THE EMPEROR of EARTH
Chapter Seven – “Like electricity and the automobile combined.”
It was moving day. Tibran picked up Scooter and PJ in the van he had borrowed from his stepfather, and they headed over to Bixby’s apartment together. They had agreed to spend their Saturday helping Bix pack up and move all the shit he had been collecting for the past couple of months. According to Bixby, he had out-grown his apartment.
Tibran parked the van, backing it up to the bottom of the stairs, and the three of them headed up to Bixby’s apartment. When they walked through the door, they stopped for a moment to take in the sight. Unlike the last time they were here, everything now was shut down and was in various states of being packed away. There were cardboard boxes stacked everywhere, some full, and some empty. All the wires that had been strung along the walls were gone, coiled up into neat piles on the floor.
There appeared to be nobody around at first, but then out of the back bedroom came a very pretty young woman with red hair and blue eyes, carrying a box. She had her hair up in a pony-tail and was wearing cut-off jean shorts that showed off her runner’s legs, and a tank-top with a drawing of the earth on the front, and the words “Love Your Mother” across the top.
All three of them stood dumbfounded for a minute, not knowing what to make of the beautiful young woman that had just come out of Bixby’s bedroom. They were saved from having to come up with something to say when Bixby came out behind her, carrying a box of his own.
“Oh, hey guys! I see you’ve met Sandy. Sandy, this is the guys – Tibran is the muscle, Scooter is the brains, and my cousin PJ there… Well, he just tries to make sure we don’t do anything too stupid.”
“Hi there!” Sandy offered cheerfully, putting down her box and extending her hand, shaking each of theirs in turn.
“Hey” Tibran said, starring at Sandy with his mouth open just a little.
“So, you’re the one that’s been taking up all of Bix’s time lately.” Scooter added, shaking her hand. “He is clearly dating out of his league.”.
“Dilly-Dilly” was all PJ said when he shook her hand, blushing slightly and looking at the floor. PJ always got shy around pretty girls. Then he picked up a box off the floor without another word and turned around to take it down to the van.
“It’s really nice to meet you guys. Bix has told me a lot about you.”
“Don’t believe a goddamn word he tells you. He’s a lying shit.” Tibran said, as he walked in to survey the work that still needed to be done.
James Brown came trotting into the kitchen from the back bedroom, holding a small paper bag in her mouth. She stopped in front of Bixby, looking up at him and wagging her tail.
“All right” Bix said with a sigh. “Go put it in the van”. James Brown spun around and ran out the door after PJ.
Scooter picked up a full box off the kitchen table. “Why you gotta move again Bix? I liked this apartment. We’ve had some good times here.”
“I know, I know. I need more room.” Bixby answered. “And more power.”
“More power? What the hell do you mean you need more power?”
“Electricity. I need more. I can only pull a maximum of 100 Amps before I trip the main service input breaker out on the pole. It’s not enough. I found a commercial space across town that has two 200-Amp breakers. 400 Amps should give me enough to do what I need.”
“And what exactly is that Bix? What exactly do you need 400 Amps for?” Scooter asked.
Bixby just smiled and headed down to the van with the box he was holding. As he walked out the door, he called back over his shoulder, “It’s a surprise!”.
They spent the rest of the day carrying boxes and equipment down to the van, making trips over to Bixby’s new apartment – which was on the second floor, above an old garage. The garage itself was a large, two-story brick building out on Route 52. It had been closed for years, but it had everything Bixby needed. He could live upstairs, and use the large open garage bays below to hold all his new equipment. He would have plenty of room – and plenty of power – to do whatever he needed.
By early that evening they had made the last trip from the old apartment, finally bringing James Brown with them to her new abode. Tibran dropped the last box on the floor of Bix’s new living space above the garage and sat down with a sigh. It was old and dingy, and needed a good scrubbing, but overall it was a pretty decent space. It was bigger than his old apartment, with three bedrooms and one-and-a-half baths. A full, large kitchen/dining area and a separate living room.
There were boxes stacked all over the place, but the new space had come furnished, so there were chairs to sit on at least, and a kitchen table. Sandy had made sure they had brought James Brown’s bed and all her toys from the old apartment and had a nice spot all set aside for her in the living room. They had stopped on their last run and picked up pizza and beer.
Sighing as he sat down to take a load off his feet, Scooter asked, “How’s the rent here Bix? It’s a lot bigger than your other place.” As he reached for a slice of pizza.
James Brown appeared out of nowhere, and stood in front of Bixby, looking up at him. After a moment, Bixby nodded, and walked over to a box sitting on the counter. He rummaged around, until he found the hover chair he had built. Turning it on, he tossed it towards the ground. It came to a stop a foot or so off the floor and hovered, just as before. James Brown ran over and jumped up on the device, tilting it forward and zooming off to points unknown in the apartment somewhere.
Without a word, Bix returned to his seat. “No rent.” he answered, opening one of the beers and handing it to Tibran. “I bought the place. Got it for a song, actually.” He opened two more beers, handing them to Scooter and Sandy. He looked around the room and realized his friends were staring at him.
“You bought this place?” Scooter asked.
“As in, you own it, it’s yours, you paid for it? Outright?” Tibran asked incredulously.
“Um… yea. It was for sale, so I bought it.” Bix answered, taking a swig of his beer casually, and reaching for a slice of pizza.
Scooter didn’t believe it. “You just bought it? With what, your stunning good looks?”
“I’d give him money!” Sandy piped up around a mouthful of pizza.
Bixby smiled and winked at Sandy, then turned back to Scooter. “Don’t worry about it. The Internet has been very good to me lately.”
“Fine!” Scooter answered. “Don’t tell me how you got rich all of a sudden! See if I care!” He threw his empty beer can at Bixby and reached for another.
“I mean it!” Bix said, ducking to avoid the beer can. “I’ve been doing some investing, that’s all. I hit a couple of good stocks!”
“Couple of good stocks?” Tibran chimed in. “More like robbed a couple of good banks!”
“Oh come on, you guys leave poor Bix alone.” Sandy said, moving over to stand next to Bixby, and putting her arm around his shoulders. “He’s under a lot of stress lately. You just leave him be!”.
“Oh all right, Scooter said, standing up and stretching. “I have to head out anyway. I promised your Aunt I’d have PJ back early. Come on PJ! We gotta roll!”
PJ grabbed another slice of pizza on his way by. He took a huge mouthful, then shouted Dithy-dithy! As he walked out the door behind Scooter.
“I’m heading out too”. Tibran said, standing up. He took a beer and slid it into his pocket. Then he took another one and opened it up as he headed for the door himself. “One for the road”. He said, holding the beer up in a toast as walked out the door.
“And one for later!” Bixby shouted after him, standing up to clean up the remains of their dinner. They were suddenly alone in his new apartment. Bix look around, feeling exhausted. “I guess we should start getting this stuff un-packed, huh?”
“Nope.” Sandy said, walking over to where he was standing. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. Lifting herself up on her toes, she kissed him. Then she let him go and started walking towards the master bedroom.
“We can do that in the morning. Right now….” She stopped in the doorway and turned back to look at him over her shoulder. “Right now, you have other things to attend to…” She smiled, and walked into the bedroom, removing her tank-top as she did, so that Bixby just caught a glimpse of her naked back and bra-strap before she disappeared from his view.
“Work, work, work…” Bixby thought to himself, smiling as he turned off the kitchen light and followed Sandy back to the bedroom.
