Nobody could ever hate Larry, a cheery, old man who could get on your nerves, asking for inconvenient favors. But he wasn't the type to sear into your memory. 

The only times he thought about Larry was when he ran into him outside in the parking lot, or if he was making fun of Larry with another friend who had happened to run into Larry with him. The usual question from his friends were, "who is that guy?" and to that he would always love to give a non-chalant reply "Oh, that's Larry."

That 

non-chalant

reply was the same type that invited more questioning for further explanation. Stating simply "Oh, that's Larry." always made his friends want to know more. And that was part of the joke.

There was nothing extra to Larry. He was as he appeared. A simple man living a simple life with simple concerns and demands. And this is why it was so entertaining to make fun of him. Jasmine would make up fantastical scenarios regarding Larry. Like how he would meet up with 

prostitutes

downtown and fuck them real hard.

Or there was the joke that Larry was a coke dealer and that was why he was always out in the parking lot, to make sure there were no rival gang members encroaching on his turf. 

All of these such jokes were fun only because it was so obvious that Larry could be none of these things.

One thing Larry did act for him was a way to connect with Jasmine. The first time she had picked him up to go out to dinner he had been annoyed by the fact Larry had happened to catch them together. But soon after it was a blessing. At the Chipotle they were already cracking Larry jokes together, mostly Jasmine doing the imagining and him laughing along. And after that he and her were texting Larry jokes to each other.

In fact it had been awhile since they were even talking about anything serious.. like those mysterious packages. They were talking about stupid things now like Larry and other people in their life who reminded them of Larry. Had he had this little volition? He could hear Cassie telling him, "see this is why i broke up with you. Loser!"

He wanted to do something right then that would make him feel like he was in control. But he couldn't think of anything so instead he just stood up, walked around the coffee table twice, and scrolled through some social media on his phone. Then he spent ten minutes petting Todd who was having a lazy day laying on his couch.

Todd hadn't been his usual self since the accident. What was worrying was whether that was due to the injury or the drugs that Todd was constantly having to ingest. He hoped that it was the latter. He kept going on the internet and searching for the side effects of the drugs and he even found people on 

reddit

who were sharing their dogs' experience with the drugs. It seemed to be aligned with what Toddy was doing.

"Good boy," he told Todd. Then he though of how incredibly stupid it was. To talk to his dog when nobody was around. Then he looked out the window. Before his eyes actually looked at the window he imagined Larry's face there. Peering inside his apartment with that face like that of that one 

Aphex Twin

album cover. It scared him... but by the time his eyes reached the windows he was reassured that there was nobody there.

The anxiety still lingered however. Why had that image suddenly struck him? He couldn't get it out of his head. And it drove him to search the album cover of Aphex Twin to try to convince himself that that wasn't what he had saw in his head. But it indeed was. And now he routinely looked up towards the window, expecting, but hoping not to, see Larry standing there. With that face.

His phone went off. It was Zach.

"Yoooo. I'm on break. I was wondering if you wanted to go on a little walk."

"Yeah sure, but let's go someplace else. I don't like walking here."

"Sure. Can I pick you up? Are you at home?"

Zach arrived minutes later. No Larry to be found the entire time. He tried to get Zach to make jokes about Larry as well but he wasn't as imaginative as Jasmine. Maybe he was not as mean. Thinking about it, the jokes were a bit unkind.

They parked on the street of a more walkable neighborhood nearby. The trees were older and arched over the street and casted a nice shade.

They made small talk. Jokes. Kind of like the Larry jokes, but about other faucets of life. Zach's life seemed to be going well, but he spoke of it like it was a dumpster fire. Zach never asked him about his life in detail, and he was thankful for that. He could simply deflect and Zach would think that all was fine. There was no need to talk about Todd or his recent crush on Jasmine.

He did have a crush on her though. This bugged him. Why should he have a crush on any random woman that appeared into his life. Was he that starved for affection? This did not make him feel good so he started to make more and more ludicrous jokes with Zach. They made fun of Cassie and her voice.

45 minutes of walking and Zach said he had to get back to work. They pulled into the parking lot and Zach said without sarcasm. "Oh hey. That package you got. And those photos. Mind if I come and see them?"

"Sure. I'll bring them out for you."

"Oh no. I'm way too creeped out to take them myself. Could I just come up and look at them inside your apartment."

"Sure." 

This creeped him out. What was there to be creeped out about those photos and the package? Now that Zach had said it creeped him out, he started imagining bad things. Dark shadows of figures moving in a grainy grayscale film with no sound.

They parked the 

Tesla

in a spot that Larry would forbid. But it would literally be three or four minutes before Zach returned.

As they entered the apartment Zach asked, "so you have no idea where this package came from?"

"Nope. It's weird. Do you think it's alright?"

"I mean. Yeah I don't see why not. The 

post office

makes errors all the time."

"Yes. But why did you say you were scared earlier."

"Oh that? I'm just superstitious is all."

He thought of asking what his 

superstitions

were in this regard. But he held his tongue fearing the answer. He would ask him another time. Another day when he felt more calm.

He took out the blue package and showed Zach. He looked at them for a moment but didn't seem scared anymore. This sort of let him down. It was almost like the photos weren't as important or significant.

"Weird!" Zach said. "Okay I guess I'll have to catch you later. Bye."

"Let me walk you down. I need to go to the post office anyways."

They went down the stairwell talking about some trip they were tentatively planning. When they got to the bottom of the stairwell Zach got excited and said, "oh did you know my Tesla can drive itself to us? Watch." 

Zach took out his phone and tapped a few times. And then the Tesla began to drive towards them. It all happened so fast. It hit a figure. A person walking. The two of them ran towards the car. 

"Oh my gosh, are you alright?"

It was Larry. He wasn't dead but he looked like he was in bad shape.