Somewhere Only We Know

XXVII - BFF

"What the fuck?" Edward said as I scratched the nape of my neck. "Yeah, I mean, can you believe that kid? Trying to slither his way back into Max's life to 'meet' us?" I continued. See, the issue here is that Edward and Kai might be my best friends, but they don't know me completely. They didn't know I had siblings, so naturally, they don't know about my murderous, pathetic excuse for a father.

"Right, so, that scrawny fella, whoever he is, was allowed by Maxine herself to be bullied by?" He asked, leaning against the wall of the lobby. You could see it in his face that he didn't fully believe what I was saying. But, at this point, I can't do anything but ease into the truth. "Yeah, something in those lines." I continued as I watched his expression shift.

He exhaled before pushing himself off the wall, "Man, I'm not gonna lie, I'd never envision Max as a, forgive me for my words, pushover."

"Right. So if and when you see this kid around her, or really anywhere in town, you'd better give me a ring, yeah?" I responded, lowering my voice as I pulled out my phone from my pocket and opened a picture of Jackson from his old Facebook account. Of course, I chose the worst-looking one. One with him, sticking out his tongue next to a cardboard cut-out of Megan Fox at probably around 15. "Christ, he looks odd," Edward commented as he scrolled past more pictures, only to find one I had never seen before.

"Whoa, is that you?" He asked as he pointed at my younger self with my arm wrapped around Jackson and the other on Maxine. "Hold on, you look a bit tall there already. How old were you?" He continued, however, I didn't hear him. I stood there looking at that picture. Behind us was my father with his back turned to us. I still remember this moment.

December 19, 2008, Hong Kong Disneyland

"Quiet, I've got a call coming in," Dad said, raising his palm as if asking us to stop whatever we were doing. He pulled me aside, holding his phone to his ear. "Go bring the two 'round the games." 

I nodded, already feeling the tension in the air as his voice started rising. Max and Jackson trailed behind me with their usual chatter, unaware of what was pulling my focus away. "Look at Mickey Mouse!" Jackson shouted, pointing toward an animatronic standing by a restaurant at the sidelines. I kept my eyes fixed on Dad, who was pacing with that unmistakable impatience, practically shouting into the phone. By the looks of it, either he's getting fired, getting someone fired, or it's just Mom on the other side of the phone.

The crackle of his voice filled my ears as I guided Max and Jackson toward the fields. Kids were scattered around, warming up or sitting in small groups, but I barely noticed. My mind kept drifting back to the angry tones spitting from Dad's mouth. I wouldn't wanna be the person on the line.

Maxine tugged gently at my sleeve, breaking my gaze. "Jesse, did you hear that? Jackson said that if he scores, he'll give Rapunzel a kiss."

I smiled weakly, forcing myself back into the moment. "Yeah? We'll see if he actually does it."

We watched as Jackson failed miserably, stomping around in anger. "I will not kiss Rapunzel! She's not pretty!" he shouted, grabbing others' attention. On the other hand, Maxine was giggling, her small voice almost making her sound like a muppet. "Go, kiss her! Stupid! She's pretty, ah!" At the time, her accent was still apparent.

I quickly put a finger to my lips and shot Maxine a sharp shush. "Oi, Maxie, don't call people that word, alright? You'll get us in big, big trouble." Maxine shrugged but toned it down, her giggles turning into quiet snickers as we moved closer to the games. 

After a moment, Maxine held out a stick of cotton candy she'd won earlier and handed it to me. "Here, use this," she said with a sly grin.

I took the sticky treat and gently pushed Jackson forward, nudging him toward the Rapunzel cosplayer standing nearby. He took hesitant steps, each one slower than the last. "I don't even want to do this!" He quietly shouted as he glanced at us.