Collapsed Wings

No Name

I believe I have forgotten to tell you a little bit about myself. Well, I suppose that doesn't really matter because, this book isn't about me.

It's about three brothers who have a story that I want to uncover and read. A story that they are forbidden to tell, yet I wonder if they actually would tell anyone if they could.

I'm not going to tell you what I look like, because for all we know you and I might look the same. We both might have brown, blue, or green eyes. We both might have long or short hair. We both might be brunettes, blondes, or red heads but who cares! Like I said earlier, this book isn't about me.

The only thing you need to know about me, is that I'm a girl named Beverly.

That's all you need to know okay? Period point blank.

Now, back to the purpose of this story...

We all know that I ride a bus to school. Bus 79 to Havencrest High to be exact, and on October 5th Wednesday morning, three brothers hopped onto my bus and to my school for the first time. They were different, because they didn't go sit at the back of the bus were I had expected them to. Though not only this is what made them different. The fact that they whispered to each other the whole ride to school, AND promised one another to never speak about their lives at home, raised my suspicion to whole new level. Did I mention that one of them claimed to not be able to read either?

Of course I didn't approach them abruptly and bombard them with millions of questions, because that may frighten or overwhelm them. I was just gonna wait and see how the day played out.

-----

I had art as my first class of the day, and I was kind of excited to see that one of the brothers was in my class. One of the twins who's name was Jai as a matter of fact.

He was fiddling with his hands, and talking to the teacher. He looked nervous, but yet again the first day of school is always nerve racking for someone.

"Please take your seats everyone. We have a new student today, and I have to see what tables are available to add another person. His name is Jai, and I expect you all to be respectful yes?" Our teacher, Mr. Donovan, said. Everyone mumbled a response, and eventually everyone had taken their seats.

There was only one seat available, and take a wild guess as to where it was.

Yep.....right next to me.

Which I didn't really mind, but at the same time I had no idea what to say to him. Should I even say anything at all?

"Beverly, this is Jai. Be nice, and help him out if he has any questions." My teacher told me as he directed Jai over to the seat next to me.

Jai lowered his backpack to the floor, and then he sat down without making eye contact with me.

"Um hi, I'm Beverly." I said to him, trying to start a conversation. He looked up at me, smiled a small smile, then said,

"I'm Jai."

The smile he gave, made me a little more comfortable. I smiled in return, and then he glanced down at my hands for an odd reason.

"What's that on your wrist?" He asked, and I looked down at my wrists to see what he was talking about.

Oh! I had a feather drawn on my wrist in permanent ink, and I've had it there ever since my brother died a few years ago. It was something really personal, but I didn't mind talking about it.

"It's a feather. My brother died a few years ago, and one of his most favorite things in the world, were feathers for some reason. He loved the idea of feathers making wings, and the fact that wings let you fly. Our mum always told us about the wings on our backs when we were little. The wings that kept us pure and safe. The wings that would let us fly, and accomplish great things one day. The wings that could make us capable of doing whatever we'd like. The wings that came with roots, so that if one day we ever flew away, we could return home if we ever needed to." I said, smiling at the thought of memories of my brother.

"I'm sorry about your brother." He said with saddened eyes, but I reassured him by saying,

"He's happier now."

He stared at me for a while, and then he said something that made my heart crack a little. He said,

"Why didn't we all have wings when we were little? Did some of us do something wrong?"

"Every child has wings. It's a matter of how, and when, their parents teach them how to fly." I told him.

"Can you draw a feather on my wrist?" He asked, holding out his wrist for me to draw on. I smiled at him, pulled out a permanent marker, and then began to draw a feather on his left wrist.

When I was done, he smiled at me and I could've sworn that if I hadn't heard what I did on the bus, then I wouldn't think anything was the matter with his life at all.

Though I knew something was very wrong because, when the attendance sheet was passed around, I wrote my name down easily on it while he simply stared at the paper.

"You're supposed to write your name down." I told him, slightly concerned at the fact that he didn't know what to do with the paper.

"I um...I don't know how to spell my name. Beau usually writes it down for me because, he's the only one out of the three of us who was taught how to read and write before-" He stopped mid-sentence, became wide eyed, and then immediately stopped talking. As if he was forbidden to say more.

"Why didn't he ever teach you how to write your own name?" I asked, not being able to contain my curiosity.

"He's says that I don't really need to know how to spell it." He shrugged.

"Yes you do. It's also important for other people to know how to spell your name too." I told him, though he shook his head and said,

"People don't need to know how to spell my name, because they just need to remember it when I'm gone."

Who would've thought huh? The boy who couldn't spell or read, taught me something more important.

************

Meet Beverly everyone!

I'm so excited for this! Are you?

Ily all!♥︎