Chapter 1 - Time Of My Dying.
The day was in a dark orange tone, in that warm mid-afternoon, the clock showed that it was 15:00 hrs sharp, Young Could, walks along the corridor of the second floor of his house, the wood of the floor makes a creak with each step , renovation dirt, stain the boy's red all stars sneakers, for two weeks the house he lives in has been undergoing a renovation, this exact time of 14 days ago, at the same time of 15 hrs, where in the private Hospital of that city , had been informed of his mother's death, experiencing mourning, he finally arrives at the small table that is leaning against the wall at the end of the corridor, the sun shines, warms with its heat a dusty picture frame, with a photo of a gentle lady, brunette with hair as black as coal, with a small boy in her lap, in the eternalized image smiling, squandering the happiness of being in that woman's lap.
Ah Mother...-Exclaimed Could, with a trembling voice.
-Everything is so difficult since the Lady left... the father.. Well, the marriage with his secretary was official, that the Lady always suspected that he would cheat on you.. my older brother Ash, lives in the wonderful world of him, with his fantastic friends, listening to music all day long and I'm here mom... I'm here trying to keep your memory inside me, you will never be forgotten and..
A noise coming from one of the doors in that old corridor, they call the boy's attention, it came from his brother's room, leaving the picture frame back on the table, the Boy walks towards the noise, opening his brother's door without knocking, Ash was in a rolling chair, listening to loud music, while studying in his textbooks for his college exam.
Honestly, I have no idea how you manage to concentrate with all that noise!- Said Could, with a mocking tone.
-It's not noise, it's music, what do you want!?- So Ash replied.
-You're listening to your stupid little song, studying like everything is normal, it doesn't even seem like our fucking mother died two weeks ago!
Annoyed Ash turns off the music with a loud thump of his mouse yelling:
-And what do you want me to do? Stay "depressed" in the corners? By being overbearing and aggressive with Dad and the family? Like you ? Get over it kid! Mom would hate to see you like this!
-Would you hate it? see someone who respects her memory! Different from the old idiot who is already punching someone else?
-Do you see the things you say? You disrespect her, you disrespect daddy, she would want to see him happy...
Could interrupts Ash with sarcasm:
-And he's happy about it, putting his cock on the desk!
-Dude That's enough! I got out of my room! I have nothing more to discuss with you!
Being pushed outside the room, the only thing that Could have time to feel was the smell of the wooden door and the noise of it slamming right "in your face". The same walks to his room, takes his old backpack, smelling that it has not been washed since the day of his purchase and starts walking towards the stairs to go down, At that moment the only thing he wanted was to get out of that house .
But to his terrible surprise, Raul Version was coming up the stairs, he stopped at that exact moment, gently holding that agitated young boy by the shoulders:
-Son, it's good to see you.. dinner is ready Elaine made a wonderful roast pork shank shall we have dinner?
With purest contempt and hatred The Teenager exclaims towards his patient father:
-I? Something this snake prepared? I'm fine! Of poison, that's enough what she must have given my mother!
Enraged, Raul counters with Could's lines while the boy goes down the stairs with quick, heavy steps:
-NEVER SPEAK SUCH A BLASPHEMY AGAIN! I'm trying my best to be nice to you, patient and all I've gotten in return is your rudeness, Your mother would be disgusted and scornful of you!
Could, he was already reaching the door, he stopped his steps He just stopped... swallowing hard, breathing fast, his veins were pulsing in his hands and face, controlling his anger, with an air of sarcasm and contempt he replies:
-Next... your wife is brand new, go there and make another child, who knows now your dream won't come true and a girl will come?
Without giving Raul a chance to answer, his son advances and opens the door and runs outside, leaving it open.
After running a little, the boy took quick steps towards Jenny's house, a very beautiful tall girl with an athletic body, green eyes, curly dark brown hair with blonde highlights, the two have known each other since childhood, there was always a feeling in the air, It's a dating or not dating thing, Could is in love with her and the girl gives all signs of being in love with him too, but he never had the courage to confess his feelings:
"I even remember that time at the school party, Jenny came close to me, touched her fingers and my hair and asked if she could give me a little kiss, silly and slow as I am, I thought it was the white grated coconut candy and I hate coconut, so I refused, at the same time she made a face of disappointment, nowadays I know, that she wanted to give a "kiss" on my mouth, but today it doesn't pass! I'm going to go to her house, I'm going to say everything I feel and we're going to kiss, and this time I really kiss and not coconut candy."
Passing by two bakeries, a small market that was under renovation, after a long walk he arrives at his destination, her house is on a corner, between two asphalted avenues, on a dirt street, typical of some types of neighborhoods in their city.
At the gate Could takes a deep breath, anxious excited, starts pressing the bell, starts clapping his hands he thinks:
"It doesn't matter if her parents are here, they adore me, even her mother once said that I'm a cute boy and a son-in-law's dream, what if I'm a "little angel".
After a lot of pressing the bell and no one comes to the gate, he starts clapping and knocking on the gate.
"Is there no one here?"
Close to giving up, a beautiful female voice, thin and pleasant to the ears, responds:
- It's gone!!!!
So she starts to come, her leaving through the back entrance of her house, which is huge, has a rustic garage that connects to the gate, arriving at the gate Jenny, the boy's young passion, is amazed and widens her eyes when she sees Could, in the position of suitor at the gate, her hair was messed up, her lipstick was smudged leading The boy to speak:
-Were you eating Jennyzinha ice cream? Because your lipstick is smudged...
She answers him:
-Hi Coul.. and then tell me... what are you doing here? lol you kind of came unannounced...
Taking another deep breath, his light brown eyes sparkling, Could smiles in a shaky voice that was struggling to sound confident:
-Aren't you going to invite me in? You always call me in...
With a completely uncomfortable face, Jenny starts to stutter pointing with her thumb inside the house, opens the gate and replies:
-Ah, uh, entering is.. in ca.. here.. here.. at home, right? Yes yes of course right, come in, come in... hih.
Could was holding the handle on one side of his backpack as he walked inside, despite his nervousness, he became even calmer, as he realized that his suitor was also very nervous.
After walking they arrive at the porch that has chairs leaning against the wall, where Could sits, Jenny continues standing with her arms crossed, trying to disguise a nervousness she says:
-Then to what do I owe the honor of your visit? Let me guess, for you to come out of nowhere you and Uncle Raul fought..
Uncle Raul is the affectionate way the girl calls Could's father, after all the two practically grew up together.
When the boy would answer the question, he hears a noise coming from inside the house, pointing there he asks:
- Is your father here?
-No! No it's not
-And that noise?
-Must be the cat
- You don't have a cat.
Surprisingly, a tall man appears, with a shaved head, a big beard, strong and striking muscles, who came from inside the house, he came in a towel exclaiming something:
-Hey love, I couldn't find my toothbrush so I used yours and...
DISGUSTING!
exclaims Could, in a loud voice automatically.
In response to this exclamation, the Unknown Man hugs Jenny from behind, who is extremely embarrassed and says:
- Hey love who's the little boy? Is it some cousin of yours?
Standing up with a look of indignation, Could replies:
-Little cousin?
Jenny interferes calming the mood:
-Guys, let's take it easy lol, love this is Coulder, he's my best childhood friend, he's like a little brother to me... he came to see me by surprise, but he's already leaving, right baby?
Those words were like a punch in the stomach of the young man in love, now young with a broken heart, the girl he loved, who always gave him every chance to be together was with another, once again in his life, people had overcome him and his lack of attitude made him lose the one he considered to be the love of his life, with an empty and sad look, he started walking towards the gate without saying anything at all, leaving the confused "two lovebirds" behind.
About to open the gate, Jenny catches up with Could, she holds him by the left shoulder with her soft hand, which now exudes the smell of cheap male perfume.
-Hey Coull.. look at me... I... didn't mean to hurt you..
- It's okay, you already hurt me..
Gesturing her arms she replies:
-Look... with all due respect, but we've known each other for years! Years! And you never took the initiative for anything! You never tried anything, I was always here all silly giving you morals, inventing the most idiotic lines and you living in your world disconnected from Japanese cartoons and football.
-That's right, but now I'm here.
-Okay.. you're here and that's why I should now throw myself at your feet? You've never had attitude before!
-Okay I'm having it now!
Could took Jenny by the hands the same at that moment was surprised but loved the initiative he finally had panting she said to him:
-And what will you do?
Taking a deep breath, the young man closes his eyes and tilts his head, she closes her eyes too and then he says:
-Wants to date me?
Jenny widens her eyes, lets go of Could's hands and yells at him:
-Dude, what crazy world do you live in? We've never kissed, never done anything and you already want to date me? Me huh you're crazy! Get out of here man seriously SOME!
She turns her back, enters the property's garage and closes the gate angrily. Even more confused and sad than when she left, Could starts walking, thinking:
-"Damn it, I do everything wrong! "wants to date me?" what a stupid nerd I am! Damn it in my head I must only be in an American movie, I should have pulled her by the waist and kissed her..but to do what? I was nervous damn it! I have never kissed anyone in my life..."
Leaving the place he starts to walk, with his hands in his pockets and head down, after walking a lot, the tiredness starts to hit, so he arrives at a small square where people use in his city to drink a typical drink called, tereré and sit down and watch the landscape, the boy sits down, I open his backpack, takes a bottle of water, which was already hot after spending so much time in there, takes a sip and exclaims:
-I was at Jenny's house a little while ago, I could have at least asked for ice water... although all the ice water in the house must have been in the body of that "boyfriend of hers, fresh out of a Mexican porn movie...
The young man sat leaning forward, with his legs apart from each other, with both elbows resting on each knee, his left hand holding his right wrist, his head was lowered, with his long straight black hair, touching his arms and hiding all his face the same lamented:
-I can't take it anymore... I can't take it anymore! I lost my mother! My father doesn't like me, my brother hates me, the girl I'm in love with is dating the hottest guy in town, I don't.. I have nothing left.. I'm so tired.. God...
Suddenly, Could starts to feel a warm and humid jet reaching his left leg and dripping, he raises his head, looking down trying to understand what was happening, then he notices something absurd, a dog was urinating on his leg, with a lot of anger Could stand up, swing his leg screaming:
- I LEFT DOG, FUCKIN' I'M COMPLAINING THAT I'M ALONE AND I GET A PISS ON MY LEG TO CONSOLE ME, WHAT A DRUG!
Walking fast, there was a man in a very tall and tattooed muscular moycano, he was the owner of the dog, he notices Could fighting with the dog and gets involved saying:
-What's your brat! Are you yelling at my puppy!?
Without showing the slightest fear, Could looks up at the man and says:
-You should teach your dog good manners!
Getting very close to the boy, the adult man says:
-IT IS ...? what kinds of good manners!?
Smiling full of sarcasm Could faces the man back makes circle gestures with his finger indicated:
-You should teach him to roll for example!
-Then roll!
Shouted the man grabbing Could by the collar of his shirt, lifting him high, shaking him and throwing him to the ground.
At the same time the stranger takes his dog by the collar and walks away.
Due to the impact of being thrown to the ground, Could spit out some grass that got into his mouth, balancing himself after the shameful fall, he says:
Yeah... at least I didn't roll...
Standing up, the boy picks up his backpack from the ground, he didn't know if it was the jolt of falling to the ground or all the events that happened on the same day, but several thoughts started to be born in the boy's head, thoughts especially of asking for forgiveness for his brother. father, brother and maybe even his stepmother for all his recent bad behavior, thunder echoed in the skies that were darkening with heavy clouds from a very heavy rain that was coming, further encouraging the boy to return to his home and so he does, after a long walk, he arrives at his house.
He opens the door with the copy of the keys he has, everything is dark, leading him to speak:
-Hi... is there anyone here? Is the power out, or are you guys, I don't know... preparing a sacrificial ritual for me because of my shit?
At the end of the corridor, there is a dim light from a lit lamp, it is the kitchen of the house, where there is a table and only 3 chairs, Raul was sitting with an angry look, Ash, was sitting at the table, stirring
on her cell phone with a sad look, her stepmother had a distant look and no expression.
Could say:
-Am I about to go through a sort of Game of Thrones trial? If this is game of thrones, why isn't winter coming?
-That's enough!- Raul shouts, interrupting.
-We did everything! Of everything! To help you, we were patient, we called him several times to reality, but your rebellion? Your rebellion has no cure!
Could replies:
- Why are you saying all this? Look, I'm going through a terrible grief at a difficult time!
-The Principal of your school called me!! You failed the year COULD! And don't use your mother's poor departure as an excuse, because I had access to her report card and her grades have been low since she was alive!
-My mother was sick for years, father!
-THIS IS NOT JUSTIFICATION! His older brother Ash, just finished the first semester of law, with excellent grades, a Version! A future family lawyer! You have it all! COULDER! I give you everything but you don't want to be better.
With indignation Could points to the 3 who are sitting there:
-Wait 3 chairs... mine is gone? Got it so daddy bear, what are you gonna do to me? Kill me so I can meet my mom sooner?
Irritated with the provocation Raul gets up shouting:
- I'M SELLING! THAT'S YOU, HOW DISGUSTING HOW DISGUSTING! IT DOESN'T EVEN LOOK LIKE IT'S MY SON.. HOW CAN YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT! IT'S ARRIVED, GET YOUR THINGS! I'VE ALREADY TALKED TO YOUR AUNT, YOU'RE GOING TO THE INTERIOR, YOU'RE GOING TO SPEND A FEW MONTHS THERE, AWAY FROM ANY FRIEND WHO IS MESSING WITH YOUR HEAD, NO INTERNET, NO NOTHING! SEE HOW A REHAB!
Could replies:
-Little friend? I don't have any friends if you want.. man.. this... this just proves.. just proves that you don't know me, just answer me one thing.. this is that woman's thing, right?
At the same time that the boy mentions this, his stepmother sketches an evil, mocking smile, but quickly disguises it. Raul responds at the time:
-Your suitcase is upstairs, the ticket too, the bus leaves in two hours, I left money for Uber too, just grab your things and get out of here!
Trembling with anger and deep sadness, Could wanted to cry, but he just can't, he tightens the strap of his backpack, takes his empty bottle, getting more cold water, starts walking without saying anything turning his back towards the door, taking his father saying:
-Where do you think you're going!? Are you going to run away again?
-No dad... I'm not running away... I'm leaving here, trying to keep the few good memories I've had of you, my brother and this house... until never again.
Before Raul reaches him, his current wife pulls him by the arms saying:
- Love let him go.. he's hot headed, soon he'll be back..
Ash watching the output of Could says:
- I don't know if he comes back... he seems to be very motivated.. Be well brother.
Outside the house, Could leans against the wall, takes a deep breath as if all the air in his lungs had been emptied, starts to walk aimlessly, inside he only thinks of his mother, of our
happy moments he lived with her, the only thing he wanted was a hug from her and cry, but the hug he can no longer have and his eyes don't seem to obey him because they refuse and don't shed a single tear. Getting close to a pizzeria Could remember that he didn't eat, that he's very hungry and doesn't even know where to go, contrary to expectations things get worse, because it starts to rain and rain very hard, quickly the streets were full of water, thunder lit up the skies, cars passed with their windshields drying the windows that quickly got wet again, in addition to everything bad that had already happened in his day it still starts to rain, leaving the boy all soaked, the rain was so hard hitting his face that almost covered his eyes, in a moment of purest hatred, Could stops his steps, right on the edge between the sidewalk and the asphalt, on the curb, with all the air in his lungs he shouts:
-DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS WHY? BECAUSE YOU HATE ME SO MUCH! WHAT ELSE IS MISSING FOR THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE TO DIE?
His eyes closed with his head raised towards the rain distracted the boy who did not notice a loud sound of a car losing control on a curve quickly climbing the curb with absurd speed over the sidewalk running over Could, who is thrown into the air in a height of 2 meters, falling headlong to the ground, the car that ran over him, left in a desperate escape, at that moment Could was lying on the ground, the drops of rain wet his face, cleaning the blood of light impact vacations that were on the skin of his face and scratches on his arms, but the young man did not open his eyes, people who came close to help, at the same time noticed, that behind his head, a lot of blood flowed, so much blood that it painted the asphalt red, without giving time for the rain to clear, Could's soul was at that exact moment saying goodbye to his body and the earth.