It was exactly 7 o' clock, Jake heard a knock on their door. Outside in the early morning sun was Lenny and his skateboard. His face glowed as the sun reflected off of it, with his royal blue blazer an additional beneficiary of the bright star's generosity. Jake grabbed his backpack and stepped into the world with his best friend. The bus was unusually late. They stood for almost half an hour before they heard the familiar honk from just around the corner. As it turned in their direction, they picked up their belongings and gathered them in their hands. It pulled up to where they were and the door swung open to grant them passage. "Morning Mr. J" Jake shouted as he stepped into the hallway. Mr. Josephs replied with his trademark wide smile and gentle nod. They navigated their way to their usual spot. They came across Grant and Garett along the way and exchanged pleasantries of a not-so-pleasant nature. Grant and Garett were twins. Somehow the four of them were caught up in a vendetta over something that neither of them could pick out. Jake and Lenny were bound by friendship, Grant and Garett by blood. Either way, the former considered themselves brothers. A few steps beyond their rivals, they settled into their place.
From their pick up point, there would be a total of four other pick up points before they got to school. They lived close to the school and as a result, in the afternoon they preferred not to take the bus. Lenny would skate while his friend relied on his expeditious and tireless feet. Just one more spot and Upper East High would come into view. Jake was looking out the window as was his custom, when the bus stopped at the last pick up point. Scornful whistles started going off. Jake shook his head. This had the Killian twins written all over it. Jake committed half a glance to the cause of the childish ruckus but as he turned away magnetism took its hold on him.
His attention was called towards a girl making her way in the hallway. Her downcast eyes were her way of fending of the verbal bullying. The more he looked at her, more his heart was committed to the cause. His heart softly pounded while his dilated pupils sought the entry of adequate light so he could see her in her distinct glorious self. His hands clung firmly on the top of the seat in front of him as if he was bracing for impact. He was heavily pulsating and her coming closer and closer didn't make things any easier. He was awestruck. Lenny saw what was happening. He saw how his friend was so caught in the moment that the world around seemed to stand still and go quiet. So he did what any good friend would do. He got up to fend off the wolves. From four seats away he shouted, "Hey G twins, wanna hear a 'your mama joke'? Your mama is so ugly that when she looks in the mirror it cracks." The whole bus erupted. So did the twins, but in more violent manner. It only took a few seconds and the two sets of pairs were heavily engaged in a scuffle. Next was school, then the principal's office.
Hazel's twins were entwined in all kinds of mischief. Their uncle was playing guinea pig to all their experiments. Hazel looked on from a distance. To them he was the father they never had. After a while, she called them so her brother would at least get temporary reprieve but behind the shadows Cindy lurked. She was a ravenous leopard in search of answers. Hazel had spilled the beans and realizing she had, she intended to close the can. But the secret was out. Her relationship with Jake had been a rollercoaster one. In all this time she thought they had been joined by the mysterious working of pure chance. From the night he first picked her up to now, the spontaneity that colored that picture was fast changing to the result of deliberate action. As soon as the twins had hearkened to the call of their mother, Cindy pulled up a chair beside the couch whereon Jake lay.
Oblivious to what was going on around him, Jake smiled with an innocence which on a normal day would have set him out of prison. But this warden wasn't in a giving mood. He looked at her and saw her crinkled forehead. Immediately he knew something was wrong. His smile constricted a bit. Then in a low pitched voice he said, "Hey baby." She replied, "Hey Jake, from Upper East High." As soon as these words left her mouth, Jake's head turned like an owl's. There was only one person with whom he had shared this piece of information. There she was in the far distance attending to a pair of infants but with the corner of her eye looking at her brother and the girl he sat with.
"I helped you pick up those books Cindy. Then the next day, as you were looking for a spot on the bus, my friend and I…," there was a momentary pause. He cleared his throat then continued "We fought those guys that were jeering at you. That got us into deep trouble with the principal, and then with our parents." Jake went on to explain how he watched her from a distance. A substantial chunk of his teenage period had been dedicated to the endeavour of being somewhat a guardian angel to a girl he never knew. "I asked everyone I knew who had contact with you. I wanted to talk to you but confidence was a necessity that kept evading me. All I could do was stare whenever we occupied the same space. When you moved away, it was so sudden. It was then that I thought I should have talked to you." Cindy was attentive as Jake came clean, as a child listening to a grandfather's intriguing story from the past. Her mind was fixing timelines, recreating visual scenes, just trying to piece everything together. Memory fragments remained and as he spoke some of it was coming back to her. The memory of that particular place she had suppressed when the tragedy occurred. She never returned to the place they had lived briefly. As he was speaking, suddenly she remembered. She remembered her father, the hospital. The incident began playing in her head over and over again. Then the only audience that was left for his words was unwitting air particles floating in their immediate sphere of influence. She sprung to her feet while he was still talking and ran to the toilet.
"I've called the manager guys. All of your rooms are booked and ready for occupation," Jake yelled as he leaned on his crutches and made his way onto the wheelchair. The uncles and aunts were reluctant to leave. They felt being close family they had to stay with him. Unfortunately for them, he cared more about Cindy's wellbeing than their disgruntlement over where they would lay their heads. Hazel and her children were the only people that were not victims of the eviction exercise. The pattering of feet on the wooden tiled floor increased as Jake got mobility. On his wheelchair, he drove all the unwanted sheep out of his stall. Once everyone was out, he sat Hazel down and chided her for divulging his closest guarded secret. In her defense, she claimed she thought Cindy was privy to the crush and the history of past events. At the conclusion of their short family meeting, Jake rolled towards the bathroom door. He listened from outside and heard her trying to conceal her cry. He knocked gently. "Cindy, are you okay baby?" Cindy remained quiet. "I am so sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry. Come out and we can talk about it." Hazel stood three yards away. The kids had gone out to the hotel with Aunt Glenda even though Jake had given the green light to their stay.
"Cindy please come out," Jake went on. His voice exhibited signs of diminishing strength. Despair was in the air. He leaned back into his chair and took a deep breath. He was out on a limb, down on the ground without the resolve to get up. She was the only one who could help him up. Hazel came to the door. By now Cindy had added more decibels to her cry. Her distress was audible. Jake wondered whether he had messed up by sharing his former stalker tendencies. He thought maybe she would see the history of his endearment and this would in turn help her settle into his world. He hoped she would have seen how he was ready to lay his world at her feet. The throne had been set and dusted, the crown and its jewels polished and shining. All she needed was to seize it.
Hazel drew closer to her brother's wheelchair and placed her hand on his shoulder. He looked at her. His hands clamped the armrests of the wheelchair while he tapped one foot on the footrest. He was taking in deep breaths but the abundance of air was offering no relief. Somehow, he felt like he was suffocating. Hazel leaned towards the door and said in a soft tone, "Cindy please open the door. We are worried about you." Cindy tried to compose herself and normalize her voice then said, "I'm okay. I'll come out soon. Please go." Both Jake and Hazel heard the shakiness and knew she wasn't alright. "Just come out honey, come and talk to me," Jake appealed. The piece of pine wood barricaded the two parties. Both frail, both in distress. Union would probably be the antidote to what ailed them. But they had to be content with the company of only their distraught sounding voices. As Jake knocked for the umpteenth time, Cindy came up. Her eyes stained by a reddish deviance from their natural color. She knelt down by Jake's wheelchair and hugged him, still crying. Jake held her as tight as he could without smothering her. He whispered into her ear, "I love you so much." She then withdrew from his tender clasp and then looked into his eyes. Then she said to him, "My mother."