Chit and Jake

Chit

"Jake...are you okay?" I asked in a worried tone. Jake was crying, not in loud dramatic sobs but elegantly with silent tears rolling out of his glazed-over eyes almost seemingly in a steadily paced rhythm. It was rare, maybe seven times, in our entire friendship that have I seen Jake cry, so naturally I was worried. "Jake!" I screamed a desperate whisper as the rhythm of his falling tears sped. "Jacob!" His eyes unglazed the instant that word left my tongue. What once were individual tears now was a constant stream flowing down his face. "Jake..." I said as I pulled him into a tight, comforting hug. "It's gunna be okay bro...It's all gunna be okay. I promise."
Jake stayed unnerving quiet, just as he had the times before when this had happened. It was not the fear of knowing or the fear that he wouldn't tell me which kept me silent. It was my respect for him, my love. I knew, in time, Jake would tell me about it, but only once he was ready. Right now, what he needed was a little space and some time to think. So, simply trying to ignore what had just happened, I begun to work on our English homework. While I tried to answer all twenty questions correctly, Jake continued to sit silently, staring off into an abyss invisible to me. Sometimes he would be out of it for several days after these episodes and incase he was still too out of it tomorrow I wrote down a copy of my answers. As I sat down Jakes copy on his desk, he seemed to come back to reality, even if only for a moment to say,
"Hey...uh it's six already, you wanna stay for dinner then walk home?"
I responded only with a nod, since words would be lost on him, as I reached for my phone on the floor next to my pencil case. I almost texted mum a simple, 'Staying at Jakes for dinner. Be home later.' Then I realised she wasn't at home anyway and I shoved my iPhone in my pocket as we walked out of Jakes room and down the stairs. When we got downstairs the overwhelming scent of spices flooded my nostrils causing me to drool instantaneously. I was conscious of Jakes footsteps falling slowly behind me. A sign that he obviously still had his mind concentrated on something other than the here and now. I know Jake often thought deeply about the concepts of life and other things and was constantly lost in his own thoughts but this was different, brooding almost. Despite his appearance he was the overly creative type, however Jake was way too shy to show anyone his work.
"Boys! Feel like curry?" Sarah asked beaming at us proudly as we entered the kitchen. It was in moments like this I often forgot how she could be, the crueler side of this eccentric woman standing before us. As her gaze fell on Jake, several different emotions flushed across her face, including ones of worry and protectiveness. With a flick of her hair she turned to continue plating dinner. With her back still turned she asked, "Jakey, can you please go out on the deck and set the table?"
"Uh, sure mum." Was all Jake responded with. Once he had left eyesight, Sarah spun with her eyes on me. Studying me from top to toe with an enraged ferocious glare planted firmly on her face.
"What have you done to my son?" She demanded intimidatingly, it was barely a question.
"N-nothing. I s-swear." I replied, stumbling over my words.
"He's been crying, I can tell. He NEVER cries. What have you done to him!? Tell me now! What in Angels name have you done to my son!" The woman who now stood before me, burning holes into my skull ferociously, could not have been the same woman who ten minutes ago was bouncing around cheerfully offering dinner. The silence following her rage was crushing, like a predator studying her prey. "Get out." She broke the silence stonily, and just as if it was glass shattering around me, shards buried themselves deeply, this would not be a moment I forgot. "Get out! And stay away from my son!" She screamed primitively. I jumped back in shock before giving her one last pleading look then turning to leave, muttering a simple, "Yeah, I understand."

The walk home was a lonesome one which I spent trying to decipher what had just happened. What had happened? Sarah had been cruel before but never that bad. Not that obviously either- but I suppose she'd never seen Jake like that, unlike me. Was she really that blind? That oblivious? Why did she still hate me so much after all these years? I thought we were over this, I thought we'd settled to fake smiles and nonsense compliments, for Jakes sake at least. He'd never seen that side of her, of that I was sure, although he didn't like her regardless. Jake didn't like his parents but didn't hate them either. They were just bad at their job, being parents. I was more than just worried for what this would mean for Jake, I was concerned she'd never let me see the one person I needed most in the world, the one person who'd always been there. I was scared, for the first time in my life and most of all...I was hurt.