°°° Interrogation °°°
"Hey Mom," Sean slumped into a sofa in the living room, earphones plugged into his phone.
"Sean… "How are you doing?" His mom’s voice came through the speakers.
"I’m great. How are you? How’s work?" He smiled, staring at the ceiling.
"Hey, I called you..." "I'll be the one asking the questions here," Kate replied, sounding stern, before bursting into a round of laughter, making Sean laugh at her inability to pretend.
"How’s the hood?" Sean shuffled into the leather sofa. "Hope no burglar came knocking?"
"Well, one did last night. "He said he needed your help to break a friend out of holding," she replied, successfully pulling off a serious tone. "I told him you’d get back to him when you returned from your current jailbreak in Kentucky."
"Damn ma… "You've been practicing!" Sean laughed. "Your lying skills are getting really good."
"What can I say… "I learned from the best," she chuckled.
"And who’s that?" Sean asked with pride in his voice.
"Who else? "Your father, of course," Kate laughed, knowing what he’d expected to hear.
Sean joined in the laugh, which slowly died down as they both began to think about his father, Kevin.
"So…" Kate cleared her throat, snapping out of her thoughts quickly. "How’s Louisville?"
"The weather is quite nice up here." Quite a nice neighborhood... "Don't you think I have heard any sirens in like, three hours now?" Sean praised the city.
"You know what they say—where the white man dominates, order resonates," Kate said with a tone that made Sean think twice before replying.
"No one says that," he chuckled, still unsure if it was an actual saying.
"I got you, didn’t I?" Kate laughed.
"Yeah," Sean joined in. "You did. "You are getting really good," he praised her.
For some reason, they had decided to become master liars in case they ever got pulled over by the cops. It was a challenge that later became a teacher-student relationship, with Sean being the teacher.
"Well, I just wanted to hear your voice." Gotta get back to work." Kate’s tone was now more reserved.
"I miss you too," Sean replied, knowing what was coming next.
"I hope you won’t be bored alone."
"Yeah..." he stopped and looked out the window. "Jason and Andrew just stepped in... "There is no need to worry."
"Love you."
"Love you more, Mom," he smiled, and she cut the call.
Sean had barely pulled his earphones out when Jason ran in.
"Dude… What the hell was that? this morning… "You, Karen, what, how?" Jason spewed.
"Calm down, jeez," Andrew threw his hands in the air. "Good afternoon, Sean," he said.
"Hey, man," Sean nodded at him. "Lunch is in the fridge. "Putit in the microwave; by the time you have changed out of your uniform, it should be ready," Sean advised the lad, who immediately ran to do as he was told.
"Dude, I asked a question!" Jason shouted.
"More like a dozen questions!" Andrew taunted from the kitchen.
"SHUT UP SHIT FACE!" Jason yelled at his brother.
"Calm down, man," Sean laughed. "I’ll answer you after lunch." Go change."
"Like hell, I will," Jason slumped into the three-seater chair backing the dining space.
"You know he’s older than you, right?" Andrew shouted again from the kitchen, slamming the fridge door shut and taking a foil-wrapped plate to the microwave oven.
"By what, a year?" Jason frowned.
"Still older!" Sean laughed.
"Yeah whatever. You and Karen "Fill me in," Jason leaned forward.
"I ain’t tell you nothing till you shower," Sean smirked and turned on the television.
°°° Behind the Scenes °°° The tweeting of birds up in the trees and the calm winds built an atmosphere of calmness in him. Sean had been jogging since he left the house. In sixty-five minutes, he had visited every route connected to the one Dan had asked him to take. He figured that not only was Jason inconsistent with his runs, he was also a lazy runner. He never spent more than fifteen minutes on any route, going to and fro, at least according to Feet. "Deactivate in-ear instruction," Sean said, sitting under a tree. The electronic voice went silent, and at his command, the sound of 50 Cent’s "I don’t know officer" track ended as well. He opened his bottle of water and drank from it, steadying his breathing pattern. The arm band suddenly beeped, and he looked at the screen. ||Your sugar level needs a boost|| The words kept flashing with an annoying beep. He sighed, as it was at least the fifth time, and the beeping was much louder and the light brighte
°°° Self Sabotage °°° The rest of the day went by quickly. By 6:45 pm, Ann and Dan were both home and were seated at the dining table alongside Jason, Andrew, and Sean. Ann had prepared her mom’s signature black rice with chicken and salad. "So…" Ann started a conversation as the dinner was oddly quiet. "How was school today, boys?" She looked at both Jason and Andrew. Andrew lifted his head up and stared at his brother to know if he should speak and what to say. Seeing that Jason wasn’t going to reply, he spoke up. "School was... well, school was school." "Today was actually tasking." "Huh." "Well, I’m all ears," Ann smiled. "It wasn’t teaching in the academic sense." It’s more of a social thing. "You probably wouldn’t understand," Andrew tried to select his words carefully. "Try me," Ann challenged with a smile. She knew Andrew was trying to keep something from her; she didn’t know why, but she knew that challenging him would get him spewing details. A smug smile slo
°°° Bad Decisions °°° Sean could barely sleep throughout the night. He kept having recurring dreams about the snatching event. Either he was crushed under the wheels of Melvin’s car, sandwiched between Melvin’s car and the store, stabbed to death by the slow one who’d intentionally dropped his pace so as to take him unawares, broken his head, neck, or spinal cord from his double flip stunt, missed the tree and fell endlessly, or the one with the bag shot him dead. The dreams woke him up almost every eighteen minutes into each sleep. He heaved a sigh of surrender and decided to use the opportunity that sleeplessness presented to pack up his things. In a few minutes, he was done. He wore a black hoodie over a white inner shirt. His dark blue jeans looked black in the absence of light, as did his dark brown footwear. He walked to Jason’s bed and took a picture of the napping boy, laughing softly at the funny face he was making in his sleep. He quietly walked o
°°° Grim Truths °°° Sean highlighted the SUV a few seconds after they got back to the house. He grabbed his bag, feeling a bit ashamed of his actions, and walked to the door. "Sean," Dan called out. "Come with me." "There's something you should know," he said, tilting his head in the direction he wanted them to take. "Boys, you too." His smile was calm yet alarming. Jason looked at Sean, who was equally confused. The trio shrugged in unison and walked after Dan. In a minute, they were at the back of the house. They hardly ever came back there, but they made sure it was always neat regardless. "Come on," Dan beckoned on them. The three boys slowly walked to him. He was standing, hands on his waist, staring at a group of garden gnomes that were placed in a circle on the grass with a sleeping beauty toy in a miniature glass coffin. It looked like a Snow White and the Seven Dwarves scene, only there were twelve gnomes. "Hey… "I remember that," Andrew smiled, taking a step
°°° Not so Pleasant Surprise °°° The rest of the morning was peaceful. Andrew threw tantrums after finding out he had to go to school without Jason, whose class would be going on a field trip. Since it held little to no academic value, he decided to sit out the two-day trip. Sean reminded Andrew of the gain and attention he’d enjoy, as most kids would want to know what new heroic saves Sean had made. A smug smile was plastered on Andrew’s face throughout the drive to school, a smile that Sean was sure would last throughout the day in school. It was almost eleven fifty in the morning, ten minutes before Ann would be back from seeing a client. The kitchen was a mess; flour was scattered everywhere. In the pans were the dishes Ann had washed after breakfast, the floors, and the boys—Sean, Jason, and Dan—who had called in sick to work. Sean was supposed to be in charge of taping the baking experience, which soon became a flour fight. They had all covered themselves and
°°° Dinner °°° Lunch was served at 3:30 p.m. A creamy and highly aromatic Mac and cheese dish that Jason and Andrew couldn’t get enough of Sean and Dan, on the other hand, were stuffed from the cake, and Ann had eaten some grilled key lime chicken wings while they cleaned up the kitchen. There were plenty of leftovers. The rest of the day was spent in the living room watching movies. Sean was a bit surprised that the Whites didn’t ask their kids to go to bed as a result of the upcoming exams. In fact, he had been quite perplexed by the fact that they had agreed to his coming at such a time. It was mostly because of the move, but still, they weren’t the least bit concerned about how these past few days would affect their children’s performances in school. Sean concluded that Jason and Andrew were just that smart. He was also smart himself, which is why his mom didn’t really have issues with his trip, but she also trusted him to study while he was in Kentucky. The Whi
°°° Make Up °°° Jason stretched himself awake. He yawned and looked at his alarm clock. His eyes widened as he shot out of bed. The trip he had skipped to spend time with Sean was now over, and he was supposed to be in school twenty minutes ago. Sean, why didn’t you... He paused, realizing that Sean wasn’t in bed. Sean turned around. He shrugged and ran to grab his uniform from his wardrobe. He froze upon opening the double doors. He was confused, not knowing what to attend to. The fact that he was late and couldn’t find his uniform or the fact that Sean’s belongings were gone After about half a minute of pulling himself together, Jason ran out of his room and down the spiral staircase. "Mom! Andy! Dad!" he yelled, running to the dining space. "Sean has..." he froze as Sean walked into the dining room from the kitchen. "Morning sleepy head," Sean nodded at him in passing, taking a seat at the table. Jason was confused, but after a moment, he realized how foolish he loo
°°° Chaotic Welcome °°° Kate was waiting at the airport for Sean’s arrival. Immediately she saw him, she heaved a sigh of relief. "Looks like you were spoiled in Kentucky," she joked as he walked to the car with his bags. "Hey Mom, I missed you too," he chuckled. Kate pulled him in for a hug as he tried to walk past her. He was a few inches taller than she was. She ruffled his tapered fade haircut and took his bag from him. "How was it?" she asked on the drive home. "To be honest, it was much more fun." and a lot more interesting than I thought it would be," Sean replied with a dreamy smile. "What’s with that smile?" Kate asked after a moment of observing him. She knew her son quite well, and she had not seen that smile variation in a while. "What smile?" Sean looked at her a bit confused. "That smile just now... "When you were thinking about... the smile teenagers in the movies have when they fall in love," Kate laughed as he tried to hide it. "What?" Sean couldn’t hel