Carvings

Chapter 10 ✪

Brayden was sitting in the car, eagerly awaiting his new home. He sat in the passenger seat, fiddling with his seatbelt beside Bick, who was now whistling a little jingle.

"So what does your house look like?" he asked,  trying to make conversation. Bick looked at him as if he just realised Brayden was there.

"Hm? Oh! The house is quite big, but you can have your own bedroom, don't worry about that." he replied. Brayden nodded and looked out the window. They passed identical houses, semi-detached houses and flats that he'd never noticed before. Bick lived quite far from Elise. He saw an empty secondary school, vacated as it was the weekends. This reminded Brayden of something.

"Bick, now that I'm living with you, does that mean I have to join a new school?" he asked.

"Uhm sorry Brayden, you can't. There's no proof of you existing so I can't use anything to enrol you into school. Do you want to go?"

"Nah, it was just a thought" Brayden said nonchalantly. Inside he was happy, he always hated school and it's not like he was missing out on anything because he used to go to school with Elise, without anyone knowing. Bick drove into a garage and then switched off the engine. "We've arrived at my humble abode!" he sang happily; Brayden got out with a slight playful roll of his eyes at the man's outburst.

"You live here? But it's so small and there aren't any bedrooms!" Brayden cried out in surprise. There was a pile of spare tyres in the corner and so many cans of petrol. Bick chuckled humorously.

"This is the garage!" Bick climbed up some steps and opened a door. "This is my home" he said then walked in. Brayden followed him and a room came into view. He was in a hallway with cream coloured wallpapers. It was decorated with delicate mulberry flowers. Brayden took a right and entered the dining room. The walls had intricate floral designs and were blood red in colour.

There were big paintings hooked on the wall of fruit bowls and women wearing robes. He studied the art with interest and curiosity. He moved to the big dining table. It was made of mahogany and was the length of three classroom tables put together. His hand wandered over the polished wood almost expecting to see his reflection on the perfect surface. He couldn't imagine ever eating - let alone being in a room - with such luxurious looking interior. And yet there he was. He took in his surroundings already getting a feel of the place.

"Why don't you go upstairs and see your room? I got rid of some things in there so you could keep your stuff but it doesn't look like you've got much" Bick stated looking at Brayden's little belongings. Brayden shrugged and followed Bick up the stairs. He pushed open a door leading into his bedroom. The walls were painted royal blue. There was a shelf built on the wall right below a single bed; perfect for neatly stacking his books. Beside the bed was a table with a bedside lamp. He placed his belongings in the drawer of the table. There was a big window opposite his bed. Pulling open the heavy curtain, he nervously peered through. A park was opposite. It brought back old memories of his mum bringing him to the park when he was just a toddler. It was one of the few good memories he possessed from his childhood. He smiled at the memory. Bick stood beside him.

"You can go there once you feel at home." Bick told him.

"I already feel at home." Brayden smiled and unexpectedly turned to face Bick and gave him a big hug. Bick was taken by surprise but hugged Brayden back, ruffling his hair affectionately with a slight chuckle.

"You're very easy to please." he told Brayden. Brayden released Bick from the hug and immediately turned red in embarrassment. Bick just chuckled and left the room but not before telling him that dinner will be ready in half an hour. Once Bick left, Brayden took the time to get used to his new room. He jumped into the bed and sighed as the comfortable mattress engulfed him. He brought out his phone and texted Elise to tell her he arrived and was happy. She didn't reply back so Brayden assumed she was just busy or didn't have her phone nearby.