Never Too Late

Chapter Eleven

Johan walked down the corridor from his last class for the day before checking his phone and heading to the library. This was his normal routine after classes, studying until his brother was done with baseball practice and his sister with dance. As the hours rolled by he felt a growing sense of loneliness, especially since he was the only person in the library at the moment.

When it was time for him to meet with his brother in the parking lot he decided at the last minute not to because there were things he had left undone that he wanted to take care of right away. When he started walking off in the opposite direction, he ran into Luke, who looked irritated as usual, but he ignored him and continued on his way.

"Where are you going?" Luke called at him annoyed. "I'm ready to leave!"

"Don't wait for me." He told him as he left the parking lot and made his way across the street. Once at the bus stop, he took the bus back to his old town and came off at his foster home. After standing outside for a while, he contemplated visiting his foster siblings, but old memories made it too painful for him, so he continued on his way to his friend's house, the main objective of his journey. Once he was there, he went around to the back as usual, expecting to see Asher, but instead, he was met by a few of his other friends.

"Hey Johan, it's been a while!" His old friend Tony called; he was chatting with his other friend Alex, who looked surprised to see him.

"No way, I thought you were halfway across the world right now!" Alex stood up surprised.

"No, I'm still here," Johan laughed. A bit of nostalgia and familiarity greeted him as he sat with his friends, unlike at school, where there was a new face every day. He didn't need to avoid anyone or try to fit in, here he could relax and be himself. "But I'm surprised you guys are still in town; I thought you two said you were moving on, too. Did something happen?"

"As if anyone could get rid of us!" Alex laughed in his usual lively attitude. "We run these streets."

Nodding, Johan recalled the days when they were all in foster care together and how they left after turning eighteen to do their own thing, but they always came around to stir up mischief, which was the highlights of his days.

"Man, so much has happened since you've been gone!" Continuing on, Alex described all the things he and Tony had been up to and the different side jobs and hustles they'd been a part of.

"So tell me, what have you been doing since you left here?" Tony asked as he took out a cigarette.

"It must be something nice; you look different, and are you wearing a school uniform?" Alex asked perplexed.

"This might sound hard to believe but I've been staying with family," Johan confessed. "I met my folks, turns out they're alive."

"What?" Alex asked surprised.

"You mean they were around all along?" Tony cut in confused.

"Yeah, it's a long story, but I'm doing good right now. Well mostly." Johan wanted to go more into details but decided to leave it for another time because there was a more pressing matter he wanted to deal with. "By the way, where is Asher? Is he here?" Johan asked after realizing that he hadn't seen him the entire time he was there.

"No, he left shortly after you were gone," Tony told him.

"Left? To where?" Johan asked perplexed.

"We don't know, no one has heard from or seen him since," Alex confessed.

Johan recalled trying to contact Asher shortly after meeting his parents but the call went straight to voicemail. He initially thought he had misremembered his number but now he realized that Asher must've gone off for work somewhere.

"Damn, who's taking care of the house since he's been gone?" Johan asked, deeply disappointed that he wasn't able to meet his best friend.

"His cousin, Damian," Tony answered as he took another drag from his cigarette. "He's okay with us hanging out here though."

"I mean, he's gonna come back sooner or later, right? Johan said trying to sound optimistic. He wanted to tell Asher that he had reunited with his parents and thank him for all he'd done for him but there was no telling when that would be.

"Oh, speaking of returning you'd never guess who's back in town." Alex laughed with a glint in his eyes. "Liz."

At the mention of that name, Johan sat upright and stared at him in disbelief; memories flooded back to him as he tried to maintain his composure, but he smiled excitedly.

"Are you sure? When did you see her!?" He asked, trying to hide his interest, but his voice betrayed his emotions.

"I dropped by her place yesterday," Alex smirked. "I can tell you where she's staying but don't tell her you heard it from me."

"No worries," Johan assured him before taking down the information.

"You know, she might be excited to see you. Aren't you two long-time friends, after all?" Tony laughed, but Johan didn't respond. Instead, he put the note he'd written safely in his bag before turning back to his friends.

"Are you guys down for a game of cards?" He suggested as he showed them a deck he pulled out of his bag.

"No problem, but let's play for real unless you're afraid of losing your lunch money!" Alex laughed as he took the deck of cards and shuffled them.

***
Hours later, after playing cards well into the night, Johan walked up the street towards his house exhausted. He hadn't realized how much time had passed but he was sure it was nearly midnight. Luckily, he won most of the games, but in the end, he gave his friends their money back because he knew it was only fair given his current position. Putting everything else that had happened aside, he wondered where Asher had gone and if he had waited for him to leave first before disappearing.

As his house came into view he was surprised to see his parents and siblings standing outside, given how late it was. As soon as his mother glanced up at him she ran and embraced him tearfully.

"Johan! Where were you!?" She asked as she fought back tears. "I-I thought you left us again. I was so worried!"

"What? No, I was out with friends. I just lost track of time." He said, trying to calm her, but his father interrupted him.

"Johan, why weren't you answering your phone!?" He asked, trying to sound angry, but Johan could hear the fear in his voice. "We've been calling you for hours!"

"I put it in my bag at school. I must've died and I didn't notice." Johan confessed as he realized his blunder.

"Johan, we were so worried about you. Mom even tried reporting you missing but twenty-four hours hasn't passed yet. We searched all over town for you and you were out with friends?" Rachel said, joining in, and he realized that she wasn't smiling for once but looked tired and disappointed.

A deep feeling of regret filled his chest as he realized how much he had inconvenienced his family and he lowered his gaze in shame.

Not a moment later Luke came up to him and grabbed him on the shoulder and started cursing at him angrily.

"How could you be so selfish!" He began. "Mom has been crying this whole time and Dad was searching all over for you! You only thought about yourself and didn't care how much you hurt them! How can you be so cruel!"

As he took in what his brother was saying he realized just how badly he'd messed up. When he was in foster care no one cared how late he stayed out except if they needed him to do something. He had grown so accustomed to having his independence and taking care of himself for so long he'd forgotten what it was like for someone to worry about him.

"I'm sorry, I'll do better next time." He knew his apology didn't sound like much but he deeply regretted his actions yet felt a sense of gratefulness knowing that he was thought of and missed when he was gone.

***
~Sorry for the lack of update last week. It's Exam time for me.