Moments Before

Ashton

Noah lives in a shady area. The apartment is a mess and probably smaller than one floor of my house. I don't say anything because I don't know what to say. I have a million questions and Noah won't want to answer a single one. Where are his parents? Why is his brother paralyzed? 

A boy comes rolling out of the room with a rather large knife in his hand. It's obvious that they are related but it breaks my heart when I see fading scars on his shaved head. Unlike Noah his hair is shaved, and he doesn't exude the same confidence. He looks like a small child that was kicked out into the real world too soon. Noah sees the knife and tears the knife from his brother's hand and drops it into a dirty bowl on the counter. Dishes. I guess Rico can't do them since I doubt he could reach the sink and with Noah working it looks like they are a little behind. 

"Rico, this is Ashton. She's going to watch you so I can go to work." Rico looks at me, giving me a look from head to toe and back up. He smirks and looks to his brother. They do that thing that siblings can do. Even estranged me, Ramon and Derrick could, where you have a conversation purely through facial expressions and vague noises. When you two know something but don't want the third party to know. 

Rico rolls over to me and I study him. His paralysis is recent because there's a picture of him holding a track trophy on top of Noah's shoulders hung on the wall. No frame just nailed into it. In fact their living room is all like that. You can hardly make out the faded paint colors because pictures printed on plain paper cover the walls. Mostly the same faces, Rico, Noah, a 30 something woman and a little girl. Judging by his suspicion and behavior around a stranger I don't think it was an accident either. Maybe I'm over analyzing but they don't live in a great neighborhood. 

Rico doesn't have Noah's eyes. His are brown. But they have the same hard jawline. He extends a hand towards me and I shake it. "Ashton this is Rico." 

Noah signals Rico over and waits for him to wheel over. Noah gave me the rundown. If Rico asks for help than help him, don't cater to him, if I can get him moving around the apartment that's great if not all good. Don't go outside because there's been some gang activity. Bolt the chain when he goes. TV works, wifi code for next door is 6969, Noah won't be home til like 1 or possibly two so I'm welcome to crash on the couch or take his bed. He'll drive me home after. He checked a million times that I would be okay. I texted Derrick to help cover for me with mom and dad. I don't have any close female friends houses that I can pretend to be crashing at. Derrick said he wanted to get out of the house anyway and would just say we were hanging at the beach on the other side of the island. It's nice being able to ask him for help with stuff again but I don't trust him just yet. 

Than Noah left. And me and Rico stared at each other entirely unsure what to say to the other. I don't spend a lot of time with paraplegic people, or younger teens in general. After a few minutes I said so and drew it out for a while. Just like that the ice shattered and we burst out laughing. When we calmed down I sat on the couch and he rolled up next to me. 

"Tell me about yourself Rico?" I think that's okay to ask. I try to remember that however awkward I'm feeling he has to be feeling way weirder. 

"I could. Or I could tell you about Noah." He answered. Smart kid, there's light dancing in his mischevious eyes.

"You can't tell him I told you. He'd skin me alive. But, I dunno I kind of like you. You're weird and I mean that in a good way." He smiled at me and I nodded. "Okay, well he really likes you. Noah doesn't really let people in a lot of the time. You're the first person he's ever brought here. And the first person he's introduced me to other than Lena the other caretaker since um. Yeah. Anyway he thinks you're cool. But he thinks that you look down on him. He doesn't like it. Plus Noah is crazy hypocritical, he's offended that you won't tell him everything about you, but he doesn't want to share about himself."

I'm nodding the whole time but this is mostly stuff I knew. Except that he thought I looked down on him. I want to ask for backstory but it feels inappropriate. 

"I have more questions but it's not my place to ask." I tell Rico. He laughs, it's a wheezing sound and I love it. 

"Ask away. If I don't want to tell you I won't." He answers. I decide than and there that I like this kid. He breaks through awkwardness by telling it like it is. He's still nervous, but I don't think it's me. Every time there's a noise through the walls or the heating kicks on he twitches. 

"Sounds fair."

"Can we make a deal?" He asks and I raise an eyebrow and gesture for him to continue speaking. "That we can ask each other anything. We don't have to answer but we won't get mad no matter what the question is? I have a few questions for you too." 

"Yeah. Okay that sounds fair." We shake on it and I laugh again. I've only known him for a few minutes but I can already feel him becoming someone I love. "Me first though." He nods. "Where are your parents?"

He sucks in a breath before answering and I can tell he's wondering how much to say. "Mom was ... Do you promise not to tell Noah. Seriously, I want to tell somebody but you can't tell him."

"I promise. I won't tell him." I answer. 

"Okay. Well, Mom was a drug addict. So she wasn't around much and even when she was there she was checked out the whole time. She passed when I was like two. Noah hates her, he doesn't like to talk about her. I don't even know what she looks like. And than Dad is a dick. He kicked Noah out when I was younger and me a few years later. So we don't talk to him now. And anyway that's us. Sorry to like, unload on you but you did ask and I haven't talked to anyone except Noah and Lena in months." I'm shocked. I mean, I have family problems but at the end of the day except for Ramon my family loves me. They wouldn't kick me out. 

"I don't know what to say. I'm sorry." 

"It's okay. My turn to ask questions?" He shrugs it off like it's nothing. It's not nothing but if he's not ready to talk about it that's fine. I nod. "Do you like my brother?" Back is the devilish grin. 

"As a person? He's very nice. I wouldn't sneak out of my house to watch just anyone's little brother." I answer. I'm being evasive and he and I both know it. 

"What are you talking about? I'm an absolute delight to be around. In fact I'm doing you a favour not the other way around." He smiled cheekily. 

We mostly talked for the rest of the evening. He taught me chess and kicked my butt at it. He went to bed around 10 which gave me three hours. Three hours to help out Noah. I started with the dishes putting them away took a while because I had no idea where anything went. I closed Rico's door and vaccumed and luckily he didn't wake up. I swept. Washed the windows. Tidied everything up. Put in the boys laundry. Admittedly that was the most uncomfortable part. They were boys and had left their laundry including private laundry all around the house. I used a stick to pick it up and threw it in their crappy clearly second, or third hand laundry machine. The place was clean by 12:30 and I was starting to get tired. I heard a knock on the door and stupid me went to answer. 

I swung the door open expecting to see Noah. Instead there was a man I didn't know who shoved his way in.