Chapter 4

Derick was in his room, he just finished the food and thought of taking the plate back to the kitchen. He came out of his room and went downstairs. When he got downstairs, he looked at his mom again and she was fast asleep. And whenever he looked at his mom, thoughts would start to flow into his head, thoughts that he cannot control.

He immediately when to the kitchen, when he got there he put the plate down next to the sink but as he was about to turn around to leave, he realized that he had to wash the plate.

He grabbed the plate and started to wash it with soap. He did the washing quickly because he did not want to waste time, he was already tired. He was done washing the plate so he kept it back and went out of the kitchen.

He then went to the living room where his mother was. He noticed that her blanket was falling off so he went to her and adjusted the blanket well on her. After that he went back upstairs and into his room.

He went to take a shower to freshen up. When he finished, he laid down on his bed and started to think about his day. It did not take too long before he fell asleep.

It was morning and Derick was still sleeping, his alarm had not gone off yet. Then after a while he woken up by a soft touch and to his name. He turned to face up and opened his eye slowly. As he opened it, his mother face started to become clear right in front of him. “Wake up Derick, you have school today, you have to go early.”

He was surprised to his mom in his room, he has been a long while since she came into his room, let alone wake him up.

“Mom… what are you doing here.” David rubbed his eye.

“I came to get you up for school.” She replied with a smile.

Derick finally got himself and at the same time his alarm went off. He turned off the alarm and focus on his mother as he sat up on his bed.

She was still on her nightwear which was completely normal, her hair was still scattered. She had a blanket on, which she was using to cover herself.

“You shouldn’t stress yourself mom.” Derick said.

“It no stress.” She coughs.

“Alright mom, c’mon I’ll take you to your room.” He stood.

He went to her and held her as he led her out of his room.

“No, I don’t want to waste your time with me, you will be late for school and I came here not to make you late.” She said.

“Don’t worry about that mom, I will just take you to your room and then come back to mine and get prepared.

They both left the room with Derick by his mother side, holding her. They got to her room and Derick slowly placed her on the bed. He made sure she was tucked in well before leaving her room. When he left, he already knew that he was going to be late for school, so he went back to his room quickly to prepare fast so that he would not be too late.

He took a shower and brushed his teeth, after that he wore his clothes then took his backpack and went downstairs. He was in such a hurry that he did not even think of eating breakfast, and even if he thought of eating, he would not have eaten because it will take his time.

As he was about to open the door to leave his house, he remembered John, he was already late so he thought that John must have already left for school. But he still decided to check for John at his house.

He opened the door and when he walked out he saw John on his bike in front of his house.

“I was wondering what was keeping you in by this time.” John said.

Derick was relieved, he closed the door to his house and went to his bike, “Sorry about that, my mom woke me up for school today.” Derick said.

John was surprised, “Well that’s unusual, but how did that make you late?” He asked.

“I had to take her back to her room which took a lot of time,” Derick went on his bike and then the both of them started to ride to school. “You know, you should have just gone to school instead now you will just be late with me.” He continued.

“Yeah, I thought of that, but I was just curious to know what was holding you.” John replied.

Before they knew it, they arrived at school. They both went to park their bikes and chain it.

“At least we won’t miss much now that we are here.” John said.

“Yeah, it should be second period now.”

They started to walk into the school, then Celia, her squad and some other group of guys, the same group of guys that bully Derick came out of school. It seemed like they were sneaking out of school. While Derick and John passed the group, Derick and Celia’s eyes met just for a moment.

John notice Derick starring, “I am not even gonna say anything this time about Celia, let’s just get to our class.” John said.

The both went into the school while Celia and the others entered a car and drove off.

Derick knew that he was normal for Celia to skip school, so he did not think too much about seeing her leaving the school. He still did not know why he liked her, he just felt like there was a lot going on with her and he found her interesting.

The school day went by fast and it was all over, Derick was relieved that he and John did not miss much in school today. The both of them were already outside unchaining their bikes.

“So what are your plans now?” John asked Derick.

“Well the food stuffs in my house is almost finished so I will need to buy some from the super market.” Derick replied.

“Alright, I’ll be going back home, I need to cover up some stuff.” John said.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” John said as he rode off with his bike.

Derick stayed there a little while before heading to the supermarket.

Because of his mother’s state, she has not been able to work so since then, their family extended family has been taking care of them financially.

Derick was already at the supermarket, it was a small one and that is why he always went there and it was also close to his house and school. He already had the list of what to get in his head, which was not much since it was only his mother and him that was living together.

He opened the door and walked into the store, and immediately he saw Celia and the others that left with her out of the school. They also saw him because they were at the counter about paying for what they bought and he just entered the store.

He acted like he did not see them and walked to get what he needed from the store. As he was picking out what he wanted, he kept on looking at the exit to know when they will leave but they did not leave. The last thing he wanted was a confrontation with them so he took his time picking the items.

It did not take long before Derick picked everything he wanted because it was not much. But even when he finished, they had not left the store yet. He knew that he would not stay here for long so he accepted it and went to the counter to pay for what he picked.

As he got to the counter, the line was small so it was going to be his turn soon. And luckily for him the group with Celia were leaving the store and he was relieved. They went to the car they came with and dropped their stuff inside it. Derick was surprised he did not see the car when he was coming into the store.

After a short while it was his turn, but the group were still at the car, they did not leave. He was no longer relieved, he kept on asking himself why they were still there outside the store.

His items were ready, it was just left for him to pay for it and he did that. He grabbed his item and starting to walk to the exit of the store. He did not want to encounter the group but at that point it was inevitable so he accepted it.

He left the store and everyone in the group were looking at him. Then two of the boys started to walk towards Derick. Derick knew what could happen so he held himself.

“Well if it isn’t the golden boy.” One of the boys said.

“Isn’t this just getting too old and are you not getting too old for this.” Derick said with a straight face.

“Look whose got mouth now,” The boy said. “You saw us leave the school today, you gonna snitch on us?”

“Yes I did, but that is not of my business, I don’t care about anything you guys do.” Derick said.

Before the boy could say something else, Celia said something from behind, “C’mon guys, we need to go now, we have already wasted so much time here.”