After classes had ended for the day, I made my way onto the school's transport bus. My journey was going to be some distance, I was given permission to use the school bus to get me safely to a residential block sum-twenty minutes away from the school. The block was littered with apartments and small-family sized homes. I had inspected the note of the address handed to me by Principal Greene. 'Apartment 509, the top floor of the apartment complex,' the note said. It was a hot day, we reached a high of thirty degrees Celsius. I could feel my blood boil under the sunshine. I had tied my ginger-brown hair into a ponytail to minimize the intake of the heat in my hair. My palms were glistening with sweat. Then, my phone buzzed as I received a text message. My mother had asked me when she should pick me up at school. For the time being, I ignored the message, and headed into the apartment complex. I approached the main security gate of the complex. A security guard halted me in my tracks.
"Afternoon miss, are you here to visit?" He asked me.
I was prepared. Principal Greene had handed me a spare key card so that I could enter the gate hassle-free. I presented the card to the guard.
"Here for family," I replied.
The guard looked at me suspiciously, eyeing my energy to inspect for any signs of danger.
"I've never seen you here before, miss," He responded.
"Yes, my father gave me a spare card, I'm here to visit him," I lied.
I thought about my fib, I could have spoken the truth and still would have been let in. But the truth was more complicated to explain over the lie. The guard succumbed either way, and let me through with a smile on his face. The journey up the stairs was deathly, climbing four flights of stairs in a killer heatwave was detrimental to my fair skin. But I powered through it. I reached apartment number 509, there was no sign of life from where I stood outside.
"The windows are dirty," I remarked to myself.
The windows were covered with blinds so that one could not see inside, I wondered if they were even there. I took the leap and knocked on the door. I waited, but after a minute no one had opened the door. I knocked again, and again, but no answer.
"Principal Greene said this would happen…" I said out loud.
I looked at the key-card in my hand. It felt wrong to use it, but he said I had to use it if I was not let in.
"This feels extremely wrong of me to do," I said with anxiety.
But I did it. I inserted the card into the lock of the door, and a noise beeped. I placed my hand on the door handle and took a breath. I opened the door and peered inside the apartment. There were mounds of litter everywhere inside. A foul smell caught my nose as well, an acidic taste. I wanted to gag but I knew they could not help their situation. The room was dark, no hints of sunlight crept through the blinds. In the back of the room, near the balcony, I could see a figure sitting at a table. It was too dark to identify them, but I walked closer, taking a careful step.
"Hello?" I asked.
The figure did not reply. I took another step further in the room, walking over discarded bottles and wrapping papers. The floor was filthy, littered with cardboard and boxes. As I neared, I could hear a faint song playing close to the figure. A classical piano accompanied by a violin, a duet group played together. I was listening to my favourite genre of music. As I carefully tread into the living room, I scanned for a light switch to turn the lights on in the dark room.
"I'm just going to turn on the lights, okay?" I stated.
I could see the figure in the background get up from their chair, they walked to the window and opened the blinds to reveal some light.
I could finally see his face.
His hair was dark like coal, his curls run wild, dishevelled. His hair was unkempt and long, it covered his eyes. His skin was bronze-tanned, but seemed fairly pale. I'd assumed him being in the dark for a long period discoloured his complexion. His beard was fully grown, I could tell he'd not shaven in a while. His frame was thin, malnourished. From the looks of it he barely ate a meal a day. I watched him wrap a blanket around his body, and he sat back down in his chair, not uttering a word to me. He did not care for my presence, let alone greet me. He grabbed a pen and continued writing in a notebook before him.
"Hello?" I asked again, "Are you Riad Miller?" I asked.
The boy ignored me, and continued writing. My first impression of him was not that positive. But the boy finished writing something in his book and tore the page out of his notebook. He handed the page to me and I took it from him.
'Yes.' The note said.
"Can't you talk to me like a normal person?" I asked.
He began writing again, and handed me another note.
'I am talking to you right now.' He'd written.
"Care not to greet me? It's rude," I replied.
'You're the one coming into another person's house uninvited.'
"I was waiting outside for ten minutes, you never opened for me."
'So?'
I grew increasingly frustrated, but I remembered what Principal Greene had told me. I took a deep breath.
"I'm here on the request of the Principal. You know, the Principal of our school?" He looked at me as I asked him, I noticed his eyes again.
For some reason he'd made me upset, at the time I did not know why.
"As I said, I'm here on the request of the principle," I began, "You have missed an entire month of school. If you don't attend, then you will be expelled,"
He did not budge, he continued to focus on me.
"I don't know why you haven't attended, but you will have to come to school now. I'm willing to help you catch up on all the missed classes," I lied, I knew exactly why he wasn't going to school.
Riad turned back to his notebook and wrote again. I huffed; he was not going to reply. But I knew that I could force him to talk. I turned to inspect the room full of litter, and an idea popped inside my brain.
"Do you have a trash bag?" I asked him as I searched his kitchen drawers.
There were barely any products inside his shelves, a few odds and ends but nothing more. I found a trash bag and began throwing away all the litter inside the apartment. I did it more for myself, I couldn't stand the sight of litter everywhere. Riad and I continued our business in silent, it took me around thirty minutes to clear the junk just in the living area. I took a peek inside his bedroom, but there were no signs of life in there. No beddings, chairs, books, wall ornaments or paraphernalia, just an empty room.
"Where do you sleep? On the couch?" I asked. To no reply.
An hour had passed when I'd finally cleaned the living room and kitchen, I managed to sweep and mop the floors as well. The blackened floors shone white once again. Riad continued to stay focused on his writing, not moving from his chair the entire time I was there. My exhaustion kicked in as I moved the last of the trash bags outside his apartment.
"I'm going to get myself a drink, okay?" I said to him.
I took a gander inside his fridge for any beverages. There were small bottles of water and tons of ready-to-eat meals inside. 'Someone cannot live like this,' I thought. A boy his age needed nutrients. I inspected the time on my phone, it was approaching six, and I was starting to get hungry.
"Have you eaten today?" I asked him, "I assume not, I will just warm some food for us."
I placed the ready meals in the microwave. When the food was ready, I handed him a bowl of the food, a pasta and mince dish and a bottle of water. I sat myself on the other end of the table opposite him. Riad looked at the food and looked at me. He gave me a note:
'thanks.'
I did not mean to smile, but it just appeared on my face. As we ate, I properly inspected his apartment; there were no signs of life, no paintings or photos on the wall. There was just a couch, a table and tons of reading books. But in the corner of the room, there were two cases sitting side-by-side. I knew them to be violin cases since I played the violin myself. After the silent meal, Riad turned back to his notes and writing. I cleaned the table, then heard a buzz on my phone. A text message from my mother:
'Hey babygirl, I'm on the way back home now,' I jumped. I had completely forgotten to cook for my mom and brother that evening. I messaged her back apologizing, asking her to buy takeout for the night as I was going to be late. I ended the message saying that I would find my way home and she would not have to worry.
'Where are you right now?' My mother sent another message.
'At school, late-night prep for valentines' day.' I fibbed.
Afterwards, I turned to Riad, he was heavily invested in his writings. I would lie if I wasn't curious about what he was working away on. I'd had one more strategy to try and get him to talk to me, I hoped it would work:
"Can I try that?" I asked Riad, pointing to the violins against the wall.
He looked to where I was pointing, but did not give or deny me permission. I took the initiative and unsuited the violin from its case. He watched me as I did so. The strings on the violin were out of tune, I did my best to tune them.
"We have something in common," I said, "I love music too."
I began playing a piece I had been practicing for an upcoming musical eisteddfod. My favourite piece: Ysaÿe's Sonata in A minor. I had been practicing the piece for over two years, but still could not fully get a grip on the breakdown. It was a difficult piece to remember off by heart. But as I played, I could see Riad turn his attention on me. His eyes, once again, kept focus on mine. I could not concentrate on my playing as he did so. My fingers froze and I fumbled on a section that I could usually fly through with ease.
"That's wrong, that should have been Adagio," He finally spoke.
Before I could reply, he got up from his chair, and uncased the second violin. He picked it up, applying rosin to his bow. He glanced at me as he readied himself to play.
"Let me show you," He said.
His voice was deep, gravely, but had an edge of sadness in it. He began the duet of the song, and I accompanied him. Throughout the piece, we switched leads. I never had experienced a duet before, but he complimented my roughness well. As we continued on, I felt time slow down, like we were lost in space, playing such a lonely, dramatic piece together. Like we were the only two people in the universe. We played it first in A minor, then switched to D minor, I could feel my heart race at the switch in tone from the music we made. When we were done, I placed the violin back in its suitcase.
"That was so beautiful." I said, I was in awe.
"Mhm," He muttered.
"Have you played that piece before?" I asked.
"I haven't played it before, I merely followed your lead," He responded.
"But you played it like a professional."
Riad sat down and continued to work in his notebook.
"Do you live alone?" I asked him.
"As you can see, I do." He replied to me, continuing to write.
"Since you do, you should look after yourself more."
"I do. I have the essentials."
"Living on just the bare essentials isn't living. That's just called surviving."
"To each their own."
I looked at the time on my phone again and shocked myself when I looked. It was nearing ten in the evening. I knew my mother was in panic-mechanic mode. She'd left me fifteen missed calls. I needed to make my way home immediately.
"Listen, may I come back tomorrow? Just to play another piece with you?" I asked Riad.
He looked up again at me.
His eyes were alluring.
"If you want to."
"I want to. It's late already, I need to get home."
I readied myself and made my way for the door. I needed to catch the final bus before I had to walk home in the dark of night. But as I was about to greet him, he walked towards me.
"Listen…" He began, "It's dark."
"I know, that's why I'm leaving," I responded.
"I can… drive you home. I have a car."
"You own a car? In high school? At what, seventeen, eighteen years old?"
"I'm nineteen. There's nothing wrong with owning a car at my age," He replied.
I analysed my situation, yes, it was dark, but I could easily get the bus or walk home if necessary. If he were a stranger, I'd have immediately rejected him. But something told me he was offering to drive me as a way of thanking me for cleaning his home.
"I can direct you to my house, then," I agreed to his offer.
The car ride home was silent. He concentrated on the classical music that softly played as we drove. As we reached my house, I left the car and turned to him.
"Thank you, I will see you tomorrow after school," I said to him.
"Mhm," He muttered.
Before I walked away from the car, I asked Riad one last question:
"Will you be there tomorrow, at school?" I asked.
"No," He said abruptly, without hesitation.
I knew he would reject me, but I wanted to try anyway. Riad then turned his car's ignition on, and drove away without another word. I could see my mother peering out the window from inside the house as I approached the door. She opened the door instantly for me.
"Who was he? A friend?" She asked me.
"Good evening, mom." I greeted.
"Friend? Or foe? Demon or Angel?"
"Not a friend, an acquaintance."
"Boyfriend then?"
"Acquaintance mom, nothing more."
"You make me worried; this is your last year of school, I wouldn't want you stuffing it up at the end-goal."
"You are such a panic-mechanic. He's just a school acquaintance, he helped me with homework today. It got late because we couldn't find an answer to a question." I lied.
"Don't forget that you're a Marshe, my daughter."
"How does THAT make sense, mom?"