Glory Be

Chapter Thirty-One

Sydney sat down next to Isaiah and immediately began admiring the man lying next to him. His face looked oddly blissful, more carefree than he had looked in a while. Isaiah's cheeks were dapped with a pink blush. Sydney followed the complex map of birthmarks down to his shirt collar.

"I wasn't purposefully eavesdropping," Isaiah replied, "The walls are thin."

"Yeah sure," Sydney rolled his eyes, "She's a good listener, you know... So, she's easy to talk to."

"I understand," Isaiah said, "Do you want your sandwich?" He swiped his hand down and pulled up the wrapped food. Sydney nodded excitedly and held out his hands.

"Yes please, I'm starving," He announced, already unwrapping the sandwich.

"Me too," Isaiah said, sitting up and unwrapping his own sandwich. The two ate in silence for a few moments. Comfortable and secure. Sydney's mind was wrestling with different avenues of conversation. He hadn't felt the need to fill their conversations with useless pretenses, but he wanted to know more about Isaiah's story.

"Hey Isaiah, have your parents always lived in Red Hawk?" Sydney asked after swallowing a piece of bread.

Isaiah looked surprised before shaking his head.

"No actually, after my Father and mother got married, they started out west. Both to start a new, but also to be missionaries of their faith. I think they arrived in Red Hawk in 1850."

"Well, if that was their mission, they succeed," Sydney chewed his sandwich, "Where were they from? Out East?"

"My Father is, he's from North Carolina, but my mother is from Brazil."

Sydney nearly choked, "Brazil? Really? Why did she immigrate here?"

"I don't really know honestly," Isaiah tilted his head, "Her family came up to North Carolina when she was young. She doesn't remember it well."

"And she doesn't speak Portuguese?" Sydney asked.

Isaiah tilted his head and finished chewing.

"She's never mentioned it; does your dad speak polish?"

"Yeah, he does," Sydney added, "I speak it too you know,"

"You do?" Isaiah gave him a betrayed look, "You've never mentioned that before. Say something to me."

"Yeah, I guess it slipped my mind," Sydney lightly chuckled before thinking of what to say, "Czy byłbyś moją gwiazdą?"

"What does that mean?" Isaiah excitedly asked, his eyes gleaming childishly.

"I can't say," Sydney said.

"What?" Isaiah leaned forward, "Come on, just tell me."

"Looks like someone needs to learn Polish," Sydney snickered.

"What's the point of telling me something, but not telling me what it means," Isaiah muttered while eating the last bite of his sandwich.

"Secrecy," Sydney took the last bite of his sandwich, and waved his hands around.

Isaiah scoffed and playfully shoved Sydney's shoulder.

"Big talk coming from you Sydney," He said, "You always speak your mind."

"Bluntness and secret keeping are two different things."

"Hardly," Isaiah gave a shot of laughter.