The Sun, The Moon, and Their Stars

29 : News

Benjamin

I open the gate of our house, step outside, close it, and start walking.

It's a quiet morning, or maybe it's just too early. The air is still a bit cool for this time of the year. I look up, and the sky is already bright. The sun is starting to cast shadows as I make my way along the sidewalks.

I pass by the bakery where my mom buys bread. Other stores are opening as well. There are people, tricycles, and motorcycles coming and going to the public high school. The rest of the town is gently coming to life.

I keep walking at a normal pace until I reach a corner. I turn left. And then I turn right.

I now hear birds from the trees on the side of one house. A dog is barking from another.

There are people outside the other houses too, one of them stops sweeping on their driveway and watches me. I just keep my head down and eyes to the road as I continue walking.

It's six-fifteen on my watch.

Their gate is open, so I just knock on it.

A middle-aged man with streaks of white on his thinning hair, whom I assume is her father, opens it wider as he stares at me.

Kim has her father's eyes, dark but soft and kind. Though, his eyes are wearier behind those gold-rimmed glasses. He looks a lot like Kelvin, but darker, shorter, and smaller. I've seen their mother at the school once or twice, and she also doesn't have the height, so Kelvin must've inherited the recessive gene.

"Uh...um...good morning, sir."

Kim's father doesn't say anything, but he moves his eyes from up to down. It reminds me of how Kelvin greeted me at this same gate.

"I'm...uh...Benjamin, sir. Kim's classmate."

Her father blinks. But I can't figure out the expression on his face, it's almost blank.

"I'm...uh...um...I'm hoping if...I...if I can go with her to school today, sir. This morning? If...if...that's alright? Sir."

Her father drops his hand from the gate and steps aside. Then he points at one of the chairs in their veranda, on the corner farthest from the door.

"Should I?" I ask, just to be sure that I read him right.

He nods.

I enter the gate and slowly sit down on the chair.

Kim's father sits on the one across and continues staring at me with an expressionless face. I keep my back straight and my eyes anywhere but him. I think of something to say, but I can't find the words, so I just lean forward and hold my fingers together.

I check my watch. Six-twenty.

The screen door opens, and I instantly stand up.

"Good morning!"

Kim stops and looks at me. She blinks once. Then her eyes go wide, and her eyebrows jump up. She's still holding onto the door handle, staring at me with her mouth slightly open.

Then she brings her attention to her father. "You better get going now," he finally speaks, addressing us both. "You don't want to be late on a Monday."

I move away from the chair, and Kim lets go of the door. She starts walking toward the still-open gate, and I follow.

"She goes straight home after school," her father says.

I turn around and give him a nod. "Yes, sir."

We step outside and walk down the street, passing right by the same woman who's watching me earlier.