Keeping a Promise

Three days later was the funeral. The rain poured down heavily as the mourners flooded the funeral home in a sea of black. The funeral home was void of religious symbols and pagan traditions. Besides the caskets, chairs, and tables, the room was empty.

The ceremony was silent and ended quickly. Damian’s baseball team all huddled around their handicapped teammate, giving him support and wishing him well wishes. After they left, Chloe walked up behind Damian and wrapped her arms around his head.

Alexa’s support group was composed of some of her friends and their parents. They all took turns giving her hugs and well wishes.

“I’m sorry Mark,” Naomi said softly as she gave her partner a long and caring hug.

“Thank you so much for coming Naomi,” Mark replied quietly, suppressing the urge to cry on her shoulders.

“You’ve done so much for me. This was the least I could do,” she said to him as she rubbed his shoulders. “If you ever need to talk, you can always reach out to me.”

Mark nodded quietly as Mai reached a hand up to grab onto his arm.

Naomi took a step back and waved towards the two of them as she left the funeral home.

“We need to leave soon. Is there anything you would like to say?” Mai asked softly as she looked up towards Mark who had been silent other than the brief conversation he had with Naomi.

Mark nodded softly and walked over to the closed coffins where his parents were laid to rest. He took a deep breath and looked down towards them.

“Mom…Dad…” Mark started slowly, biting down on his emotions as much as he could.

As Mark struggled with his words, Mai slowly reached her arm up and rubbed his shoulder gently.

Alexa, Damian, and Chloe finished talking with the others in the ceremony and were the only other three people left along with Mai and Mark. The room’s silence was interrupted by Mark’s next set of words.

“I wish I spent more time with you. I shouldn’t have been so dumb and selfish. I shouldn’t have asked you to come watch me,” Mark began softly as he clutched his hands together.

As Damian tried to wheel over to interject, Chloe held his wheelchair to prevent him from interrupting her brother.

“Let him talk. Even if you don’t agree with what he says, Mark deserves to get it off of his chest,” Chloe whispered to the emotional wreck that Damian had exhibited.

Damian complied with Chloe’s command, and she wrapped her arms around him again.

“I promise I’ll keep Damian and Alexa safe. I will do everything I can to put them and their needs above my own,” Mark stated as he felt tears welling up in his eyes.

As Mai brought her arm down to rub Mark’s arm, Alexa walked over to Mark and buried herself into him with a strong hug.

“Mom, I know that you wanted to start saving money so Alexa can go to university in the future. I’ll make sure she has the opportunity to go,” Mark began. “And Dad, I’ll always protect those I care about,” he continued as he remembered the lecture that he got for almost dropping Chloe on the roof. “I will always be there for them.”

“Mark,” Alexa let out in tears as her eyes flooded with the emotions of a scared little girl.

Mark brought his arms around his sister tightly and began to weep with her.

“I wish we got to spend more time together…Why did this have to happen?” Mark finished as he started breaking down in a struggled cry, unable to hold back his tears anymore.

“Mark, I know I made a lot of jokes before, but you are strong. Stronger than I could ever be. You kept your composure around Alexa and I, all the way until the end,” Damian thought as he wiped his eyes of the new tears that had streamed down.

Damian wheeled himself over to his siblings slowly, and the three of them embraced in a sad, tender hug. While they embraced, Chloe and Mai took a step away from them to give them their space.

“Thank you for your help, Mai. I think Mark will be okay now. You won’t have to watch over him for me anymore,” Chloe said softly as she gave her friend a nice and friendly hug.

“Thank you for introducing me to a new friend,” Mai replied quietly as she shook her head slowly. “I just wish there were better circumstances,” she continued.

“Me too,” Chloe whispered back as a tear left her eye.

The Reyes’ siblings finished their long, somber hug, and faced towards the coffins one last time.

“Thank you for everything you’ve ever given me, Mom and Dad. I’ll try and make you proud,” Damian thought to himself as the words struggled to leave his mouth.

“I knew you were gone…I just didn’t want to believe it. What do I do now?” Alexa thought weakly.

Mark turned towards his younger siblings and let out a heavy sigh. His shoulders were tensed up, betraying the strong demeanor he was hoping to achieve.

“It’s time to go. We should let them rest,” Mark informed.

Damian and Alexa looked towards their older brother with a wanting to disobey his words, but they realized it was for the best. Even if they wanted to spend more time to mourn and grieve, they knew that they would have to wrap up their goodbyes and farewells.

The five of them then slowly made their way out of the funeral home. The only one to turn their head back was Damian, who was still struggling to fully accept what had happened. The fact that Mark seemed okay with blaming himself for the accident made Damian sad. The fact that Damian knows the truth about what happened made him angry. Not to mention that his body’s state, though temporary, made him furious that he couldn’t even move the way he wanted to.

With one last glimpse of the coffins, Damian balled his fists tightly, digging his fingers into the palms of his hands, and turned towards the outside.

*     *     *

One Week Later…

“Have a great day!” Mark exclaimed to a family as they walked towards the exit of the convenience store.

Mark carefully studied each of their mannerisms. The mother and father were holding their daughter’s hands gently as the father carried the bag of items in his other hand. The mother was smiling cheerfully at her daughter, and the three of them left the store.

“Only a couple more hours to go,” Mark thought exhaustively as he saw a familiar face enter the store.

The figure was walking around sluggishly, as though recently awoken from a drunken stupor. It was the same man that Mark had been feeding for the past few weeks. Only this time, his tattered clothes were even more stained than before.

“H-Hey Mark!” the man bolstered as he slurred his way towards Mark.

“Is everything alright? You seem different,” Mark said softly, trying not to rile the man up.

“I’m great! Thanks to you!” the man replied.

Mark took a deep breath out and looked towards the clock, hoping that maybe the time would start moving faster.

“Hey! What’s wrong?” the man asked as his head bobbled around. He was too drunk to even hold his head up high.

“I’m just tired,” Mark lied to him as he tried to avoid eye contact with him. The strong smell of alcohol started to invade his nose, causing him to glare back at the man.

“Sir, if you’d like some food, I can give you something, but you have to leave soon,” Mark said as he pinched his nose tightly.

“I don’t need food anymore,” the man slurred as he swatted at the air with his hand. “Can I get more money instead?”

“I’m sorry sir, but I don’t have any to give you,” Mark answered somewhat forcefully.

“C’mon! Just grab me some from the thing right there,” the man whined as he reached his hand towards the cash register.

Mark quickly grabbed at the man’s wrist harshly, keeping him away from the register.

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Right now,” he commanded with an intense and furious glare.

As the man opened his mouth to say something, he proceeded to vomit on the counter and floor in front of the counter. The vile smells reeked as liquid shot out from the man’s mouth. A few loose cigarettes fell out from the man’s pockets into the nasty puddle of vomit.

Mark was horrified, only narrowly avoiding getting any of the vomit on his body and clothes. He let go of the man’s wrist, and he slipped on the puddle and fell towards the floor, almost bathing himself in his own puke.

“Please, give me more money?” the man asked weakly. “I need more smokes and drinks. I need to enjoy what I have.”

“You need to leave!” Mark yelled in a fit of rage and confusion. “I can’t believe you spent the money I gave you on things like that!”

The man struggled and stirred until he was on his two feet. He grumbled to himself as he turned around, staring into Mark’s raging eyes and the mess he created himself. The man turned back around and left the store silently in a sluggish walk.

Mark furiously banged the side of the cash register, which caused it to shoot open, sending a small amount of bills and coins to fly out.

After collecting himself, he gathered up the money and placed it back in the register carefully. Once that was done, he began slowly cleaning up the disgusting remains that the man left all over the counter and floor.

Meanwhile, at the Reyes’ residence…

Mai and Alexa were washing their hands in the kitchen. On the counters, there were an assortment of baking sheets, ingredients, towels, flour, milk, eggs, and other things commonly used for baking.

Mai was dressed in casual wear. She was wearing a gentle blue shirt and jean shorts. Alexa had a similar outfit on as well. The only difference being that she was wearing a yellow shirt, and she had an overall over that shirt.

The two of them were looking at their own recipes and helping each other with different aspects of it. As Alexa mixed the different batters, Mai was prepping each of the baking sheets and cake molds.

Some time passed, and the cake was almost finished baking in the oven.

“Thanks for baking with me!” Alexa said cheerfully as she watched Mai check the cake in the oven.

“This was fun,” Mai said softly as a warm smile spread across her face.

“Y’know, red velvet is Mark’s favorite type of cake,” Alexa commented as she leaned on the counter towards Mai. “Is that why you made it?”

Mai nodded with a smile.

“I wanted to keep my promise to him,” Mai answered softly.

“A promise? What’s that about?” Alexa asked as she wore a goofy smile.

“Oh, I promised to bake him a cake. It was for helping me perform when I thought I wouldn’t be able to,” Mai responded kindly.

“Aw, that’s so sweet!” Alexa gushed as she put her hands to her own cheeks.

Just as Alexa gushed over Mai’s kindness, the front door opened slowly.

“Alexa, I’m home,” Damian announced as Chloe wheeled him into the house.

Alexa rushed over to the front door and gave Chloe and her brother a nice and warm hug. A contagious smile made its way on each of their faces. Mai had walked away from the oven and waved shyly at Damian.

“Hey Mai! What are you doing here?” Damian asked as he wheeled himself over to the kitchen.

“She’s making a cake for Mark!” Alexa exclaimed teasingly. “Isn’t it sweet!”

“I’m just keeping my promise to a friend,” Mai said softly as she stood around near the oven.

“Even so, I still think that’s sweet,” Damian said with a warm smile.

Mai saw Damian’s smile and flashed a soft one back. Afterwards, she put on some oven mitts and took out the cake.

“That smells really good,” Chloe commented as she reached the kitchen and saw Mai with the cake.

Mai smiled at Chloe and looked over at the clock. It was almost time for Mark to get out of work.

“Chloe, can you take me home soon? This is supposed to be a surprise,” Mai asked softly as she started to quickly gather the different frostings and icing that lay scattered around.

Chloe looked over at the clock and realized what Mai meant. She put a pep in her step and helped Mai with gathering everything, leaving no trace that Mai was even there.

“Do you think we’ll get to eat any of the cake?” Damian whispered to Alexa as they watched Chloe and Mai scramble to get everything packed up nicely.

“It’s for Mark silly,” Alexa whispered back as she let out a light laugh.

Damian let out a playful pout only to be given a playful pout in return by Alexa.

“Alright, we’ve got to go,” Chloe announced as she quickly gave Alexa a hug and Damian a kiss on his cheek. “Get some rest Dami. You have therapy tomorrow,” she reminded as the two of them rushed out of the house.

Alexa and Damian waved as Chloe and Mai made their hasty exit.

Chloe and Mai shared a quiet ride to Mai’s house. Chloe wanted to say something to break the silence, but Mai was too lost in thought to provide any sort of meaningful response.

“Stay safe Mai,” Chloe said from her car as she watched Mai enter her home with the cake container and all of her frosting and icing tools.

“You too, Chloe,” Mai said back to her before closing the door.

Mai placed everything she was holding onto her bare dining table. The only other thing on the table was the vase containing the roses she got from the performance, the bouquet Mark had made and given to her. Some of the petals had fallen off as well, though Mai had no intention of clearing them.

She silently opened the cake container and began frosting the cake with cream cheese icing. Her movements were smooth and elegant, just as her dance moves were. Once she finished the basic icing, she used a cake pipe to add cream cheese icing along the edge of the cake.

To finish off the cake, she took another cake pipe filled with red frosting, and spelled out a small message:

“For Mark Reyes”

Mai looked down at the cake with a sense of pride and accomplishment. It was finally time for her to make good on her promise. As she went to cover the cake with the container’s top, she stopped herself.

Gazing down at the decoration of the cake, she slowly put the cake cover down on the table again. Mai quickly reached for the pipe that had a small amount of red frosting left in it and added a design onto the cake.

With a soft smile and sigh, she covered the cake with the top of the container and left the cake on the table to bring to work the next day.

“Time to go to sleep,” Mai thought to herself as she headed to her room.

After brushing her teeth and changing into her usual sleepwear, Mai headed towards her desk. She pulled out a small piece of paper, a pen, and an envelope from one of the drawers in her desk.

Taking a deep breath, she began to write a letter:

“To Mark,” it started.

When Mai was almost finished writing her letter, she looked over to the small office garbage can she had under the desk. It was full to the top with crumbled and discarded pieces of paper. This was the first time that the garbage can actually had use for Mai since she rarely sat in her desk chair.

After finishing the last few lines of the letter, she signed her name at the bottom:

“With Care, Mai Sasaki”

Mai looked at the empty envelope and the letter she just finished. It seemed as if she was hesitating whether or not she should place the letter inside of the envelope.

Unsure of what to do, she left the letter next to the envelope on her desk and headed to her bed slowly. With a tired yawn, she grabbed the picture frame of her and her dad and clutched it to her chest.

“Goodnight,” Mai whispered softly as she covered herself with her blanket and drifted off into a calming sleep.