--Saturday. 4: 29 pm--.
"Yoo what was that?!" a young man shouted.
Radio landed in a container of a huge truck. Viren entered in and punched him out of it. He flew out, grabbed him by the neck, and slammed him on the road, leaving some cracks on it. Radio's absorbed energy that was surrounding his body suddenly disappeared... after the beating he got. A lot of people gathered around to video everything. He wanted to get a video of it too but there were a lot of people already gathered around the spot.
"Tobias please let's get a move on we do not have much time".
"Just give me a minute I'm almost…"
Viren flew away and left Radio unconscious for the Police to deal with him. When a cop got to him, he realized there was a note stuck on his head, "Jackson X Pollo Hoodie = $75.02".
"We have to go, Tobias".
He was too late to see him. The police told everyone to back off and marked the area. He sighed. "Alright, man." He got in the vehicle and they left.
That is Tobias Iwu Saxon. African American.19. Has a short Afro fade twist hairstyle. Dark eyes. Neatly dressed in his black trousers and dark green with black-striped long-sleeves. Calm and cool guy. Ever since the imaginations came along, his life was going pretty well. But when things changed, it was just painful for him to endure. He just came from an interview with the faculty of his next school, Delaware State University. But he was miles away from the school when he encountered the hero's presence. He just stopped by a fast-food joint to get a meal after his interview. Now he was on his way back home. He was just looking outside watching the streets and the cars passing by. Absorbing the fact that things have changed quite drastically and so he has to get used to the society he is in.
Oh… and for the guy who was calling him… oh that guy… that's actually his uber driver, Noble. Tan-skinned. Short hair and clean-cut beard. He was driving his hyperdrive vehicle to his destination. He was hired personally by Tobias' Aunt. So, he works for her. He gave him a free ride back since his Aunt would pay for the trip through his salary. Another thing that he likes to do. He…well...he likes to talk...quite a lot...
"… and so, I really don't understand why they couldn't have handled the situation by themselves. They rely on these super-powered freaks every single minute."
"Uh…yeah"
"Hmm. 'The Imaginations'… who named these people. Bob Iger? They should just plant some device on their necks and let their heads blow up. Init?"
Tobias was on his phone checking the news feed about Viren. He was watching the kind of comments people were saying.
"Uhh, Tob…"
He then checked the video that he took of Viren and Radio, but it was not very clear as there was a large crowd already gathering to do so. He wanted to be someone to share it on social media early, but it wasn't good. He deleted it.
"Yoo Tobias"
He looked up. "Oh, uhm sorry bro…we there yet?"
Noble was quiet for a moment, then he argued. "Nah man I was just saying these imagine-freaks are trash."
Tobias chuckled. "Heh...relax man they're just…saving the world or something."
"Yeah I know, I know." Noble yawned. "It's getting late. We should get back home soon or else your Aunt's gonna be worried we got abducted by aliens or something"
"Honestly." He agreed.
And they both were silent through the ride, enjoying some music from the radio, looking around to see the ultramodern houses and shops...the state-of-the-art vehicles that were flying by them...and most of all...the street lights…
--6:12 pm--
It was quite a long drive but they both arrived home. Tobias in fact stays with his Aunt. Her name's Emma. They live at Edgewood…. road; not the Avenue at Atlanta. Edgewood Road at North Carolina in Wilmington. It's a very calm place with a lot of old people living there. The home was not-too-expensive-and-not-too-cheap looking. It was a flat, with a lawn right up front, but a garden at the back. Aunt Emma had switched on the outside lights to light up her place a bit. And from inside too. There was an electrical fence around the house, just in case. And Tobias got out.
"Alright, thanks Noble". He nodded.
"No prob!". And Noble drove off to his place.
He entered the house and found her in the kitchen. She was fair-skinned and was having a ponytail. Blonde too. A slender body shape and she was wearing a plush robe. Probably she was done showering.
"Hey" Tobias greeted.
"I think what you meant to say was 'Good evening' ". She teased.
She was getting the dishes ready for dinner.
"Uhh...I guess..."
"You guess?!"
They both stared at each other for a moment. Tobias sighed.
"Correction. Good evening"
"That's correct Toby". She is a teacher by profession. "So how did it go?"
"Yeah, it was cool. I just…did what I had to do… I think"
"You weren't nervous?"
"A little."
"Hmm...well, what if I told you…that…even they were nervous."
Tobias seemed surprised. "What the interviewers?... Why?"
"They were afraid to lose a bright student like you."
That put a heart-warming smile on Tobias' face. She observed it and she smiled back.
"Now go upstairs and call your little cousin for me. Dinner is almost ready".
"Yes, Ma'am".
Tobias immediately got upstairs and called Thomas, his 8-year-old cousin. He's fair-skinned. Has blonde hair...but it's short and uncombed. He has brown eyes and rashes on his face. Likes to wear his grey sweatshirt....and oh, he's very annoying. He was playing a sophisticated VR game as he opened the door to his room.
"Hey! Dinner's ready. Stop playing."
"Nah-uh. I've gotta pass this guy's high score".
"So just pause it then…"
"I can't. It's online."
"Mum's gonna come up and make it worse for you if you don't stop."
"Mmm…fine". He narked.
He paused it and rushed downstairs.
Tobias entered his room and dropped his bag on his bed. He removed his long sleeves. He wanted to have a bath so he turned on the water heater and waited. He laid on his bouncy bed. He was getting a call from someone. It was Bello. That's his nickname...his real name's Michael. One of his close buds...
"Ay Bello what's up."
"Yoo bro, you've checked the mail?!"
"Nah man" He then took out the laptop from his bag, turned it on, connected it to the Wi-fi, and accessed the school's mailing platform. "Wha…What's it say?"
"Bro you know how Delaware be sending dem long emails or something. Long story short! We're not doing it online anymore".
Then Tobias saw it. It read :
'…however, all freshmen would be expected to report to campus on the 16th of August since the numbers are less than other batches…'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Hotel Du Point—
"Yeah…16th August…Yeah…"
A lady was on the phone.
"…I'll do my best to get myself ready before that…I'll contact you in case of anything…Safe journey mom…love you too."
Call ended.
This is Wu Meng Saxon. Tobias' cousin. She's a Chinese -African. Age 20. Brown eyes and dark hair. She keeps a medium-sized afro hairstyle with a small strand of hair at the front, covering a part of her eyes. She sometimes wears her round glasses if she wants to read something. She's…well…a nerd. She has an older sister, Fu Chun Saxon. She's 25 and currently working as an assistant director of an advertising company. She's…not like Wu…at all. Her mum is Chinese and her Dad, an African. So, Tobias' dad and hers'; they're brothers. Her parents are both biological engineers. They travel around the world most of the time to work in very secluded places and private operations. In the end, they earn an enormous amount of money. So the family is massively rich.
So, at the moment, she has the hotel room to herself since her parents paid for it. She wanted to park her stuff early. Turns out, she got accepted at Delaware State University. So now, the plan was her sister would come for her and drop her at the place and help her get settled. She wanted to park her stuff early so she can pick her bed. She doesn't like any unwanted attention. But first, she wanted to unwind a little. From July 5th to August 16th. She had a lot of time to prepare. She had the air conditioning on and started playing her favorite songs from her Bluetooth speakers. The first track was 'Paid for it by Ty Brasel, Lecrae, and Melodie Wagner'. She had a cool shower, wore her pajamas, and opened the door for the waitress to bring her dinner inside the room. She ate it while she enjoyed some episodes of Rick and Morty. It's actually her favorite series. She read some sci-fi dark fantasy novels and comics, streamed YouTube videos of NASA's next space exploration events, and…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"….so then how can I help?"
"Umm…. I can just ask Noble to help with my suitcase and stuff."
Tobias and Aunt Emma were almost done with their supper at the dining table. They sat on wooden chairs with a long glass table. They get to enjoy staring outside as their glass windows are transparent and watch cars passing by the street lights; with the cool breeze blessing their evening. The light-bulbs emitted a light orange-reddish light so it blended well with the materials around the place. Thomas was planning a strategy about a spaceship assault with his food whiles he was eating it.
"Okay…then I guess you wouldn't need me by that time."
"Uhh yeah…if I did I would find out from you."
"Yeah....aren't you going to finish your meal?"
"Nah I'm good. I ate along the way back from the school so…yeah"
"Okay, then it's settled".
"Yeah…"
She sipped her glass of water. "You're a big boy now. I'm proud of how mature you have become. Your Uncle would be proud too."
And then there was this spontaneous silence from Tobias. He felt bad after what she said. Emma realized the look he had on his face. She touched his shoulder and then his face.
"He would be proud and you know it Toby. He loved us all so much".
He sighed as he was still silent.
"Toby...I love you so much for what you are, you know that?"
He smirked. "Yeah…yeah, I know".
He was about to reach for the sauce but Emma grabbed her ladle and smacked his hand sharply with it.
"Wha…Why?"
She gave him a sheepish grin.
"Oh, uhm…please may I have the sauce?"
Still giving him the grin.
"Oh, wrong answer uhm…" He clears his throat. "Thomas pass me the sauce…please?"
Thomas took the sauce and gave it to him but as Tobias was about to grab it, she still whacked his hand with the ladle.
"Oww…oww…okay that one stung…damn"
"The correct response is ' I love you too' "
"What…how…oh, that's what it's about?"
"Yep"
"But…but you asked a direct question."
"So?"
"Direct questions deserve direct answers"
"The correct response is the direct answer"
"But what's the difference?!"
" 'I love you too' is so passionately true… 'Yah I know'…. It sounds so boy-ish"
"And I am a boy!"
"No, you're a young man"
"But I'm talking about gender here"
"And I am talking about courtesy and discipline here"
He sighed. "But Emma is no big de…"
She shot at him a frown.
"Oh uhm… Aunt Emma…"
She still had the frowning face with one of her eyebrows up.
He sighed again. "Mom. I love you too."
She grinned playfully.
"Can I go now?" Thomas said.
"Oh, and as for you, young boy, you're going to do the dishes"
"But Mama…"
"No don't start that with me…go and finish them".
Thomas took the dishes and was mumbling to himself as he went to the sink to clean them.
When Tobias got up from the table, he got a number of notifications. It was his other close friends. One from, Fabulous and Kenisha. They were sisters. And the other from Bello.
Fab: Yo. Majeed hustling rn.
Kenisha: Can't get in cz he ain't got no money.
Bello: Aight. Bro needs our help. Toby you in.
Tobias upon seeing this would never back down from this. They have always been with him ever since High School. He's not going to back down from any help with them. He replied on the group chat.
Tobias: So, what's the plan?...