Again, if you don't like crying, don't read this, its very sad. There's a small offensive remark in there, so any members of the Jewish community don't take offense, I know, we're all equal. I think its well written though for only a couple hours work.
Enjoy?
***
The bike roared down the main street, the rider weaving through traffic as recklessly as any man running from the police. There were no police, not today. The bike slowed and took a corner, cutting off a minivan , it honked but he paid it no mind. The limit was forty, but it was a Wednesday, it was barely past noon, kids should be in school. Or was it the summer season, were kids at play? The driver pushed it from his mind and ignored his speedometer.
Two streets down the road, the bike slowed and pulled into an unfamiliar drive. The rider stared at the house, he’d waited months to come here, as if he lacked the courage. He’d spent weeks circling the main streets getting a feel for the town again, it’d been a long time.
The helmet was slid into a back compartment and locked, his dark hair matted to his head with sweat. He dismounted and for a long moment stood, the courage taken from him. He heard the familiar sound of tires behind him and a car pulled up beside in the drive. A tall woman stepped out, her sandy hair whipped in the wind, the rider turned to watch her. She took her kids from the back seat, an older boy, no more than six, and a younger girl.
“Can I help you?” She asked smiling, the man wanted to leave.
“Fale?” He said, it was all he could bring himself to say, the last name of his best friend.
“I’m Angela Fale yes, are you looking for Jerry? He should be inside. Come on in.” She tried to lead him but the man had trouble moving, his legs felt heavy, as if unsure the ground he stood on wanted to do nothing more than stand there until it told him otherwise. A long moment later, his heart thudding like a gun in his chest he made forward and smiled politely at the children.
“How do you know my husband? I don’t think he’s ever mentioned you… sorry, I didn’t get your name?” She fumbled with her purse for her house key.
“I’m sorry. My name is Justin, I wouldn’t expect him to speak very much of me.” His voice was low and soft, filled with evident pain he couldn’t control. “Your children are very beautiful, congratulations.” He added shamelessly, giving her a respectful bow.
“Thank you,” Angela said, her fingers found the key and unlocked the door and invited him in. “Jerry! There’s someone here for you!” She called out, Justin stepped into the house and flinched as the door shut behind him.
His ears, so attuned from his years elsewhere, always listening, always paying attention, his paranoia fuelled his fear and he gripped his arm to stop it from shaking. He heard foot steps, terrifying footsteps, they bounded up invisible stairs, two at a time because the legs that carried the body were so long they just had to. He felt something touch his leg, it was the little girl, she looked up at him and smiled. “Hahlo.” She said and reached up her arms, she wanted to be picked up.
“Hello.” Justin’s voice was shaken, he fought back a flood of tears and want to run. He knelt down, the tears tried to push through. “What’s your name?” He cooed twisting his skin through the leather drive suit; it gave him something else to worry.
“Jessica!” She blurted and hid her face in her hands.
The footsteps stopped, a door opened.
Justin stared at the girl with a smile but his mind was elsewhere. He spared a glance at the older boy, his features were remarkable, he was his father, just smaller, like when they were kids, a carbon copy, and it made him want to vomit.
“Who is it?” Justin heard the voice and his gut wrenched like someone had reached inside him. The voice came from around the corner, Angela kissed the hidden man and left to the kitchen, the figure came in and stopped, Justin stood up. “You.”
The need to run was unbearable, his stomach in his throat, it was him. “Hey.” Was all Justin could say in his dry, hoarse throat. He stared at the man before him, covered in paint and ink, a brush gripped idly in one hand, still forgetful. He was still tall, taller than Justin remembered and his hair still short but he was clean shaven.
The entrance hall was silent, the children watched in awe, the room void of energy or sound or movement, as if time had stopped and the men were statues. The children, stiff with anticipation left, Jessica led her brother out, Justin could feel an unnatural intelligence about her. “You’re alive.”
Justin nodded and looked to the floor for something to say, it was no help. He couldn’t find words, a part of him felt as if he’d betrayed everyone, he had the chance-
“Everyone thinks you’re dead.” The voice was stern, Justin couldn’t look up. “We waited for two years, Alex was so devastated he flew to Vietnam and took a boat to Japan to try and find you. We’ve had no contact with you for nine years, where’ve you been?”
“I tried to contact you, I sent tens of letters to everyone, I didn’t eat because the postage cost to much. I didn’t expect a reply, as long as you all knew.” The words were strained Justin half expected his voice to shut off and his throat to close entirely. “I stayed to help rebuild my town, they did more for me than I could give back. There was a blackout for years, you couldn’t believe it.”
“No one got any letters.” The man’s voice softened and he took a step forward, Justin flinched and turned away. “What’s wrong?”
“A lot of things.” Tears were winning a tough battle, his eyes were red so he rubbed his head to loosen the hair from his forehead.
“What happened to Christine? Are you two still together?”
“No, a faulty building saw to that.”
Jerry stood mortified, he could see the reluctant smile on Justin’s face, it certainly was him, trying to laugh off the thought. Justin sniffled back the tears but he hardly cared to hide them any more than to just hang his head. Jerry watched as each pain struck jewel hit the wooden floor and the twisted, half-sob laughs that echoed each of them.
“We survived the wave.” Justin said, his voice temporarily calm. “Thousands of us rushed to high ground, it was terrific, well, more terrifying than terrific, sublime really. I broke two of her fingers just from holding on to her, I felt them snap in my hand as hundreds of people pushed past us.”
Justin breathed shakily for a minute, his mind raced, the images tore at him from the inside like a panther caged and starving. “The water receded quick enough, the funny water, when it pulled out it took hundreds away, the return current, it took many of my friends, it almost took me, watching them wash away with the dead, like a movie, only it was so real, heh, you could see the strings.
“Chris was pregnant with our second child, eight months and a bit, the climb nearly killed her, I carried her and Brianna, our two year old up the mountain, there were no cars, no trams, just thousands of people hoping to god and the emperor that the water didn’t swallow them up.
“It was a brilliant birth. It went so smoothly, I had my son in my arms. I rushed to find medicine, towels, whatever the doctor asked, yeah we found one, well, he found us. Hacked a guy’s arm off then came right over to help us, it was serine, he was going to lose it anyways, the arm.
“I returned…”
Justin’s voice caught and he coughed and tried to laugh but it came out like a death throe. His whole body shook and Jerry could do nothing but stand and watch, his buoyant anger had vaporized, replaced with an unending well of sorrow.
“The apartment had collapsed. They all tried to get out. It was truly something to see, it’d be a real tear jerker in a National Geographic, my newborn baby boy crushed and lifeless under a rock, my wife and the doctor, their arms sticking out of the rubble. I didn’t even hear it that was the strange part! You would think a person would hear a four story apartment come down wouldn’t you?” Justin’s jackal laugh had returned, choked with hears and half-sobs. “It was unreal, I dug through it all, till I could see the bones in my hands. I never found Brianna, a part of me thinks she’s still alive. Another part tells me I just had to uncover that last slab of stone that I couldn’t quite lift or look under.
“It was quite the experience.” Justin nodded, a twisted grin painted on his face, his eyes were wide, blood red and dripping tears. “I don’t know how many people I killed in the dark, but I did! Slaughtered tons of the little yellow bastards, kids and all, I think I was distraught.” Jerry expect a chuckled but there was only silence. “I get the feeling this motherless excuse for a human being isn’t on God’s list of people he needs to watch over. Just between you and me, I really don’t think He likes me.”
“He’s never liked you Justin.” Jerry blurted and regretted it immediately, he was about to say something when Justin cut him off.
“You’re right man. I got to give you credit for remembering, hah. Anyway, I should get going. I just wanted to stop by and say hello, see how you were.” He turned for the door, his shaking hand could hardly grip the knob. “I hate to be a bother but could you open this for me, I seem to be rather upset at the moment.”
Jerry stared at him briefly, then out the window, he saw the motorcycle and furrowed his brow. “You can’t open a door, what makes you think you can ride a motorcycle?”
“It’s two different things Jerry, completely unrelated.”
“Hah, hah. Come in for god sakes, I’m not letting you drive away like this.” He moved to the door and locked it, then ushered him into the kitchen.
The children were at the table, eating some waffles and watching the television. Justin didn’t even remember what day it was, his mind was empty and he felt like a hollow husk, a body without an inside. Jerry seated him and asked, “When’s the last time you ate? We’ll make you something.”
Justin thought for a long moment. Yesterday he had spent the day painting figures, the day before he worked himself to exhaustion, the day before that he’d stood outside a store for four hours. “Four days ago. I think.”
Everyone, even the children looked startled at him, his figure was defined and not starved, his muscles clearly showed through the leather rider suit. “Four days?” Angela gasped and hurried about, the fridge open twenty times before finally setting a big plate of food in front of him. The older boy said: Wow. The younger girl made a face like she had a hunger pain and went back to watching her show. Jerry stood awkwardly, immovable, he’d never put much passed Justin, but this was a stretch, though he hardly doubted the truth in hi words.
“What would you like? Milk, water, juice, lemonade?”
“I would like…” A lot of things, he thought, “juice please, any kind of berry if you have it.” He stared tenderly at the food, it was so strange to see the odd shaped food so mashed together and unruly. Even in the dire times the Japanese took great pains to serve well thought food. This was more than enough, he didn’t think he could finish it, but he made for the fork. It felt surprisingly heavy but he forked the food into his mouth at a slow pace, chewed a lot, the taste was surprising too. He hadn’t eaten food with much taste in over six years, the last time he did it was a small score of wasabi that made him vomit.
He finished the plate after about an hour, he refilled his cup twice and bathroomed once. He sat, sated, and looked at the clean plate and huffed a laugh. “You found yourself a keeper Jer, that was incredible. I wish my wife could’ve cooked like that.”
“You don’t look like the kind of guy to get married, if you don’t mind me saying. But how is she? Must be on business if you haven’t eaten in so long.”
Jerry meant to hush her but Justin laughed and rolled his head back. “My eating has nothing to do with her, I’ve just been too lazy and too Jewish to go out and buy food. I’ve been mainly living off rice and water for the past few months. Cheap, easy to make.”
“Awe, well as long as you’re okay, what does she do.”
“Angela.” Jerry glared at her, he didn’t realize she hadn’t been listening to the story.
“She doesn’t do much.” Justin said solemnly, examining the ceiling. “Hard to do anything when you’re dead I supposed. But that’s life, in an oxymoronic way.”
Angela held her breath and put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry I didn’t realize. When did it happen?”
“About 7 years ago. Jerry’ll fill you in on the whole story. But I got to get going, people to see, graves to destroy, you know how it goes. Thanks a lot for… lunch I guess. It was amazing. I’ll have to take you all out to dinner some time to repay you.” He smiled at them and headed for the entrance.
Jerry bound behind him, unbelieving. “You haven’t changed at all.” He said, half angry and half amazed.
“At what? The fact I can turn my heart on and off to suit my situation? I didn’t come here for pity, I came to say hello. I need to see everyone else, its amazing what a website will tell you about people. Take care man, I’ll see you again soon.”
“You too.” Jerry opened the door and watched him leave, the bike roared to life and he sped off down the street.
