Castle High

44. Hero Unveiled - II

“…and so I realized that he did all that to uhm – ruin my life. So that’d have no choice than to go away with him.”

A pristine silence echoed in the room, as Jake’s classmates exchanged curious glances with each other. Jake had been coerced by the whole class to share his ordeal with his uncle, and the whole motive behind his whole story. He sat in the middle of the large circle formed by his mates, and he tilted his head from one side to the other from time to time.

“So you can see I’m no hero in all these, like the media is painting me to be. It’s not like they like me, BTW. They are just penning stuff that would make their story sell better, kind-off what my uncle did back at J.C. Bottom-line is, I’m just someone who escaped a deadly plot being planned against him, and made others suffer greatly.”

“No, man you can’t beat yourself up like that.” Andrew disagreed, punching Jake lightly on his right bicep. On Jake’s right sat – Andrew, Joey, Stephen, Marc and Nicole. On the other side sat – Shelby, Alex, Emily, Ariel and Alice. Roxanne’s seat was right facing his, from the other end of the circle.

“No one deserves such fate,” Andrew continued. “Well maybe some people have come close to deserving it, but not from someone they hold so dear in their heart. Fine, you have a point about the collateral damage this whole thing incurred but blaming yourself is just very wrong. You can’t.”

“But I can’t exactly take all the praise either,” Jake declared rising to his feet. “Can’t you see that these dead people are the real heroes? They should be the ones having their names on papers, they should be the ones in the spotlight. Not me, I don’t deserve it. The whole thing wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t existing.”

“So what are you saying exactly, Jake?” Alex enquired, confused. “What do you want us to do?”

“To give credit to whom credit is due.” Jake replied, clenching his fists. “Most of these people who have sacrificed a lot have lost their lives, but fortunately for us – there is one that is still alive, and we’ve met him before. I want y’all to accompany me to the Yates residence.”

“Ben folks?” Alice sat up straight. “Uhm, I don’t think they need a further reminder about the death of their only son, Jake. Let’s just leave that wound to heal.”

“No I’m not talking about Ben,” Jake shook his head. “I’m talking about – ‘Officer Yates.’ Ben’s dad. He played a major role, no in fact – he initiated my own plan and pointed me in the right direction. Roxanne, I heard that y’all were planning a home-coming party for me. I’m truly honored and I appreciate it, but I don’t deserve it. But, do you think we can take the party to the residence of the person who deserves it?”

The whole group exchanged looks of enthusiasm and amusement, before they all proceeded to nodding their heads.

“Not a bad idea, really.” Shelby beamed, rising to her feet. “It could be like a small honorary ceremony. They could invite some guests, we could call the press perhaps and Jake could speak–” Shelby trailed off, when she noticed the smile on Jake’s face was gradually morphing to a scorn. “Or we could just pack a few drinks and snacks, share it with them, spend some time with their kids and leave.”

“Perfect,” Jake nodded in agreement. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

*****

“Cam, hit me.” Joey remarked gleefully, as he slammed his empty glass on the drink counter. The little ceremony had kicked-off at exactly an hour ago, and everyone was in attendance. The Yates family were absolutely thrilled and joyed at the display of affection and concern, upon the arrivals of the students.