Murphy & Jolen

Chapter 13

"Yo, man, Gina's been getting on my nerves," Trent said.
"I can't stand your broad either, man." Marquis replied.
It was December. Christmas time was almost upon us. Trent had been dating Gina and we were sitting on this city bus listening to him bitch.
"She's surrounded by all that unnecessary girl drama, a nigga can't stand that."
A white man near us in the back eyes jumped when he heard Trent say 'nigga'.
"I told you about that chick," Marquis said.
I sneaked a look at Jolen next to me. He looked really somber this morning and we hadn't said much. We were still having sex like crazy and every here and there we'd do something nice for each other.

Walking into the school, Gina came right up to Trent's face. She had a loud mouth. Jolen grabbed me and pulled me along, away from it. That's when I heard the slap behind me. Gina to Trent. Jolen kept moving and we go into a common area that was deserted. We sit on the couch, Jolen laid his head on my shoulder.
"You okay?"
He nodded his head.
"Today's the day my mom passed away," he said eventually.
"I didn't know your mom died."
Now that I think about it there were a ton of other things that I probably didn't know about Jolen. Even though I never saw his mom I was still surprised that she would be dead.
"She died when I was eleven. I felt it all," he paused. "She knew about me and she was supportive. I miss her when I think about her."
His voice sounded so serious and hurt that I even felt his pain and I really didn't want to. I didn't want to see him hurt either. I massaged the back of his neck with my fingers.
"You're depressing me. I don't like seeing you like this."
He sat up and smiled faintly at me. His eyes were those light brown that I remember when I first seen him. I pulled him closer to me and pecked him on the neck. I looked back at him and his whole expression changed. He was shocked and all appreciative.
I could tell that he needed that.

It was cold out but it wasn't snowing, it mostly never snowed in Shoreview, Jordansberg. After school I went with Jolen to visit his mother's grave. Her picture was on the tombstone.

That's where he got his real looks; his mother was gorgeous.

She was light skinned with green eyes. I was simply standing there while Jolen was bent down, squatting, messing idly with the flowers that were on the site.
"My dad doesn't even come anymore. It pains him too much he says."
"Your dad doesn't look like the type that would express his emotional feelings to you." Jolen chuckled.
"He really doesn't but when he's drunk or just out of the blue he'd say something intimate."
Jolen stood up.
"Guess we should go now," he continued.
I grabbed his hand, another thing that startled him, and led him out of the cemetery.