Park and Ani

I don't care

Even though I wanted to stay by her side throughout the entire confrontation of her parents, one look at her and her families faces let me know that it's best if I were to just stay put in her room. I was expecting there to be yelling or loud sobs every now and then, but from what I could hear it was simply calm normal volumed discussion. 

Which clearly does nothing to help me decide what kind of support she'll need from me when she comes up to join me in her room. Whenever that may be. 

For the past hour I've entertained myself by watching the Amazing World of Gumball on her laptop, but even cartoons get old after a while. Especially considering the fact that I only started watching cartoons again after meeting Imani and only tend to enjoy them when she's curled up next to me. Just as I was about close her laptop and find other means of entertainment a knock at her door sounded, and not even a second later her door cracked revealing a person I didn't expect to see. 

"H-Hello. Are you Mani's b-boyfriend. I-I'm her...brother Cedric." 

He was a pretty big guy. Resembling their father to the point that it was almost scary, and although he was in a mental institution for years it seems like physical activity wasn't something he gave up. 

As big as a bear, but his entire demeanor was exactly the opposite. 

He looked completely unsure of himself, and In his brief introduction he fumbled through each word as if English wasn't his first language. He constantly scratched at his left wrist, hands seeming to be in a constant state of shaking. His discomfort seemed to rise even more the longer the silence stood. 

"Um. Yeah," I clear my throat glancing behind him before continuing. 

"Yeah I'm her boyfriend Parker. Nice to meet you." 

He nods before fidgeting with the rubber band around his wrist before taking and retracting his step into her room. 

"I-I don't think she'd like me in her room. Imani hates me you see. I did a bad thing, I remember some of it but not all. Do you think she h-h," he grunts seemingly frustrated that he can't formulate his thought's like he wanted to. 

Nodding to what he struggled to say I stand from my seated position on her bed before making my way to the hallway and settling down on the ground. Not needing a word from me, he slides down the wall across from me joining me on the ground. 

I feel for the guy. I can see in the way he acts that he's damaged beyond belief from what he went through, and it's clear to anyone that sees him how lost he is. Struggling to fit into the social norms set by the society around him. Even though a part of me holds some hatred towards the guy for what he put Imani through for all these years, a part of me feels bad for how broken the torture he went through left him. 

I guess that's what led me outside to speak to him. 

"I-I wanted to introduce myself. C-c-cause she's m-my baby sister and I love her very much." He nods to himself seemingly proud that he conveyed his thoughts hand still snapping the rubber band against his wrist. So much so that a red line formed on his brown skin. 

"It's nice to meet you Cedric. Imani's told me about how close you guys used to be." 

It was a bit of a stretch seeing as she's only told me about him once, but that didn't stop the small unsure smile that spread across his face. 

"I-I'm glad. I really do love her. I don't think she believes that anymore. She hates me ya know. B-but I love her so much. Y-you better n-n-not hur-hurt her," he clears his throat before scratching the back of his neck. 

Just like his sister, he's extremely hard on himself. Anyone with eyes could see how much he's working to be half of what he was before, but whatever they did to him left a permanent effect on his behavior to this day. He constantly looks unsure, as if there will be some punishment if he spoke.