“Hey! Are you okay!?”He stood up, looking behind just in time to see the door slam shut then he looked to the direction where the female voice had come from. A woman likely in her late fourties and a girl, about his age, stood staring at him from the opposite lawn. He bent his head, throwing his hoodie cap over it and then he walked away quickly.*King watched Joan while she stared at him dumbly from the bed where she sat cross-legged while he leaned against her desk. Her head was tilted to the side a little, her lids blinking continuously. He had just finished narrating his tale to her. He had told her everything, everything but the note he found in his pocket and the person who had been trailing him on his way to her home.Her blinking stopped and she straightened, her features going blank.“I…” she started, pushing her braids back. He liked it when she did that.“I don’t know what to say.” She spoke, “You just got yourself in big trouble.” She added, her eyes clouding with w
“You don’t have to.” She told him.“I told you it’s not because I don’t want you to see it.”She stared at him for some time before moving closer to the bed and getting in it. She moved behind him. A gasp escaped her mouth and then she placed a hand on his back. He stiffened.*Joan’s fingers trailed down King’s back. So much bruises. There was the indentation of a fist at the upper part of his back, just on the slope of his back right under his neck. The person must have hit really hard.He suffered too much, too much and yet he was always happy, that cheerfulness in him even when he was angry, hurt or sad was always there. She admired that.If she had to be honest with herself, she would say she admired King, looked up to him. He was always full of surprises, charming her out of her wits. He wasn’t only a best friend to her, he was a brother; sometimes older, sometimes younger; he was a crush, in the sense that she admired him; even a father; when he went all responsible and
"So what could their reason be?" "Uh... To give me the note?""Jack could have easily slipped that into your pocket or locker in school.""To let me know them?""And scare you? Why would they... I'm so confused." she shook her head. "You're not planning on calling that number, are you?" she asked, raising a threatening brow. She knew him, he would be curious. Anyone would. He shook his head, his expression going flat. "What?" she asked concerned. "Jamal."*Andrew watched as Victor entered into the house, his dreads bouncing behind his head.“He’s asleep in the garage.” Victor told him. Asleep meant knocked out.“Are you sure he was following King?” Victor asked, plopping unto a red cushion, his leg going to rest on the long sofa Ken, nicknamed Leprosy and Jack sat.“Yeah.” Leprosy affirmed, “Even King caught on and he tried to lose him. I noticed him right from when King left here. He didn’t look suspicious at first until I saw him enter a black car when King got i
“Uh… my birthday isn’t in another four months.”“Can’t I get gifts for you without it being your birthday?”“Ok.”He turned and walked out of her room. If looks were lasers, his back would have burnt through.“He couldn’t even say a thank you.” She grumbled, flinging a dress she just brought out of her wardrobe haphazardly.“Thank you!” she heard him shout. Her anger dissipated and her lips curled up in response.*“This is weird.” King grumbled, adjusting the collar of his shirt as he and Joan stood awkwardly at the corner of the entrance of the church. He couldn’t deny that she had a good taste in men's clothes, he thought looking down at his trousers. She definitely knew his style.“You’re the one making it awkward.” She whispered.He was about to respond but stopped, chuckling instead when he saw her fiddling with the sleeves of the burgundy gown she wore, she was also nervous. They had come to the Catholic Church closest to her house, St. Thomas Aquinas. The mass had
Despite all that, there was still that small hope, that small light burning somewhere deep in his heart, that little boy in him that longs for the care and acceptance of a big brother, longs to know what it meant to have a family , your own blood.He cleaned the cut, placed the plaster over it and then he cleaned his own. The result of evil, both parties bore the marks. He was glad that whomever it was, whether for evil or for good reasons, had knocked out Jamal. He was sure the person wouldn’t stop him now from what he was about to do. It was time to do things his own way.*Joan paced up and down her room. King hadn’t called yet, he promised he would. She had made sure to get him a new phone and a sim card before he left, she left it in the pocket of his hoodie. He promised he would call. Her two hands went up in her hair and back down and then down her face.What if something bad happened? What if the blue guy caught up with him or the cab man had been fake?It had been two
She quickly pulled her hands away from her mother’s and stood up, walking to the double windows.“Joan, did you hear me?”“Yes.”“Good. If you're already harboring feelings for him, you better kill them now before it’s too late. King needs you in his life, even I have to admit, don’t be selfish. I won’t go back on my words.”She waited until the door clicked shut before she succumbed to the tears.*King stared at his brother as he stared awake. It had been four hours. He was seated across the room from him, they needed the space. Jamal’s eyes went open and he looked around, his look that of puzzlement until his eyes landed in him, they became even more puzzled then they changed to that of fury.“You!” Jamal shouted.King stared at him, unbothered. Jamal made to stand up but fell back into his chair, the clanging of chains filling the room.“You chained me!?”Jamal’s voice boomed throughout the room, the heat of his anger chasing away any coolness the room had. King tried har
He placed kisses on her hair and forehead, muttering soothing words to her. He continued this way until her cries quietened and she finally looked up at him. Big tear filled eyes stared up at him and he stared back, trying to convey his warmth to her through his eyes.She opened her mouth and spoke.“Kiss me.”*He froze, his eyes bulging out of their sockets.“Wha… What?” he stuttered, hoping he had heard wrong but at the same time, his heart beat increased in anticipation.“Kiss me, King.”“Joan…” he cleared his throat, licking his lips, and adjusting his hold on her, “You can’t mean… you can’t be serious.”More tears slipped down her face.“Kiss me King, please.” She begged.“We’ll pretend like this didn’t happen. I didn’t ask you for a kiss.” She spoke, getting up from his lap.He stood up also, perplexed, wanting, in need."What? But you..."She faced him with still teary eyes. "I know. That was a weak moment, I was troubled and I needed some sort of reprieve. It was
Maybe she would get over it, maybe she would move on, maybe it wasn’t anything to her, maybe she would never consider him anything more than a bestfriend, maybe the strange emotion he had seen in her eyes had been fake, maybe the desperation he had heard in her voice was unreal, maybe all she said was true, maybe it was all a cover-up but one thing he knew for sure was that he would never forget, ever.*“You’re staying!?”He groaned, turning over on the bed, trying to get more sleep. This was the best he had slept in a long while, she didn’t understand that. His door banged open and her voice shook the room.“King! You didn’t tell me you were staying!?”He buried his face in his pillow.“King!”The duvet came off him.He let out an exasperated sigh, “Joan, I’m trying to sleep here!”She giggled.“You’re awake already, you spoke to me.” She sang.He grumbled, turning into his back so he could see her while rubbing his still sleepy eyes. A pillow landed on his face.“All thro