor.

Julia noticed David’s shirt, since she has never seen him wear it before. It said, “Deutschland” on it, with the German flag showing underneath the letters. She has seen both him and Brody wear t-shirts that they got from London a while ago, but she somehow didn’t know that David studied German in high school and college.

Brody also studied German in high school and some college.

“When did you go to Germany?” Julia asked David.
“In 2013. Brody and I both went there for a month during the summer,” David replied.
“Oh awesome! Did you like it?”
“Absolutely I did. Running in Germany is so much different than it is here.”
“I’ll bet. I didn’t know you run,” Julia said.
“Sometimes, but Brody is much better than I am,” David remarked.
“What did you guys do there?”
“My parents gave me and Brody a package to Germany. One of their friends had planned to go to Germany, but their plans fell through, so we took that opportunity.”
“That sounds like it was a great opportunity. Where were you?”
“Mostly in Munich, but we explored as much of Germany as we possibly could.”

Brody finally got up, but he didn’t go into the common area with everyone else. He stayed in his room and played on his phone. Of course it was going to take him a little while to get up. But it was already 8:30 in the morning, and he still had some things he needed to pack. Only three and a half hours left to do everything, and their friends were coming over in a little while. The boys’ family was coming over at 11 o’clock, just to make sure everything was moved out of Brody’s room. And also to give them some of their mostaccioli that they so love.

“Good morning, Brody,” David greeted his younger Irish twin brother with a smile, as Brody finally walked into the common area to be with everyone.”
“Hi,” Brody replied quietly. He was obviously still out of it.
“Fancy seeing you here so early.”
“Very funny, David. Now, will you help me get things?”
“What things?” David asked.
“You know….” Brody remarked with a roll of the eyes.
“Is someone not a morning person?”
“You’re not either.”
“That’s true. Want some tea?”
“Sure.”

Brody didn’t say much else. He sat loosely on the leather recliner as he was fighting to stay awake. Hopefully the English Breakfast tea would perk him up somehow. David was thinking it would. He was pretty excited about going to San Francisco for a few days. He took this week off work to get Brody and Julia situated in their new apartment. And they’d likely see a few places and do a few things while there. This would likely be the last time that David would go to San Francisco as a visitor, as his plan is to move out that way this summer. His plan is to move to San Francisco with Andrew by July. They had a lot of things that they needed to get taken care of as well.

The tea was made, and Brody slowly walked over to get himself a cup of tea. Julia was sipping her tea as well, but somehow David fell asleep within fifteen minutes. If he was so awake and energetic one minute, then how could he be asleep the next?

David was all sprawled out on the couch in the common area, with a plush throw blanket over his legs. There was a pillow that was partially over his head, and his left hand was on top of his chest, moving up and down with his steady breathing. He looked very comfortable, and no one wanted to wake him up.

Julia stayed at the apartment, even though David somehow fell asleep out of the random.

“How are you doing, Brody?” Julia asked.
“I’m okay, just a little sore is all,” Brody replied. He still lay sprawled out on the recliner, drinking his tea.
“Whatever happened to David?”
“I don’t know. This is the first time I’ve seen this happen to him!”
“Que interesante!” Julia exclaimed in Spanish.
“Bellissimo!” Brody replied back.
“You ready to move to San Francisco?”
“Absolutely, I am. I just wish I wasn’t sick.”
“Is David sick, too?”
“Maybe a little.”

David was sound asleep, and both Brody and Julia knew it. He must have started getting a little sick, too. Brody started getting sick a week ago, and he was still fighting the noble battle. Getting sick right before the excursion to San Francisco seemed to be one of the worst times to get sick. David’s face was a little red, especially around his nose. He must have been awake the whole night trying to get things organized for him and everyone else going to the Bay Area.

Brody and Julia could both hear David snoring loudly. They couldn’t help but laugh. Not just at David’s faint snoring, but also at random things. If one person started laughing, the other person would join in, and the other way around.

David had not planned on falling back asleep, but he did.

“David, wake up!” Brody shouted at his older Irish twin brother.
“Brody!” Julia exclaimed.
“He was supposed to help me pack.”
“I can help you pack.”
“What about you? Did you get your stuff packed already?” Brody asked.
“Last week,” Julia replied with a smile.
“I wish I was like that!”
“I’ll teach you.”
“Show me your ways!”
“Lol.”

David still lay comfortably on the couch for the time being. It was 9 o’clock in the morning, and Brody and Julia started packing what was left of Brody’s room in their apartment. After Brody leaving, David, Andrew, and Adam have been planning to bring in Adam’s cousin, Ben. After David and Andrew leaving, Adam and Ben have been planning to bring in a couple mutual friends to split the cost of rent, since it would then be only the two of them.

Brody got up off the recliner, and he took his and Julia’s mug and put them both in the sink. David also had a mug, but half of the English Breakfast tea was still in it. His breathing was steady, and his left hand was still on his chest. He just moved his right arm and loosely put it over the pillow, which was over his head.

Fifteen minutes later….

“Wake up, David!” Brody shouted.
“Wha….“ David replied quietly.
“You awake, bro?”
“Now I am.”
“San Francisco, though!” Brody exclaimed.
“Can’t wait,” David answered in his sleep, moving over on his side and pulling his blanket over him.
“Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey.”
“No, Brody. Not that joke again.”
“Yes, that joke again!”
“Julia, make him stop!”

​David slowly got up from his little catnap, and then he, Brody, and Julia packed everything on Brody’s side of the room. There was really not that much left. But, once they all got everything officially packed, Brody resorted back to his leather recliner. Julia sat right next to him, wrapping her arms around Brody’s chest. David proceeded to make his signature steak skillet, but then he realized that their parents were coming over to give them their signature mostaccioli.