Windy City Blues

II

Zahir paid for his lunch, grabbed his tray and proceeded to the library to eat. It was the same routine everyday. He walked passed crowds and tables of people with their friends. The boy then had a feeling of sadness mixed within him along with a hint of envy as he saw how happy these people were, he wished he had the same thing.

When Zahir opened the library doors, he was greeted by Ms. Marshall, the school's librarian. It amzed him how this woman was still alive at 84 years old, but he guessed it was just because she had no husband or children to stress her out.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Moore."

"Good afternoon, Ms. Marshall."

Zahir headed toward the back of the library to his usual spot, but his plan was interrupted when he saw his seat was already occupied.
He kind of just stood there awkwardly for a bit, before he decided to find another table.

Just as he was about to walk away, the occupant noticed his presence. She took off of her hood and removed her headphones. "I'm sorry, am I in your seat?"

Zahir couldn't even recall the last time someone had spoken to him in school, so he was getting nervous.

"Um, yeah, but not really, you can stay, I'll just find another seat." Zahir shrugged.

The light-skinned girl looked up at Zahir. "No, it's fine. Here." She pulled out a chair next to her and patted the seat, gesturing him to sit by her.

The girl stuck out her hand, "I'm Cozia."

"Zahir."

The two began to eat their lunch in a peaceful manner, but Cozia could feel Zahir's eyes darting back and forth at her.

She sat up, "You good?"

Zahir replied, "Yeah, yeah. Um, I was just wondering why are you eating lunch in here? I mean I usually walk pass you and yo friends eating lunch together, so why the switch up?"

Cozia processed Zahir's question, it took her a while which made Zahir a little anxious, worried he had overstepped.

Cozia took a sip of Brisk iced tea, "Well, since you asked, in two days, it'll be the six-month anniversary of my brother's death. I've been kind of stuck on that, just haven't been myself lately. My friends they are trying to make me feel better, but they can only do so much, ya know?"

Zahir nodded. "Yeah, I get how you feel. If you don't mind me asking, how did he pass?"

"My mom sent him to the corner store to get some napkins. Some boys that were in there didn't have enough to pay for their things. My brother offered to pay, because he was in a rush to get home, the boys took offense to it tryna say he was calling them or whatever and started arguing with him."

Cozia now had tears running down her face, "And my brother, h-he tried to back away but..." She couldn't even finish her sentence because the tears wouldn't let her. Zahir wasn't exactly sure what to do in this situation, but he gave Cozia a hug. He scooted his chair closer, and held her in his arms, allowing her to weep into his jacket.

They stayed that way for about three minutes, until Cozia sat up and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry about your jacket." She sniffed.

"It's fine. It's fine. Hey, I'm really sorry about your brother and I hope you feel better."

"Thank you, I really appreciate it."

The bell had rung signaling it was time for them to head to class. The two grabbed their bags and lunch trays and went their separate ways, both, oblivious to the new bond they had just formed.