"Then as a brother I have all the rights to tease and bully my little siblings."
"Did you hear that Zeki? Since we are your elders and it's only right for us to not let you go on the wrong path. If we don't make you understand the difference between black and white then won't we fail as a brother? And you should know about us, Zeki."
Their serious looking faces along with the profound expressions made Zeki feel short on words. He wondered if he was in an alternate world where his goofy and not to give a damn about anything friend, Bryan had turned serious like Xavier.
Watching his dazed look, Bryan grinned but it went as fast it came, "Zeki, listen to me carefully. We are your elders and we want the best for you always. Even if we get angry and punish you then you must realise that it is for your own good and bright future ahead… hahaha...."
By the end of his sincere speech, Bryan broke into fits of laughter yet his hand which held Zeki's ear didn't leave it.
"You should have seen your dumbfounded look, Zeki. You really got fooled by us and his D graded acting skills", Caleb shook his head in disappointment.
"Xavier, we lost. Zeki, this time you broke our trust. We thought you won't make us fail but you proved us wrong. Bryan was absolutely correct when he said that Zeki can never be serious in his life and whatever was happening from the previous days was nothing but mood swings because you got rejected by the girl in the parking area that day."
Xavier slid his glasses upwards from the tips of his noise as Caleb took the responsibility to explain everything to Zeki. Their friend with the least brain capacity.
"Haaaahaaa… Omg, I might get a stomach ache if I don't stop laughing like a maniac. But.. hahahaha…"
"YOU BLOODY LIAR!!!"
Unexpectedly Zeki used his hidden brute force and it made the other three who held him, leave him from their grip.
His hands immediately went to encircle themselves around Bryan's neck. The amount of strength wasn't tight just enough to stop the air from entering into his trachea. Bryan's face began to change its color to red. He started gasping for oxygen.
While the others didn't show any concern for either of them, since in their hearts they were rest assured that none of them would hurt the other one. Also it was usual for them to fight like cat and dog and after some time later, they again would become inseparable. It was like a routine.
"One"
"Two"
"Three"
"Four"
"...Fi--"
Zeki's hand automatically left Bryan. He left Bryan and went to sit on the sofa.
"You all turned my precious ears into tomatoes. Now who will marry me? Someone with beetroot colored ears…" Zeki groaned in distress.
Rev flipped the pages of the magazine, "You can't ever change." He told Zeki, sitting in front of him with a victim look.
He mischievously grinned at him, "Now, where is the fun in that?"
Rev ignored him and continued to read his magazine.
"Aish, you are no fun." Bryan chimed, his hands cautiously massaged his neck with his hands to ease the redness of it.
"Don't you know how stiff and rigid he is? He doesn't have an ounce of pity for anyone, not even his childhood friends who are more than brothers for him."
He took the cut pieces of the apple and chewed on them like a bunny, Zeki ate all of them in no time.
Zeki's hand then reached towards the banana "Hey dude, sorry if I hurt you but you deserved it."
He peeled off its outer yellow peel.
Bryan waved his hand, "Duh, I don't mind since I was the one to provoke you. However, I am seriously relaxed and relieved that you aren't acting as if you realised that the girl you fancied is a married woman with kids. Phew~~"
"That was nice, well played." Xavier flattered Bryan. He also sat down on the couch.
Caleb went into the kitchen to get some cold drinks for the boys since they must have been tired after performing such a horrible act which not so surprisingly was able to make Zeki panic.
Rev' smartphone vibrated inside his pocket. He took it out and saw that his mother was calling. He accepted the call.
"Hello, mom."
"Woah, I thought my son must have forgotten that his mother is still alive. You insensitive brat!!"
His mother's volume was so loud that even his friends could hear what she said to Rev though the phone was not on speaker.
He said nothing in response to her that made his mother more furious than she already was.
Zeki took the phone out of his hands and turned on the speakers on it.
"Hello, Aunty!! Did you recognise my voice?"
"Awwwwieee of course darling, how can I forget such a cute baby. How have you been, Zeki?" Rev's eyebrows furrowed and his lips twitched at the way his mother responded to Zeki. He sighed as he could see the discrimination between him and others boys, his mother treated.
"I wish I could say that I was doing fine but I can't.."
"Why? What happened? Everyone is alright?"
Zeki wriggled his eyebrows at Rev,"Should I tell her? How is her son treating me?"
"What did my insolent son do? Don't be afraid of Zeki, my son. I won't allow any type of mistreatment to happen to you all, just be fearless and tell me what he did."
His mother spoke, her words assuring them that she won't let anything bad befall on them if they said.
'Am I really her real son?'
This thought didn't come to Rev for the first time. However it wasn't his fault that he likes peace and was too picky with words. She just likes to rile me up so that I speak, he smiled.
His mother does love him to the moon and back. A mother's love can't be measured nor tested. His mother never shied away from showing her abundant love to Rev and it wasn't like Rev didn't love her in the same way. He just needed to understand the importance of expressing your emotions.
"Aunty, he doesn't talk to me or the others. He always keeps his mouth shut. I try to tease him so much yet he never reacts. I feel like my friend is a robot."
"I can understand your pain and frustration. If not me then who will? Ever since he had crossed his 15th birthday, he had turned more closed off. He doesn't even call me. Still I keep my phone within my reach always with the hope that someday he might call me on his own but it seems my wish wouldn't ever be fulfilled."
Her words made everyone silent. Rev took his phone from Zeki's hand and moved to a corner. Turning off his phone, "Mom, are you crying?"
"So what if I am? My only son doesn't have a moment to think about me while my thoughts are filled with him only."
"Mom, who said I don't think about you? You should stop assuming things on your own. It's bad for you and me also."
"Fine! I'll try to quit this bad habit of mine but would you promise to call me at least on weekends?
My baby, you know your mother's heart might be hard from outside but it's too soft from inside. It aches when I think about how you are surviving alone from your own family at such a tender age. I know I am strong, your father doesn't forget to point out every other day. However I have been strong for so long that it hurts now. You are my first born. My world revolves around you."
"Mom, stop crying please. I don't have the courage to hear them. It breaks and scares me. You perceive how I am, I don't know how to express my own emotions and feelings but mom you should never forget that you are the first woman in my life who I love with the fibre of my body. I can't bear it if my lovely mother is crying. I could fathom how it is not easy for you to be always strong yet the outsiders believe that my kind hearted mother has the most unbreakable steel heart in her. Although it is fine that they aren't aware of it since they aren't any significant figures for you or me. I am aware of the real you and you know your son. It is what we need."
"My baby grew up so fastly. My cute little baby transformed into a man full of charms and I understood what you tried to convey. Must I say that it's the highest number of words spoken by you, well with me. I don't know how talkative you are with your girlfriend." He heard his mother giggling softly.
Rev sighed as he felt that his mom was back to herself.
"Mom, now you don't tease me. It wasn't effortless for me."
"Aiyyaa.. I'll stop teasing you for now."
Rev could feel the playfulness radiating from his mother through the phone.
"Mom, I promise that I'll try to call you every weekend."
"Well don't call me during the time you are having a date with your girlfriend."
His mother felt her son getting irritated.
"Am I wrong? Don't you have a girlfriend already or anyone you like?"
He could imagine her eyes widening when he would reveal that his aloofness scares the most of the girls around him.
"Mom, you should acknowledge that if I ever get a girlfriend. You would be the first one I tell."
The mother and son had a hearty talk.
While the remaining guys wanted to bang Zeki's head at something so that his dead brain would come alive. He still had the audacity to tease Rev when he was well aware about what Rev can do when he has been provoked.