Chapter 9. Barely There

One week of school and she hasn’t shown up. No shadow, no messages, no traces of her. Not a peep. Where was Genesis?

Hearing the guys in the library speak about her like that upset me. I couldn’t even bring myself to tell the twins or dad. They might get the wrong impression.

Somewhere inside me was the need to protect Gene, no matter what. It didn’t matter if we haven’t spoken for months. It didn’t matter whatever rumors were circulating. Gene was Gene. She would always be my best friend.

On Monday morning, Spencer and Ester dropped by the house to walk with me to school. We were on speaking terms again. We couldn’t really help it. I guess that’s what it meant to have friends. More than laughing at the same childish jokes and having the same mental issues, they stuck with you like toilet paper on your shoes. Probably not the greatest example though.

“Say, Des,” Spencer said. He licked his finger clean from icing. Bertha’s rolls again. His day wouldn’t be complete without them. “You okay with Papa Jones?”

“Sure. Why?”

“Nothing. Just asking.”

I shrugged my backpack off and pulled the zipper close. Girl’s hand had been poking my neck while we walked.

On my right, Ester turned a page of her book. Her class would have a test on the second week of school. What kind of child abuse was that?

“What Spencer meant to say was, you look like you’ve had a fight with your dad,” she murmured.

I frowned as I shouldered my backpack. Trust her to lay it out there.

“We’ve had a minor disagreement, is all,” I said. “Nothing to be worried about.”

“You sure?” Spencer prodded.

“Yep,” I lied.

Telling them that I’ve had a fight with dad for a week would make them ask questions. Questions that would lead to Genesis. And whatever lead to Genesis lately made us argue with each other. Oh life.

“Okay,” Spencer said. “What about the clubs though? We’re given today and tomorrow to explore our options. Which one of you squids is joining the marching band?”

“No thank you,” Ester said. “The science and literary club has expressed their interest on me.”

“In normal talk, that means the cults are recruiting her,” Spencer explained. We both made small horns on our heads with our fingers and laughed. It never got old. “What about you, Des? What are you joining?”

“Is there something for a potato?”

“I’m pretty sure they didn’t mention it on the bulletin board.”

“I thought so.” I sighed. Being in any club wasn’t something I was looking forward to, but for seniors like us, joining extra-curricular activities was more or less required. “Maybe I’ll check out the drama club or something,” I answered.

Ester’s book snapped close. The study God was finished with her duties. “You hate standing in front of a crowd,” she said. “How can you be in the drama club?”

“It’s a change of pace.”

She stuffed her book inside the bag and shook her head. “You’re coming with me to the literary club. I’ll text you the schedule of the meeting later.”

With my fate decided for the day, I drifted through class like the rest of Bear Creek High. Spencer spent his time doodling on his notebook. At one point, he slid it on my desk to show me what he was up to.

SPENCER’S MASTER PLAN, it said on bold letters. Underneath it was a drawing of a robot. It said on the description that the robot was made of recycled materials and had the tentative name of The Destroyer.

Spencer leaned to me as he collected his notebook. “The Destroyer’s complete name is Body Odor Destroyer,” he whispered. “If you check his arms, you can see that it’s made of spray cans. Inside those are powerful deodorants in liquid form.” He glanced in front to make sure the teacher wasn’t looking, and tapped his ball pen on the sketch. “I’m going to convince Ester to enter it with me on the science fair. If it wins, I’m going to deliver it to Mac’s house. It will change his life.”

“Good luck with that,” I whispered back.

Spencer had nothing but pranks in his head. If the gossip was true that some girls from the cheerleading team had a crush on him, they’d have to accept that a few of his screws were loose. I meant that as a compliment. We weren’t friends for nothing.

At ten o’clock, I got a text message from Ester, saying, ‘The literary club is supposed to meet right now, but I told them to push it at lunch. We’re buying sandwiches. You don’t have to bring anything but yourself. – E.’

At ten-thirty, I got another message from her. ‘Tsk. The head of the club is going to be busy at lunch. We may have to reschedule. I’ll keep you posted.’

It was almost noon when my phone buzzed for the third time. The teacher was browsing through his textbooks, so I invoked the ninja skills I’ve learned from grade school and sneaked a peek at my cell. It was Ester again. ‘The club meeting is after lunch, but DON’T leave your classroom.’

The bell rang.

Students collected their bags, their things, while I tried to figure out Ester’s message. Why wouldn’t I leave the classroom? How would I eat?

I turned to see Spencer reading his own phone, his brows knitted together. He hadn’t stood up from his chair. “Spence?” I said. “Is there something wrong?”

His forehead smoothed as he stared at me. “Nah. I was just reading a text from the guys.”

“From the football team?”

“Yup.” He began to collect his things too. “Brad will be busy, so I’m going to eat with you and Ester.”

“Here?” I looked around. Most of our classmates had left for the cafeteria.

“It will be just like the old times,” he said. “Didn’t we use to enjoy eating inside the classroom a lot? The school didn’t say it’s not allowed anymore.”

“Yeah, but you said you hated missing out on the conversation with the others when we do that. You said it’s too quiet.”

He leaned back on his chair and shrugged. His foot tapped the floor repeatedly. “Like you said, it’s a change of pace.”

Ester was agitated when she entered our classroom. Her hair was ruffled. Her cardigan was wrinkled. On top of the mountain of books on her arms were our lunch.

Spencer and I scurried to help her.

“Are you creating your own library, sis?” Spencer grabbed the top half of the books, together with the food. I took the middle. Ester handled the rest.

“We needed it for the club,” she said, as we went to our desk. “That’s not even a fraction of it. You should see what some of them brought.”

“Put that there,” I instructed to Spencer. Our combined desks weren’t enough. We had to borrow space from our neighbors.

“Thanks,” Ester said. She pulled a chair over and collapsed. “You guys are lifesavers.”

Spencer had abandoned the books and was starting to sniff through the Styrofoam’s. “Is this pizza?” he asked.

“If rice and chicken smells like that, then yes.” Ester took one and handed it to me. “If you want more, I’ll run to the cafeteria for you.”

“That’s sweet of you,” I said. It wasn’t like her to bring us food and run errands. She’d rather have Spencer do that while she studied or did something for the greater good. Ester must have aced the test this morning.

“I don’t feel like we’re eating Chinese,” Spencer said.

“That’s cause we’re not cannibals, Spence. Duh.” I stuck my tongue at him.

He grinned as he opened his Styrofoam. There was some kind of meat in there, rice, and fried noodles smeared with sauce. “What I wanted to say was, it feels like we’re nothing eating Chinese food because there aren’t any chopsticks. Dig?”

“Whatever you say.” I glanced at Ester. Unlike me and her twin, she hasn’t taken a step to eat. “Is the meeting that important to you?” I asked.

She shook herself out of her trance and smiled at me. A second ago she was staring at the window. “You can say that.”

The food didn’t taste as good as I took my first bite. Since when had Ester answered so vaguely?

Spencer saved the hour by telling us more about his project, The Destroyer. He wanted to use recycled materials mainly so he could get Ester’s approval. No Ester, no completed diagram. He could draw it all he wanted on his notebook, but without her input, he couldn’t make it run.

They worked in tandem like Bonnie and Clyde. Or maybe it was Drake and Josh. Mashed potatoes and gravy?

Hold up. Now I was talking about food. They were more like Holmes and Watson. There.

About fifteen minutes before lunch was over, I got the bad case of I-need-water-now-or-I’m-going-to-die syndrome. Ester forgot to buy drinks. She must have been in a hurry.

I dumped the spork in the Styro and closed the lid before standing up. The twins stopped arguing about The Destroyer and stared at me. “Where are you going?” Ester said.

“To the cafeteria. I need water.”

I was getting out of my chair when Spencer grabbed my hand. “Let me get it for you,” he said.

“Will you pee for me after too?”

His hand remained on mine. “No, but I can go with you there. I’ll be outside the washroom. I won’t look.”

I wriggled him off. “Don’t be crazy. Do you know bad it hurts to be slapped on the face by a dozen women? That’s what they’ll do if they see you lurking.”

“I’ll be lurking and they’ll be hating. Is there anything new?”

“Let her go,” Ester said. “It’s almost time for class anyway. It’s going to be alright.”

I stared from one twin to another. Both of them looked seriously back at me. “You guys are making me worried,” I said. “Especially you, Es.”

After receiving an awkward nod from the two, I hastened out of the classroom. What was going on with them? Were they trippin’ with me?

I dumped the Styro’s in the bin and continued to the washroom. My earlier threats to Spencer were empty. Dozens of women weren’t lined outside the cubicles. There was only me.

Drying my hands on a tissue, I continued out the door, then to the hallway that would lead me to the cafeteria. Where was everyone? By this time, they should be heading back to their rooms for the next class.

The caf was still full when I got in. No one looked like they were about to leave yet. There was also an excited chatter that I didn’t care much about to listen to.

I went to the counter to order water. The old lady manning on the shift payed no interest to me as she took the money in exchange for the bottle. I was passing by the football team’s table to go back to the twins when Brad called.

“Hey Mystery.”

I stopped on my tracks but didn’t turn. He got my name wrong.

I started walking again when he made his voice louder. “Hey Mystery. Can’t you hear me?”

I pursed my lips and swiveled. “My name is Destiny, okay?”

Brad scratched his head like the idiot he was. “It was a mix-up,” he said. “Sorry.”

My irritation with him subsided. “Alright. . . Just don’t call me Mystery again. That’s not nice.”

He beamed at me with his perfect teeth and pointed two fingers like a wannabe commercial model. “Gotcha, Destiny. Won’t happen again.” He leaned to his right and draped an arm on the girl he was sitting with. “Where’s Spencer though? I thought he’d like to see his old friend.”

Old friend? What old friend?

I glanced to his companion and almost choked out the food I’ve eaten.

All I saw was her side profile. Her face was turned away. But that was enough to flash back a million memories. Memories that made and destroyed me. Memories that stung as much as it healed.

Suddenly, all the wasted hours weren’t important anymore. All those waiting, and wondering, and withering were distant echoes in my ears. We were separated souls that wandered far away.

Not anymore.

I ran to her and took her by the hand. The startled gasp wasn’t only hers. It was Brad’s too. But no one could do anything as I yanked and tugged, until she was no longer in her seat.

We stumbled and rushed, shooting stars on a dark night. It was in the empty halls that I stopped and panted, and looked at her face fully after such a long time.

The years have been kind to her. There was still softness on her features, but most of them were beginning to shed away for maturity. She’d gotten her mother’s clear skin and pouted lips. She’d gotten her father’s straight nose and commanding presence.

I glanced at her eyes and felt my stomach drop. Where was the amber, my sun? The blue, my sky? Where were my colors, my universe? Why had it become a black hole?

“Why are your eyes black?” was the first thing I said. Instead of asking her how she’d been, instead of asking if she was alright, I was asking her the pettiest question in the world, and I wanted to crawl inside a hole for it.

“They’re contact lenses,” she said.

Even her voice had become lower, huskier. She looked and sounded good.

“Why are you wearing them?”

The two black orbs focused on me. “I don’t want to have this conversation here. I need to go to class.”

The coldness in her voice was hard as steel. It flattened my chest and knocked out the wind from my lungs. I stammered my response. “S-sure. . . When is a good time to talk?”

She glanced at her watch and smoothed her skirt. “Later at the Ruins, after school.”

I smiled at her even if my mouth wanted to do the opposite. She looked like she was in a hurry to get away from me. “Okay,” I said. “I’ll wait for you then.”

Genesis didn’t say anything as she turned around. She just walked out of the hallway without so much as a goodbye.

Leaves were blowing on my favorite spot when I got to the Ruins. The twins didn’t want to come although I invited them. It was their loss, not mine, but it was unsettling to see them exchange glances like what worried parents do for their child. I felt like that child.

I placed my backpack on the stone steps and opened the zipper. Boy and Girl were their usual smiling selves as I settled them on the steps. “Mommy’s here,” I said. “Are you excited for daddy?”

The puppets fell on their backs.

“I’m excited too.” I leaned back on the stone to gaze at the sky. My heartbeat had been fluctuating all day. I couldn’t concentrate on anything.

“Is it bad that I’m also scared?” I whispered to the wind. “What will I say? She looked different. She talked different.”

I closed my eyes and took a breath. I wanted to drink her in. I wanted to meet her again. I wanted to meet myself meeting her. Did that make sense?

An hour of waiting passed. Then another. The sun had already set on the horizon, and I had to open the flashlight I’ve always kept for emergencies to see. The trees looked bigger and scarier at this hour. What was an ordinary story was quickly becoming a horror plot.

I kept myself busy by stretching Boy and Girl’s strings and making them dance. After that, I did my homework. Brutal punishment, I tell you.

The hours willed away like petals falling from a rose, and by nine o’clock, my stomach was aching. “Where are you, Gene?” I murmured to myself. Dad would be getting worried by now. My cellphone died before I told him where I was.

I pointed my flashlight to the trees. Did something move?

“Gene?” I called. “Is that you?”

I stood and squinted my eyes, feeling the rush of excitement sweep on me. She didn’t abandon me after all. She was just waiting for the right moment to come.

Before long, a shadowy figure appeared between the trees. I scurried down to meet her half-way. “I’m so glad you came,” I said. The light bobbed up and down. “I’m so glad to see you again I. . .”

A man emerged from the shadows and stepped into the light. He was tall, dark, and bald. He was wearing a suit too. “I’m Dindo,” he said. “I’m Genesis’ personal guard.”

I lowered the flashlight. It was blinding both of us. “Where is she?”

“She’s back at the mansion. Genesis wanted me to tell you to go home. Go home, Destiny. She’s not coming.”