RAIN

Chapter twenty five

Jet stepped out of the shadows, keeping his eyes on his father.

"Why are you here?"

"Your mother called me. She said that you took off and asked me to come find you. We figured that this is where you came."

"You didn't have to follow me here Dad. I think the threat is long gone now."

"You're not well Jet. Your mother is worried about you. You shouldn't be out here while you're recovering from pneumonia."

"I feel a lot better."

"So, you come out here and make your mother worry? You need to start acting a little more responsible young man, do you understand me? You came to this country without your mother and I even knowing. You left the safety of your grandparents' home in the middle of a storm to run off to see an aunt who never even stopped to wonder if you were hurt along the way and that's why you never showed up. You got trapped out here in this wasteland and made your mother worry and fuss until she was sick. You could have died out here. Did you not think? Or have you gone mad? Now you come back out here chasing some person that you dreamt up."

Jet held the box out to him. His lecture came to a screeching halt.

"Look in the box Dad and tell me that he isn't real."

His father looked at the box and then at Jet. The look in his eyes softened.

"Jet, come on, let's go home and we'll figure this out together okay? I'm your father, I want you to be happy. But right now, you need to recover. You have been through enough and I don't want this to ruin your life. Now come on, I promise we'll look for him together.

The chirps and squawks of the birds were relaxing as he walked down the pathway. He stopped to admire the beauty of his surroundings for a fleeting moment, allowing his father some time to catch up to him.

"You need to go to the gym Dad."

"I'll consider it. I'm not as young as you are anymore," he said as he huffed. He held onto the trunk of a tree and doubled over. Jet grinned as he wondered how well the man would have held up if he had to switch places with him that night.

"I have water in my car. Let's get going!"

"Don't get smart with me. You won't always be so skinny."

"Yeh and I hope I don't get as out of shape as you. Besides I take after Mom and look at her."

He shook his head and Jet laughed. His eyes began to wonder about his surroundings. He plucked a leaflet from a coconut tree sapling and started whisking it around like a sword while his father caught his breath.

A crack disturbed the calm of the forest. He zeroed in on the sound, his ears cocked and his breathing shallow. His eyes were quickly scanning the forest. He wished that he could see through the trees. A deer hopped out from some nearby foliage and he puffed a breath of relief.

"It's just a deer," he said with a laugh.

"Thought it was a ghost?" His Dad teased him. He squeezed the tree as he laughed. 

"Haha, real funny."

Another crack pierced the humming silence.

"Let's go, Dad!"

He was beginning to grow nervous. Memories of that night were seldom far away and so was the paranoia.

He started walking and his father trailed behind him. His heavy breathing pursued Jet. The exit was just ahead of them and he hastened his pace to reach it.