@professordouglas
The policeman was still talking. EJ gave him a long, dark look; there was really no reason for him to still be talking. EJ’s apartment, along with the others on the floor, had been broken into and now it was trashed. Until this idiot stopped talking, EJ couldn’t go into his apartment and see how trashed it was - he had only found out about it when he came back home and found the cop cars everywhere.
“Are we done here?” EJ asked, after a few more seconds. There was a slight hint of West Virginia in his voice, his accent slipping out due to his frustration. The policeman blabbered for a few more seconds, before EJ rolled his eyes and walked away.
The door hung partially off its hinges - EJ gave it a dark glare as he pushed it out of the way. Everything was trashed, but - he smirked - his paranoia had paid off. The building was ancient and there were fireplaces in every apartment, even though none of them worked. He stored his laptop in his fireplace every time he left the apartment and he could tell that the fireplace hadn’t been disturbed by the looters.
“I don’t think you’ll be able to stay here, sir,” the policeman said from the doorway. EJ raised an eyebrow at him, before turning back to the fireplace. He knelt down, reaching up into the fireplace to find the metal shelf he had jammed into it when he moved in. As he worked, the policeman kept talking. “Considering the state of the door and everything. You have anyone you can stay with?”
Rolling his eyes, EJ yanked the shelf down, bringing his laptop with it. He always put it into the case whenever he put it up the fireplace, to keep dust from getting in it. He pulled the strap over his head, then stood up and walked out, shoving the policeman with his shoulder on the way through the door.
Stepping into the staircase to escape the police and his neighbors, EJ pulled out his cellphone. There were exactly two numbers in his phone - Jaya and Jinx. Jaya wasn’t even in the state, so he called the one person who could help him out.