ODDS OF LOVE - SEASON 14

Episode 53

" I hate social media," Jamal Duncan muttered as he sat at the window in the room he shared with Lewis Norland.

Lewis was curled up in his single bed , feeling drained and empty after his remote classes , therapy session with Reverend Lynn and the visit with his father and stepfather. " Why ? ," he asked although he couldn't stand it either. Social media especially FireBook seemed so fake to him. Everyone was just obsessed with following counts , likes , talking about themselves and all that but he didn't see any real friendship or interaction. Truthfully he didn't miss his cell phone at all. Or FireBook. He got plenty of calls on the phone in the room from Richie , his parents, Nigel , his grandfather, his Uncle Spencer, his friends. Even Rebecca had called him which made him oddly laugh. He thought she hated him. Of course she didn't like Niles either. It was weird that so many were calling him. Usually he felt invisible in life. Like he didn't count. Now that he was visible again he wanted to be unseen once more. Maybe he should ask Reverend Lynn about feeling like that. Maybe. She was easy to talk to and sometimes after he actually felt better.

Jamal looked over at him with a vacant gaze in his eyes. " Why what? "

" Why do you hate social media? "

Jamal blinked his eyes at Lewis. Then he snapped with irritation," When did I say that? "

Lewis just closed his eyes and kept quiet. Jamal was nice enough but when he got into one of his moods he was hard to deal with. He felt sorry for him really. Getting shot was bad enough but at least it hadn't changed how he thought and sometimes talked and everything. Jamal's mother had visited him , with Dr. Oswell from Barrington for some reason , and she had talked so proudly about how he had been accepted to six schools so far.

( " So what ! ," Jamal snapped tersely at her. " Like.... Like.... I'm gonna..... going to college...... now......" )

Lewis knew about the accident that had happened to Jamal, the same one that put Theodore's boyfriend Alan in a wheelchair like Uncle Spencer, and he knew who caused it. Mama Glory's daughter Dodie. Seeing Jamal like this and having seen Alan in a chair maybe for life made him wonder if they hated Dodie for what she did to them.

Sometimes he hated Diamond for shooting him and then herself. Then he felt guilty for hating her.

Suddenly the door to the room opened and in came Jimmy Klein holding a bag that smelled too good even to Lewis whose appetite came and went.

Lewis watched as Jamal turned from the window to give the tall lean blond boy his first genuine smile of the day.

" Hey ," Jamal said softly.

Jimmy grinned back at him. " Hey back, dude. Got ya a bacon cheeseburger and fries. Jeremiah gave me a little advance on my first paycheck when he knew I was coming to visit you. "

Jamal asked in confusion," Jeremiah? "

Jimmy came to sit on the bed near him and reached out to touch his dark brown face gently. " Your uncle. Remember? His name is Jeremiah. Mine is Jimmy. "

Jamal sighed. " I know that. I do. I'm not stupid. "

Jimmy smiled softly. " Nah. You ain't stupid. You smarter than me for sure. Now let's eat. "

Lewis reclosed his eyes. He missed Richie. He wondered what he was doing now.