No Strings Attached

Chapter 10: Strangest Things

Gazing directly at James' tired face, Mr. Ryder begins to process the information he received from his hospitalized son.

Meanwhile, the hospital started shutting off its lights and sending doctors and nurses home from their never-ending night shifts.

However, I can still hear every heart monitor beeping in sync; the dark green lines glide across the computer screens, hovering up and down as if it was an unusual video game.

Blended with the beeping noises, are relaxing snores filling the dark hospital with serenity.

Smells of disinfectant spray that drifted in the air flew into my nostrils, forcing me to taste its bitter citrus odor.

Disgusted, I wanted to stand somewhere else, but whenever I look at Mr. Ryder's face, it was standing on a fragile icy floor: the more I struggle, the more cracks produced under my feet.

Even Aria and Marco were terrified of Mr. Ryder; though he hadn't acknowledged our presence, we became afraid that if we spoke up Mr. Ryder would never let James be near us.

The Civil Rights Movement made segregation illegal. Unfortunately, racism is still alive and it's infecting people around them.

Because some people perceive race as a threat, my parents taught me to respond to hateful words with kindness and patience.

That way, racists would see that people of color are not dangerous.

Racists like Mr. Ryder.

Speaking of James' father, he stood very still as his son James told him what happened the night we were supposedly killed by a man named Jake.

Scrunching his eyes, James remembered witnessing two suspicious looking men lifting an enormous, dark blue bucket with a neon yellow toxic warning label smeared on it.

"I thought they were up to something dangerous, " James explained. "So I suggest to my friends that we should follow them."

"Why?" asked Mr. Ryder, blinking at his son.

James answered with a sigh. "Because my friends and I wanted to do something good for once."

His father leaned a little towards James' face. "Did you call the police?"

James studied the designs on his hospital gown as he shakes his head.

"No, " he admitted.

"Why not?"

"Because we weren't sure if the police would believe us." James reply.

He then removes his feet from under the covers and sat on the bed in a criss-cross applesauce position.

Auburn hair swept away from his aquamarine eyes, as James trains his gaze on his father, who shakes his head furiously.

"So, you followed two men into the woods,"
he began slowly. "Without any common sense?"

James nods shamefully.

Horrified, Mr. Ryder grabs his son's shoulders then throttled James like a helpless ragdoll.

"Are you crazy?" he screamed. "How could you put yourself in danger like that?"

Calmly, I walked up to an angry Mr. Ryder and try to reassure him.

"Sir, " I began. "It wasn't his fault, James was trying to do the right thing—"

"He was being stupid," Mr. Ryder argued, removing his strong hands off James' shoulders.

"James puts himself in danger, and you let him do that on purpose."

"He is a good person, " Marco insisted, coming from behind me. "James didn't mean for anything of this to happen."