Array
(
[text] =>
The two stood up from behind the statue sheepishly and turned to face her. She fixed both of them with a searching gaze.
‘Care to explain what you two are doing here, outside of school premises?’
Samuel gave her an impish grin. ‘Would you believe me if I told you we had permission to come explore the city for geography class?’
Miss Alberta quirked an eyebrow.
‘Right, sorry.’ Samuel looked down sheepishly.
She shook her head. ‘Amateurs, if you’re sneaking out of school you need to remove your school uniforms. They are dead giveaways.’
Jayden gave her a searching look. ‘Are you supposed to be teaching us how to break the rules?
Miss Alberta looked a bit flustered. ‘Oh… yes, right.’ She cleared her throat. ‘Anyway what do you both have to say for yourselves?’
Jayden continued to stare at her curiously. ‘What do you have to say for yourself. If memory serves me correctly, your class with the first years ended two minutes ago. Judging by the state of your glass of wine you have been here for about half an hour.’
Miss Alberta looked a bit caught of guard. ‘Well-‘
‘Oh,’ Jayden cut in with an amused grin. ‘I think your date is finally here.’
They turned to see Coach Asiamah walking up to the table where Miss Alberta had previously sat with a bouquet of lilies in his hands. He looked at the empty table in confusion before pulling a chair and sitting down.
Samuel’s face was a mixture of disgust and horror as he turned back to her. ‘Coach Asiamah? Really? That man is a cruel and sadistic bully. Not to mention a misogynistic pig.’
Miss Alberta gave a short embarrassed laugh. ‘Well, no one is perfect and maybe I could be a good influence on him. He is a real teddy bear when you get to know him, real sweet and erm…. oh shut up. Don’t judge me.’
Samuel looked even more horrified. ‘Oh, I’m judging. A lot.’
Miss Alberta cleared her throat. ‘Doesn’t excuse you from sneaking out of school.’
Samuel winced. ‘Sorry?’
She considered them for a while before sighing. ‘Oh, very well. I suppose we were all young once. Look, right now I’m alone in my office grading papers whiles sipping a cup of hot cocoa. You two are in fourth period taking notes and paying attention to the teacher like the good students you are. I didn’t see you, you didn’t see me.’
Samuel frowned in confusion. ‘What do you-‘
‘I didn’t see you, you didn’t see me,’ Miss Alberta repeated with a blank face looking firmly behind them.
Samuel and Jayden glanced at each other unsurely.
‘Oh what a marvellous statue,’ Miss Alberta muttered to herself, completely ignoring their presence. ‘Such a wonderful depiction of the Graeco-Roman age done in the true style of romantic idealism. I better take a picture for my class.’
‘Thanks, Miss A. You’re the best!’ Samuel threw over his shoulder as he grabbed Jayden’s arm and led them both out of the mall.
Miss Alberta did not respond but there was a twinkle in her eye as she gave them a surreptitious wink.
‘That was a close shave,’ Samuel muttered when they were well away from the mall. ‘Anyway, where should we go next?’
Jayden shrugged. Samuel got distracted by a group of street magicians and he tugged Jayden’s arm to draw his attention.
‘Jay, look! They’re amazing, aren’t they? It looks fun, let’s try it!’
Jayden rolled his eyes and proceeded to drag a reluctant Samuel away. ‘Come on, it’s nothing special. It’s just misdirection and sleight of hand, even I can do it.’
Samuel stopped resisting. ‘Oh really?’ He looked excited now. ‘Lemme see!’
Jayden rolled his eyes and tossed him an empty wallet.
‘Hold on,’ Samuel exclaimed as he inspected the wallet closely. ‘This is mine! How did you… never mind. It’s not magic anyway, it’s just pickpocketing.’
‘Did you see it coming?’
‘Well, no but-‘
‘Did you feel anything?’
‘No, but-‘
‘Were you surprised, astonished, amazed, blown away?’
‘Well, yes but-‘
‘Then it’s magic. Ta-da.’
Samuel huffed. ‘Still pickpocketing.’
‘Same thing, they’re all thieves anyway.’
‘Way to ruin the magic. You always add a delightful sense of cynicism to any situation.’
Jayden smirked. ‘I try my best.’
Samuel shook his head and Jayden’s smirk widened even further. They walked aimlessly for a couple of minutes until they ended up in a park.
Samuel’s face brightened when he saw a flock of doves on the ground, immediately running through them with his arms playfully outstretched. The doves flew up into the air and he laughed loudly when a few came back to land on his head and outstretched arms.
They pecked his hair which tickled him and caused him to break out into giggles. A few more landed on his arms and he proceeded to make funny faces at them, erupting into more giggles.
Jayden stood back and watched him with an expression that could almost be described as fond. He shook his head slightly in an amused manner at the disappointment on Samuel’s face when he suddenly sneezed and startled the birds away.
The disappointment soon disappeared however, and he jogged back to Jayden with a pleased smile on his face. ‘Why didn’t you join in? You should have tried it, they are friendly and so gentle and cuddly.’
‘I don’t think they’ll like me much,’ Jayden responded wryly.
Samuel took one look at him and grabbed his arm, pulling him toward a group of trees where a lone bird bath stood. He pushed Jayden on the ground and left him to talk to a park attendant.
He came back with a packet of bird feed and sat cross-legged by him.
‘Watch,’ he said, opening the packet and pouring the feed into his open palm.
It didn’t take long for the birds to settle on him and begin to eat from his palm. A few landed on his shoulders, their wings tickling his cheeks.
Jayden blinked in surprise when Samuel grabbed his arm and held it open, transferring the feed into his palm.
The birds blinked at him for a moment and it took a while before one hopped hesitantly onto his arm, feeding cautiously. It soon became comfortable and other birds followed suit.
Jayden stared in surprise at the birds on his arm. He held his breath, trying not to scare them off with any sudden movements.
Samuel beamed at him and let out a short laugh. ‘Relax, don’t worry. You won’t scare them off that easily. They are used to you now.’
He picked up a bird from his shoulder and cooed at it, rubbing his nose with its beak. Jayden nodded and slowly let out the breath he was holding. He looked up at Samuel as he continued to play distractedly with the bird with something akin to admiration. He looked so bright, so innocent, so pure. He had a happy smile on his face and his eyes were twinkling with laughter as he continued to coo at the bird, bursting into laughter as another landed on his hand.
Samuel looked up from playing with the birds after a while to see how Jayden was doing. He had scrunched up his face in concentration trying not to scare them off despite what he said. Samuel bit his lips as he tried to find the word to describe him now. He looked so….cute. Unbearably so, with the tight purse of his lips and the concentration in his eyes.
Samuel soon found himself captivated by Jayden’s face. For the first time since he had met him, Jayden looked free. His features seemed lighter, with no burdensome thoughts in his head and his shoulders were more relaxed as if he no longer carried the weight of the world on them. His moody countenance was gone and his usual mask of cold indifference seemed to have slipped off, revealing his emotions. And for the first time in a long while, that emotion was happiness. He was… breath-taking.
Samuel felt his breath catch in his throat and he quickly stood up, startling the birds away. Jayden looked up in surprise and Samuel cleared his throat nervously, banishing the thoughts in his head.
‘I’m hungry, let’s find something to eat.’
Jayden nodded slowly and stood up, brushing his hands on his trousers. ‘What do you have in mind?’
Samuel looked around the park and nodded at the hotdog cart standing behind a row of benches.
‘What about that?’
Jayden glanced in the direction he nodded at and thought about it for a while. ‘We don’t have any money,’ he pointed out finally.
Samuel’s expression fell. ‘Right. Money. Oomph.’
His expression soon lifted however. ‘Hey, I have an idea.’
Jayden glanced at him warily. ‘The last time you said that, I almost twisted an ankle playing grand theft auto reality edition.’
‘Don’t exaggerate,’ Samuel responded absently, still thinking. ‘On second thought, it would be best if you wait here. No offence but your whole, ‘I’ll kill you if you so much as look at me, bad boy vibe’ might ruin the plan.’
‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’
Samuel grinned at him. ‘Wait here, I’ll be right back.’
He left Jayden standing there and made his way toward an old woman who was sitting on a bench with her dog tied up on a leash by her feet.
‘Excuse me, ma’am,’ he said in his best good boy voice. His eyes were big and round as he looked at her. ‘I was wondering if you could help me. My friend and I were walking in the park when we got pickpocketed. Now we’re hungry and we have no way to get home.’
He gave her his best puppy dog look. ‘Please?’
The old woman gushed. ‘What a sweet and charming, young man. So polite and good-looking too. Of course, I’ll help you.’
‘Thank you!’ Samuel beamed, reaching down to pet her dog who wagged its tail excitedly and turned to allow Samuel to rub its belly.
‘How much do you need?’ the woman asked, opening her purse.
‘Whatever, you can spare ma’am.’
The woman took out a wad of cash and pressed it into his hand. ‘Here take this, I know it’s a bit more than you need but take it. Buy yourself something nice, a special treat from me.’
The woman smiled at him as Samuel took the money gratefully. ‘Thank you so much, ma’am! My friend and I are really grateful. We appreciate it a lot.’
‘Don’t mention it, dear. Bye now, hope you get home safe.’
Samuel turned to wave as he walked away. ‘Bye ma’am, bye cute doggy. Thank you again!’
Jayden looked thoughtful as Samuel approached him triumphantly, holding up the money with a victorious grin.
‘See, I knew it would work.’ He winked at him. ‘Have I impressed you yet?’
Jayden quirked an eyebrow at that. ‘I could have just pickpocketed her you know? It would have been far easier and faster. No need to waste time with unnecessary chitchat.’
Samuel let out a theatrical gasp. ‘Jayden you monster! Pickpocket such a sweet innocent old woman, why I’ve never heard of such a thing!’
Jayden rolled his eyes at his dramatics and led the way to the hotdog van. As they neared the van, the tasty scent wafted out and hit his nostrils, causing his stomach to rumble quietly. Apparently, he was hungry as well.
Samuel paid for their hotdogs and they ate them as they walked around the large beautiful fountain in the centre of the park.
Samuel leaped on its edge and balanced himself as he walked precariously on it. ‘It really is a beautiful day. Imagine, we would have wasted it sitting in class when so much fun was waiting for us.’
He turned his face up to the sun and smiled as its rays kissed his cheeks. ‘Let’s do this again tomorrow.’
Jayden sighed and shook his head as Samuel lost his balance. He caught him and pulled him down before he could fall into the water.
‘Since when did I have to be the responsible one. We can’t skip school for two days in a row, it would raise suspicion.’
‘Sad,’ Samuel responded, tossing the remnants of his meal into the trashcan.
He looked up at the sky and turned to Jayden. ‘It’s getting late. Come on, we have one more place to go before we head back to school.’
They walked out of the park and hailed a taxi.
’42 Crescent Lane.’
The taxi sped off and as the taxi got closer and closer to their destination, Samuel descended more and more into glum moodiness. He stopped talking, the light and brightness had disappeared from his face, and the twinkle in his eyes was gone. He had reverted to the Samuel he had been for the past few days and this caused Jayden to shoot him occasional curious glances.
Something was nagging him at the back of his mind. He had heard that address somewhere before but he just couldn’t place it. The name sent an odd tingling sensation down his spine and he soon found out why.
The taxi stopped, alighting them in front of a set of large double metal gates which opened into a private cemetery. That’s where he had heard the name before. It was Samuel’s family’s ancestral burial grounds.
The taxi pulled away after Samuel had paid the driver. Instead of walking through the double metal gates into the cemetery, Samuel led Jayden to the other side of the road where a cute little florist shop sat.
After buying a bouquet of white roses, he then led Jayden back to the other side of the road. He paused before the gates, taking a deep breath before pushing the gates open and stepping inside.
There were a thousand questions jumping around Jayden’s head but he remained silent. He shot a worried glance at Samuel who was looking more withdrawn and forlorn than ever. He had a sudden desire to put his hand on his shoulder in a gesture of comfort but he resisted. Instead opting to silently follow him down the rows of headstones.
The cemetery was well-kept and clearly looked as if it belonged to a family of high class. The lawn around the gravestones was neatly mown and was the most verdant grass you had ever seen. The white marble of the gravestones was polished and gleamed brightly in the setting sun. The hedges were well-trimmed and the flowers were tastefully manicured.
They walked for a while before Samuel stopped suddenly at a gravestone. His eyes were dark as he looked down the gravestone and Jayden stepped up beside him. He watched as Samuel knelt and placed the flowers on the grave before standing back up again.
They stood in silence for a long time with the only sound being the low rustle of the leaves as the wind moved through the trees.
Jayden squinted down, trying to make out the words engraved on the tombstone.
Alex Jonathan Kwesi Asamoah.
2005-2015
Beloved brother, son, and friend.
The wind whistled quietly through the trees, shaking a few leaves to the ground and blowing Samuel’s hair in his face.
‘He was my younger brother,’ Samuel’s voice was barely above a whisper.
He became silent again and Jayden waited patiently for him to continue.
Samuel took several deep breaths and continued. ‘He was born with autism. It was a heavy blow for my parents. They had developed a new groundbreaking vaccine that could be given to the baby inside the womb and he was the first person to take it. Though the vaccine wasn’t to blame, they couldn’t let it get out, it would undermine their whole career and cause more people to lose confidence in vaccines. So they hid him from the world.’
Samuel’s fists clenched tightly and his voice became terse. ‘They hid him. They tucked him away in the manor like he was an abomination, an embarrassment. They rarely allowed him to go out and when he did he was introduced as our cousin. He was home-schooled by my mother and I helped out. He never had any friends, never even met children his age. My brothers treated him as a freak and my father could hardly bear to look at him. It was only my sister and I that took care of him, who spent time with him, who played with him, and who loved him. We did our best to make him feel special but it was not enough.’
Samuel’s voice choked and his eyes filled with tears.
‘It was not enough.’
[text_hash] => fe3f656f
)