Ain't No Mountain High Enough

"Bad"

Arjun didn't come home that evening.

Well after midnight, I could hear Ms. Harlow pacing around in the hall outside my room. She tried to call him, but after the first few times of his phone going straight to voicemail, she stopped trying.

"Ms. Harlow?" I called after my attempts to fall asleep failed.

The door opened a moment later to reveal an exhausted Ms. Harlow. "I'm calling the police," she announced. "I've called him and called him and he won't answer." She paused and gave me a suspicious look. "Unless you know where he went?"

I cringed. "I-I don't know," I said, trying to prop myself up in the bed as Ms. Harlow turned on the light. It took my eyes a moment to adjust. "He told me that he was taking over someone's shift at HEB, and...and not to tell you."

"Then he was lying."

"I figured that, but he wouldn't tell me the truth!" I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. "I'm sorry...I should have said something earlier."

Ms. Harlow ran her hand through her hair and blew out a shaky breath. "It's not your fault. I'm just...worried." She raised her phone. "I'm just going to call the police. They'll-"

I heard the front door open and Ms. Harlow gasped.

"Arjun!" She ran out of my room, and the next thing I knew I heard Arjun apologizing, then the two of them were arguing.

"Why is it so hard for you to pick up the phone?" Ms. Harlow asked, her voice shaking. "You had me worried sick! I was just about to call the police!"

"My phone died, okay?" I heard Arjun say. He sounded so tired. "I'm sorry, it won't happen again."

"Where have you been?"

"Nowhere." There was a pause, then Arjun sighed deeply. "Mom, like I said, it won't happen again. I'm fine, so let's just go to sleep."

"Yeah, it won't happen again!" Ms. Harlow cried. "You're grounded, besides school and work!"

"Mom, I'm not a kid!"

"As long as you're living in this house, you'll follow my rules!"

I raised my eyebrows as Arjun stomped passed my room, then startled at the sound of his bedroom door slamming. Geez, whatever was going on with him, it was changing him for the worst. He was like High School Arjun all over again, and that was not a fun Arjun to be around sometimes.

A moment later, Ms. Harlow told me goodnight, turned off the light, and shut my door. I tried to sleep, but after all that, there was no chance of that. Too much had gone on that day. But I did my best.

The next morning, I had barely gotten a few minutes of sleep. I was sure I looked awful (I did anyway with everything that had been going on), but there was not much I could do about it.

True to Ms. Harlow's words, Arjun could only go to school, and since he didn't have work that day, he came straight home after his classes. I found him playing Resident Evil 4 that afternoon. The bruise on his cheek wasn't as prominent as it had been, but it was still there. He was staring at the TV with the most intense amount of focus I've ever seen on a guy, and it made him look so intimidating I almost left the room.

"What?" he said before I could leave.

I froze. "Um...just wondering what you were doing."

He focused on slaying some freaky looking monsters before speaking again. His eyes never left the TV. "I'm sorry about last night. Didn't mean to drag you into my mess."

"You didn't," I said quickly. "But I wish you would. I want to help with whatever's going on with you. Ever since I came home from the hospital, you haven't been the same. Is it me?"

"No, of course not. It's nothing."

I frowned. It was nothing?! He had been in a fight, was angry all the time, was constantly arguing with his mother and slamming doors. There was something going on! "Arjun," I said flatly. "Don't lie to me."

"It's my business." He finally paused the game and looked at me. "I'm glad that you care, Randall. I appreciate you trying to help, but it's better if I handle everything myself. Okay?"

"Why do you always press me to open up, but you never do?"

"This is different."

"No, not really." I sighed, shaking my head. "You'd...you'd say so if something bad happened, wouldn't you?"

He scoffed. "Yeah? Duh." He turned his game back on and looked away from me. "Please just let me handle my own business. You have enough trouble handling yours."

And the conversation was over whether I liked it or not. Talking to Arjun was like talking to the wall sometimes! Rolling my eyes, I left the living room to go find Ms. Harlow.

Maybe she could figure out what was going on.

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Thanks for reading!

Give "Bad" by Michael Jackson some love!

Peace✌️~ A.J.