The Green(The Green - book 1)

Chapter 7

Tommy woke up and went downstairs. He heard his mother shouting at his school on her cell phone. "From what I've heard, he's been bullied! This is a self-defense case! He's not the one that should be punished for this! That was probably an accident, because he was defending himself! Well, I guess you'll be hearing from my lawyer then!" She got off the phone, as Tommy entered the room. She looked at him, shook her head and sighed. "Pour yourself a bowl of cereal! After I get off the phone with the lawyer and work, you and I are going to have a chat..." Then she stormed out of the room to call her lawyer. His mother, Jennifer, was a tall girl with straight, long, brown hair and a gummy smile. She was wearing a navy blue sports coat, a black skirt and black heels. Whenever she was home, she never dressed casual, it was her way of always being prepared to work. Jennifer loved those moments, when she got to spend time with Tommy. This was not one of those moments! She was always entertaining clients and focused on her work life. She rarely took time off, because she wanted to remain focused, no matter how stressed it made her. Deep inside, there was a part of her that wanted to go on a vacation with her family. She knew Tommy needed them around, but she tried her best not to think about it.

Tommy grabbed a bottled water from the fridge, poured himself some cereal and he took a seat. He went over the restroom situation over and over again in his mind. He couldn't understand why he blacked out and couldn't remember anything. Was there something wrong with him? He looked to his right and then a man with dark hair that went down to his neck sat next to him. He recognized the man's face as the man from his dream. Am I dreaming? Tommy asked himself. "No..." Raven replied. I must be dreaming, if you can read my thoughts! "Try and kick me." Tommy attempted to kick Raven in the leg. Raven, maneuvered his body away, causing Tommy to kick the leg of the chair. "Ow!" Tommy exclaimed. "See? If it was a dream, you'd barely feel that!" Then his mom came into the room. Follow me. I don't want to get into more trouble than I'm already in! Tommy stood up and walked towards the bathroom, across the hall from the kitchen. He turned the fan on and closed the door. "How did you get here?!" Tommy asked quietly. "I don't know. I'm not sure how this works... This could be a dream, but I know I wasn't dreaming the last time I saw you." "You look like Kylo Ren." "Who?" Raven looked at him curiously. "Haven't you ever seen The Force Awakens?" Raven quirked an eyebrow. "Star Wars?" Tommy interrogated further. "We've never had a war in space! The last war we had was 100 years ago, with other districts! What district is this, anyway?" Now it was Tommy's turn to look confused. "Uhh... Where am I, exactly?" "Peabrook Village, a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois."

Raven looked down at the toilet and the walls, everything looked ancient. The bathrooms in his time, were far more advanced and automatic. He laughed when he saw the flusher handle and the sink handles. He reached for the sink handle, Tommy reached for it, at that exact moment. Tommy turned the handle, as water came spouting from the faucet. "If that turns that on..." Raven said, looking at the toilet. Tommy nodded "It flushes it." Raven shook his head. "What year is this?!" "2016." Tommy replied. Raven couldn't believe his ears. "So you've never seen Star Wars?" Raven shook his head. "What movies have you seen?" "I've never even heard of that before. There are no movies where I'm from!" "Where are you from?" "North America, Central District, from the year 4040" "Whoa... You're from the future?!" Raven nodded. "Don't ask me what I'm doing here. All I know is, this all started when I woke up smelling some foul stench! I thought I smelled it in an alleyway, in the South District, when I fell into a puddle of ooze. I was attacked by some thugs and then I passed out. When I woke up, they were knocked out, shaking on the ground." "You blacked out, too?!" Then Tommy heard a knock on the door. "What's taking you so long in there?!" His mom called out. I don't think she can see you. Wait for me in my room upstairs. "I'll try. I'm not sure how this works!" Raven said, as Tommy opened the door and went back to his seat. His Mom sat down with her microwave vegetarian spaghetti. The sound of New Age music, in the form of Enya, was playing over the speakers, in the background. Jennifer loved that music, because it helped bring her stress level down and let go. She also loved classical music, because it reminded her of her teenage ballet days.

"Now, Tommy, I spoke to the school and I spoke to our lawyer. The school says they can't have you back, unless you can prove you did not attack those boys. Our lawyer says, we need to get your brain checked out by the doctor and the police will need you to take a lie detector test. You are being honest with me, right?!" "Yes! I told you, I don't know what happened! I woke up standing against a wall and the security guard dragged me away!" Tommy shouted. "Okay, I believe you... Finish your cereal and go up to your room. Until this matter gets fixed, I'm taking away your game systems. I'm going to have Mrs. Watson watch you, until I can get you in to see the doctor. No T.V. and no music! You'll have to find other ways to occupy yourself. Maybe I'll have Mrs. Watson put you to work." "Okay..." Tommy mumbled, as he looked at the ground and walked to his room. Raven was still there, when he walked in. Raven was clicking the radio, but it wasn't working. Tommy walked over to him and clicked the radio on and off. "Why does that work for you, but not for me?" Raven asked. Tommy shrugged. "You're from the future. You probably can't access anything in 2016, without me." Raven sat down on Tommy's bed and let out a sigh. "I wish I knew how we keep meeting like this. First, you show up at Fiona's, now, I show up at your house. I don't know what's happening!" "You said the guys who attacked you were on the ground, when you woke up?" "Yeah... That's another thing I don't understand!" "The same thing happened to me. That's why I'm grounded! I was being attacked by a group of bullies and then when I woke up, the security guard was shaking me against the wall!" "If this was my time, they would need proof of the entire incident, even before the incident occurred. No punishment would take place, until there was proof of who executed the act." "Yeah, well... I might be in big trouble, if anything happens to them!" Tommy plopped down and laid back across his bed.

"When I was a child, a teacher said something to me. When I was dealing with feelings of futility. He said 'You must not fear the future. For the future has endless possibilities. If you can close your eyes and breathe, without any harm coming to you, peace shall find you. Just embrace the world, for it is a world of impermanence. The darkness will not last..." "What does futility mean?" "It means uselessness, but as long as you can breathe, you have hope. It just takes patience." Tommy sighed. "I can't wait until this is over."

Raven sat in thought for a moment. "Before this whole thing started, I couldn't find the source of this foul smell. Does that sound like anything to you?" "Randy tried to shove my nose in dog poop a week ago..." "Poop?" Raven asked, looking confused. Tommy rolled his eyes. "The stuff that comes out of your butt!" "Oh... What is a dog?" Tommy shot up into a sitting position. "They don't have dogs or cats where you are from?! Do they have any animals?!" "We have chickens and fish. We also have faux meat, which we put on our pizza toppings. Many animals became extinct thousands of years ago, because of humanity's demands. They created faux meat, before the cows and pigs faced their final days." "Oh wow..." Tommy said, looking down. "So, you say these boys pushed you into dog excrement?" Tommy nodded. "Their dog chased after one of them, though. The others chased after him and let me go. I got away, without my face touching it." Raven smiled in amusement, picturing this animal chasing these boys. "Do you have a dog?" Raven asked. Tommy shook his head. "I'd show you a picture of one, but I'm not allowed to use my computer or my phone, right now." "No worries. Perhaps if this keeps happening, I will see this picture, one day." "Yeah. Maybe you can even watch Star Wars with me." Then Tommy's mother walked into the room. "Who are you talking to?" Tommy looked at his mom, then looked over at Raven, but Raven had disappeared once again. "Just keeping myself entertained..." Tommy replied, as he rolled over in his bed, facing the window.