Ain't No Mountain High Enough

"Billie Jean"

The next couple weeks had me feeling like I was in some sort of time loop. I stayed in bed for the most part, trying to rest. A few times I got to go outside, or I watched TV in the living room. By the end of the month, I was feeling much better physically. Mentally, I was just tired. And so, so done. But I wanted to pull myself together, so I was going to try.

After I did some digging, I found that Charlotte Henderson lady my doctor told me about and promptly made an appointment. I was scared out of my mind, but it was the best thing I could do. I hoped it was, anyway.

The day before my appointment, I was watching some TV show about these people who got on a plane and got time warped five years into the future. It was interesting, but my attention span broke when Arjun stormed into the house. He slammed the door shut, which gave the picture frames on the wall a jolt. My eyes went wide.

"Arjun, what's-" I could barely get the words out before he pounded his fist into the nearest wall. The resounding bang made me jump. I think we were both surprised when his fist went through the drywall.

"What was that?!" Ms. Harlow's voice came from the kitchen, and that seemed to break whatever mad daze Arjun was in.

He blinked, then turned to me. I raised my eyebrows when I noticed the red mark on his cheek, like someone had slapped him with all of their strength. A bruise was starting to form.

"Geez, man, what happened?" I said. I grabbed the armrests on my wheelchair, and some old, sleeping part of my brain wanted me to get up. But when I tried to push myself up, my brain remembered that I couldn't stand. I sat back in my chair with a defeated sigh, then quickly turned my focus back to Arjun.

"Nothing," he grunted, then he stalked down the hall. Seconds later, I heard a door slam shut, and Ms. Harlow came out of the kitchen with a half-annoyed, half-concerned look on her face.

"That wasn't Arjun, was it?" she asked, glancing down the hall. She rubbed her hands with a small hand towel.

"Yep," I said. I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to imagine what in the world had happened. He was supposed to be at school this time of day. Had he gotten into a fight with someone?

The annoyance on Ms. Harlow's face fled at that, but she heaved a sigh when she spotted the new hole in the wall. "What am I going to do with him," I heard her murmur, and I wondered what she meant. Arjun hadn't had an event like this since we were juniors in high school, when someone had insulted his mother. He was usually so calm and stoic, and now that he was older he had mastered being able to control his fiery temper. Whatever set him off was bad news.

"Well, I'll let him cool off a minute before I go talk to him," Ms. Harlow said. "You can't get anything out of him when he's this angry." She shook her head and returned to the kitchen.

I had learned to stay away from Arjun when he was angry a long time ago, but curiosity got the better of me. I wheeled myself out of the living room, down the hall, and to his room at the back of the house. The picture frames hanging on the wall were all crooked from the door being slammed shut.

"Arjun?" I asked, knocking twice on the door.

"I'm busy!" he called back, his tone not exactly kind.

"Can't you just tell me what happened?" I asked, though when I thought about it, I had never been all that open whenever something bad happened to me. How could I expect him to explain everything?

"I said I'm busy!" Arjun said again.

I huffed a sigh. Well, I couldn't exactly annoy him to death while he was in this mood. The last time someone pestered Arjun while he was angry, they got a black eye. That was a long time ago, but still. And again, I couldn't really expect him to be honest with me when I hadn't been all that honest with him.

I slowly made my way to the kitchen, where Ms. Harlow was putting the finishing touches to dinner. "Were you able to get it out of him?" she asked as she put a lid over a pot.

"No, he's locked himself up in his room. Says he's busy." I shrugged. "I haven't seen him this mad in a while though..."

Something like pain flashed over Ms. Harlow's face, an expression I wasn't used to seeing on her. "I..." She put down the hand towel she had been nervously wringing. "I think he's been to see his father."

"What makes you think that?" I remembered that Arjun had been to see him before. Secretly. Did Ms. Harlow find out about that?

"He lives nearby," she said, leaning against the kitchen counter. "I've always known he did. I wondered if Arjun knew it too, but...just in case he didn't, I never asked. But maybe he did know."

I bit my tongue to keep from spilling Arjun's secret. It wasn't my truth to tell.

"Well...if he's seen him, I suppose that's why he would be angry. His father is...well...he is rather blunt about his feelings, I suppose. A lot like Arjun is. Only Jacob is worse. He doesn't care if he hurts people."

I had only ever heard Ms. Harlow mention Jacob by name once. It was years ago, when a ten-year-old Arjun had asked what his "daddy's" name was. I was nine at the time, but I would never forget the look of steel in her eyes as she said his name, and the pure hatred she was holding back from her tone. To this day, I still didn't know how everything went down with Ms. Harlow and Jacob's relationship, but I didn't want to pry. I also had a feeling Arjun didn't know all the details either.

"So you think Jacob was the one who hit him, then?" I asked, then paled when I realized she hadn't seen his bruise. Her expression went from annoyed to one of pure rage.

"Hit him? What do you mean?"

I stammered, then said. "He had a bruise on his face."

She seemed to process the fact for a moment, then she threw down the hand towel on the counter and stormed out of the kitchen, a woman on a mission.

If anyone could get the truth out of Ajun, it was her.

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Thank you so much for reading!

Listen to "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson!

Peace✌️~ A.J.