My Crazy Walk Home

Tobias 1628 November 1, 2046

I watch as the rain pelts down upon me like arrows from a siege of old, the puddles splash as I step in them, but I find no enjoyment in their sound. The air smells muggy and dead as it enters my lungs. The streets that usually shine are dull as a spoon and gray as wet cement. The walk home I’ve enjoyed so many times alone feels more like a march to the executioner’s block. How could she do that? I wonder, What made her think I’d just accept her confession after what she did? What makes her-. My thought is cut short by a stranger placing their arm in front of me and pulling me back. “Hey, what do you-” I begin to say before a car speeds past the road I was about to cross. It was no more than 40 centimeters in front of me and creates a wave of water from the puddle along the road, soaking me from head to toe.

“Are you okay?” he asks. I stand frozen with fear and shock for a moment and am unable to speak. “I said, are you okay?” the stranger says, shaking me a bit.

“Wha- oh yeah, I’m alright,” I say, snapping out of it. “Thank you very much,” I say, bowing.

“Oh please, no need for that; it would’ve been pretty bad if that ambulance had missed its call because it was taking care of you,” the man says, shaking his hand.

“Ambulance?” I look back down the street where it sped off to, but it was already long gone.

“Oh boy, you must’ve been pretty distracted to have not noticed it. Are you even on the right street?” I take a moment and realize that indeed I was on the wrong street; I’d missed my turn three blocks ago. “Oh boy, exams must’ve really given you a hard time if you’re this turned around.” the stranger jokes.

“Wha- no, it wasn’t exa-”

“Ahh, don’t worry, just get a study group together with your friends on the weekend, you have friends, right? I hope you do. Otherwise, I‘d look really insensitive right now.”

“That’s not rea-”

“If you’re looking for some, there’s a great coffee shop down the road there, always plays nice jazz music, a great place to relax.”

“I don’t actuall-”

“Or If you need a bit of a pick me up, then there’s a shrine nearby you can visit. I always go there when I’m feeling blue.”

“I’m not real-”

“Ahh, whatever it is, I’m sure you’ll get over it. I mean, you’re just a kid how bad cou-” I cut him off this time.

“Who the hell are you to say all this to me? You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’m going through. How can you just say you know what will fix the problem when you don’t even know what the problem is?” He seems off-put by my words and stares at me blankly.

“I’m sorry, I was just trying to help,” he says meekly.

“Yeah, well… You didn’t.” I turn and make my way back to my turn. Who the hell was that guy? Thinking he had all the answers. He doesn’t know a thing about me. Nobody does.

As I turn the corner to my street, a gust of wind blows what little rain remains into my eyes, blinding me. I stood rubbing my eyes before opening them again. Wait, this must be the wrong street, I think. Why would an ambulance be on our street? I look, and there a few houses down, an ambulance is parked. The siren is off, but the flashing lights alert me to its presence. I watch as the paramedics load a stretcher into the back. Hrm, did the old lady down the street fall or something? I wonder. The wind picks up again and blows a piece of trash from behind the ambulance. A bright shade of yellow blinds me. I tear it from my face and throw it down, but it sticks to my hand. I look and see what I thought was plastic is actually cloth. I look more closely and see that it’s a cloth I recognize. Sara-me’s ribbon she always ties her hair with. I hold it in my hands and look at it; I take in the small tears that it’s sustained throughout all the years she’s worn it; I look at the white pattern along the edge. I take in the splotches of red on one of the sides.

“Tobias?” On instinct, I look up to my name being called. I look and see Sora standing where the ambulance had blocked my view before. He sees and runs towards me, splashing in puddles as he sprints. “Tobias! Hey Tobias,” he calls, but I don’t respond. I shove my hands in my jacket pockets and keep walking. Even as he approaches me, I make no sign of acknowledging his presence. I stay my course even as he stops running towards me. “Oh, good thing you’re here. Do you know what happened to Sara? I found the- Hey,” he says as I walk past him, not uttering a word. “Are you listening? I said your sister’s hurt, don’t you care?” He grabs my arm to stop me.

“Don’t call her my sister,” I say with gritted teeth.

“What?”

“That nisemono is no sister of mine.”

“What? Hey, I don’t know what happened, but you don’t have to be like that. She’s actually in really bad shape.”

“Good.” The words spew out of my mouth like venom from a snake’s fangs. Sora lets go of my arm and stare at me in shock.

“What did you say?” he asks.

“You heard me.”The air between us is silent. The tension between us seems to mute the drops of rain. It takes the whooping of the ambulance going by to break us from the trance. Sora moves, first grabbing my collar and staring me down with force eyes.

“What did you do to her?”

“Only what she brought upon herself.” I grab his arm and throw it off of me.

“So you were the one yelling, and you’re the reason she ran from the school.”

“She dug her grave, and now she’s laying in it. I’ve nothing to apo-.” His blow takes me by surprise and knocks me off my feet. I fall into a puddle, and he climbs on top of me, raining hammer fists upon me. “HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT? AFTER EVERYTHING THE THREE OF US HAVE BEEN THROUGH, YOU GET INTO ONE FIGHT WITH HER, AND NOW YOU DON’T CARE IF SHE LIVES OR DIES!” I put my arms up to guard my face as he punches at me. I wait and look for an opening and take it as soon as he slows down. I grab his arm, locking it before using my whole body to leverage a knee into his butt to throw him over me like I’d seen the guys in Guam do. It works, and I manage to get him off of me. He lands on his back, and the two of us scramble to our feet. We’ve fought before but never like this. I can feel the hate behind each of his blows, and I give in equal measure. “You don’t even know what she did! How can you defend her so fervently?”

“She’s my sister, and I’ll do whatever it takes to protect her from anyone, even you.” We continue fighting, blood oozes from my lip, and Sora’s eye swells after I jab him. He elbows me good in my right shoulder, and I get a good hit on his shin. I’ve seen him fight so many times that I seem to know exactly what he’ll do before he does it. I try to use it to my advantage, but he knows all my moves as well as I do. I’m so caught up in the struggle I don’t even notice Asato Ojisan running up to us until he’s forcing us apart.

“Sora, Tobias, what’s gotten into you two? I was expecting you two to be fighting whoever did this, not each other.” After a great struggle, he manages to separate us. He stands there, locking out his arms to force us apart. “Stop it. I’ve one child in the hospital already. I don’t need two more.”

“He did it. He’s the reason Sara’s gonna die.” Asato Ojisan looks at Sora with disgust in his eyes.

“What? Don’t be ridiculous; now get inside. I don’t need you causing any more of a scene.” He grabs Sora and begins to drag him into the house. Sora fights him every step, screaming and reaching out for me with every step. I simply wipe my lip and pick up my things before walking to my house. I’m just about to open my door when I hear one last yell from Sora. “I’LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR HURTING HER. I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN EVER!” he hollers before he’s forced into the house. To hell with both of you then, I think as I slam the door behind me.

I kick off my shoes and throw my bag across the room onto the couch. It tips over and spills onto the floor, but I don’t care. I stand there and pace for a while. I don’t know what to do. I just stomp from one end of the room to the next, ranting as I do so. “He took her side! Without even hearing me.” My rage is palpable as the whole room seems to reverberate with each step I take. “Who needs him anyway. Ever since he started dating Suki-san, he’s been too busy with her to help me with anything. Well, to HELL TO HIM!” I kick my textbook that’d fallen out of my bag. The blunt pain in my foot makes me instantly regret my decision. “Owww,” I yip as I hop on my other foot while the book slides across the room. I slip on the loose papers from my bag and fall back. On instinct, I reach for something, anything to catch my fall, but all I manage to grab at is the bare wall. I fall with a thud against the wall and soon hear the sound of wobbling. I look up and see the nice vase on a shelf is wobbling towards the edge. I’ve just enough time to cover my face as it falls. The crash of porcelain is followed quickly by the clank of metal. I look next to me in amazement. Surrounded by the shards of the vase is a pistol. I look at it in stunned silence for a moment. My father had often said he had guns hidden around the house and to bring them to him if we ever found them, but this was the first time I’d actually found one. I reach out and grasp it in my hand. The metal is cold to the touch and heavier than I’d expect.

“Ahh, so that’s where I hid that one.” I turn to the door where the voice comes from and see my father standing there.