The Dark and the Light

Bobby's Friends

  The only people who know our history is us. John came from a boarding school in South Dakota but ran away after 1 month, Zeke was abandoned while on vacation in Florida along with his grandma, Brody was kicked out by his stepdad, Will was in foster care until he turned 18, and I ran away.

We met on a beach in California two years back when we were sophomores in high school. Will had just turned 21 a few weeks before but had no one in his life that mattered to him or that he mattered to. None of us did, but I guess that's why we came together.

Our stories collided when we just happened to sit next to each other and spilled our worldly troubles to one another. None of us really understood why we were telling complete strangers our problems but we all agreed that there was a reason we had met.

Will was the only one of us that really had a stable life at this point and he decided to take us in and make sure that we had a chance at a good future. He has become our older brother and father figure. He made us all take the California High School Proficiency Exam and get full-time jobs so we could work towards going to college.

John has had 13 jobs throughout the last two years and has been fighting the college plan since the day he moved in. The only reason he hasn't left us is because he doubts he could make enough money to rent an apartment, keep himself fed, and live a comfortable life with things like toothpaste. Will still thinks he can talk him into going down a 'traditional' path but the rest of us have our doubts.

Zeke stayed in Florida for about two months until his grandmother's health failed and she died. After that he decided to hitchhike across the country where he ended up in California when he met us. He's been the most enthusiastic out of all of us to follow Will's life plan. He's already going to the local college working towards a degree in law.

Brody has been working 2 jobs ever since he moved in and has saved every cent of it. He hopes to buy a fishing boat and supplies to become a fisherman. Although he says he doesn't understand why it's so important to go to college, he still plans on at least getting his associates degree to make Will happy.

Will hasn't really had time to focus on himself since he took us in and he's had to work several odd jobs here and there along with his regular job to have enough money to support all of us. We all pitch in but that would still never be enough for all 5 of us. Because of everything he's done for us, I have given 80% of all my paychecks to Will. He fought me on this for a while saying that I needed to save everything for my future but I wouldn't even have a future if it wasn't for him. He's the reason I'm going to school to become an alternative high school math teacher. I just started college this year and can't wait to change lives.

Will is thinking about becoming a foster parent after we all leave him. He would be really good at it considering how well he's done with us but none of us really want to leave. John is always saying he wants to leave but we all know that if he had the chance to go he probably wouldn't. We've grown attached to each other and only time can pull us apart.

John will get enough money and find a new rebellious adventure to go on that will take him far away, Zeke will become the best lawyer in California but will have gone through 7 divorces all involving children, Brody will become a wealthy fisherman and will retire at age 65 a happy man, I will become a math teacher that every student hopes to have, and Will will die in an accident at age 32.