Wonders

Finding a way

Shion walked into the bakery. His mother stood there waiting to hear about his day. Shion looked at her.
“It wasn’t bad. By the way, Grey’s still alive.” She gasped at this. “He calls himself Rat now.” He added.
“Oh, Shion, I didn’t know.” His mother cried holding her hand to her mouth. Shion gave a shrug. She rushed over to hug him.
“He is in town? I wonder how his mother is?” she stated stepping back. Shion ignored this since he didn’t know.
“I invited Safu over for dinner.” Shion said. Karen nodded. This was typical. Shion went upstairs to his room as his mother went to look up something on the computer.
Shion sat in his desk chair looking out the window. He wondered where Rat had gone.
A mile away Rat walked into his own house. The couple that took care of him where both in their eighties. Mr. Thomas was sitting in the living room cane in hand watching the door. He grinned when Rat came in.
“Been waiting for you boy!” he said. He always called Rat, boy. Rat kind of liked it.
“Where do you need to go old man?” he asked.
“Today is the missus and mines anniversary. Need to get to Karen’s to pick up the cake I ordered.”  A pit opened in Rat’s stomach, Shion. He thought. The Thomas’ had stopped driving when Rat got his permit. He got a special case for getting his license early. Now he drove them everywhere.
“Let’s go.” He said. It took the old man almost half an hour to get into the car. Rat drove the few blocks to the bakery. The sign swung in a gentle breeze.
“Shion, Safu is here.” Karen called up the stairs as the girl walked in. Shion ran down to meet her, just as the door opened and old Mr. Thomas walked in.
“Hi, Mr. Thomas.” Safu said with a smile. Rat walked in the door behind him, her smile faltered. Shion came into the room.
“Shion, how are you doing, son?” Mr. Thomas asked. Shion’s eyes went to the floor. His head bowed. He never knew how to talk to the old man. “Humph, never can get a word out of that boy.” He muttered to Rat.
“Mr. Thomas, I have your order ready. Shion, you can help him take it to the car.” His mother said. Shion’s eyes darted to Rat. He gave a quick nod to his mother. Swinging around the banister he kicked the door open to the back room.
“Impressive. You are very agile, boy.” Mr. Thomas called out. Shion’s shoulders hunched. “I tell you Karen, that boy is something. You take this Rat here…” it was as far as he got. Karen’s eyes flashed to the boy beside him.
“Grey?” she whispered. The teenager snorted.
“He told you huh?” He looked at the woman before him. “Don’t worry, mom died about ten years ago, now.” He said. Her eyes grew heavy. There was laughter from the kitchen. Shion pushed the door open backing out. He brought the large cake to the counter.
“Shion, why didn’t you tell me this was Grey?” his mother demanded. Shion’s eyes darted around everyone. His face flushed and he ducked his head once more.
“Sss sorry.” He stammered. Mr. Thomas looked at him.
“For years I’ve been coming here and that is the first time I heard you speak.” He grinned encouragingly at the boy. Shion turned away.
“Mr. Thomas, we told you he is shy.” Safu came up to rub Shion’s back.
“Please take the cake to his car, Shion.” His mother told him. As she rang up the price and Mr. Thomas got ready to pay, Rat held the door open for Shion. He carried the cake outside, down the steps and to the car without comment. Rat waited until the cake was safe in the car. He leaned against it. Shion turned to go back inside.
“It was your smile I remembered the most.” Rat said softly. Shion paused but didn’t turn around. “You were always so happy, Shion. I thought that if you were still in this fucked up world, life made sense. Seeing you like this…” His voice trailed away as he pushed himself from the car to open the driver’s door. “You’re like a shadow of the kid I remember.” Mr. Thomas came down to get in the car. He said good bye to Shion.
Shion went back inside without a word. Safu had dinner with them that night, then walked home. She only lived a few blocks away but Shion always made her call to let him know she got home alright. It upset him to worry. She called.
“About Rat?” he heard the question in her tone.
“Please, Safu, let’s not talk about him.” He pleaded. There was a long pause.
“I will see you at the corner tomorrow.”
The next day they walked to school together. Shion’s mind wandered as he looked around his surroundings. He would dart over to look at a plant or rock or twig even, Safu laughed at him.  But Shion could name everything he picked up. This was why he always got lost.
“You are quiet today, Shion.” Safu noted. He didn’t say anything. He saw a small box in the road. Shion darted out to pick it up. The sound of squealing tires had him looking up, a deer trapped in headlights. Something hit him from the side. It sent him flying to the other side of the road. He laid crumpled at Safu’s feet. Arms and legs tangled in his own. The other person separated themselves from Shion.
“This is how you take care of him? By letting him wander in the streets!” Rat scolded Safu. She huffed at him.
“It’s a kitten.” Shion said ignoring the glares the other two were shooting at each other. He had snagged the box just before Rat had shoved him out of the road. Shion now sat under a tree with a small black cat in his lap. It cried hungrily at him. They turned to look at him. Shion smiled down at it. Rat looked away his face flaming.
“Great you risked your life for a fleabag.” He muttered.
“I guess that is the second time, since he somehow saved you, once upon a time.” Safu threw at him. They glared once more at each other.
“I have to take it home.” Shion jumped to his feet. He took three steps in one direction, stopped turned around, went two steps in that direction before pausing.
“Safu?” he asked.
“I can’t be late to school, Shion. Just leave the cat here.” She demanded.
“But…” he said.
“It might wander back into the road.” Rat finished. “Go, I will take him home and bring him to school.” He ordered the girl.
“I don’t take…”
“This way?” Shion pointed in yet another direction. The pair with him shared another look. Safu headed off toward school without another word. Rat took Shion’s sleeve.
“This way.” He said leading him in a fourth direction. Shion walked happily beside the boy. He was playing with the kitten in his arms. A small smile touched his lips. It was a ray of sunshine for the boy watching him.
“Mom, I saved a kitten.” Shion called entering the shop. She looked shocked.
“Take it upstairs. Oh, you are going to be late.” The store was pretty busy with early morning customers. Then she saw Rat. Digging in her purse she pulled out a set of keys. There was a photo key chain on it. The picture was one of Shion and Rat as children. They were both laughing at the camera.
“Please, Gr..” she shook her head. “Um, Rat, Mr. Thomas told me you have your license. Please get Shion to school on time.” She begged him. Rat took the keys.
“Sure.” He said. He looked down at the picture. The reverse side was a picture of Shion’s father with the boy setting on his shoulders.
“Shion get going, I will feed the kitten when I get a break.” She called. Shion came back down stairs.
“It’s in my room.” He told his mom kissing her cheek. He hurried outside. Shion saw that Rat held the car keys. He led his to the blue Honda Civic in the parking lot. Rat got in. He looked to Shion when he started the car, the radio didn’t come on.
“You never really listened to music.” He observed. Shion glanced back at him.
“You remember a lot.” He said. Rat shrugged. “I spent years in a hospital, never making friends. All I had was the memory of one.” He said.
“People tried to buy me from mom.” Shion said looking out the window. “I had to stay in a special place for months because I wouldn’t talk. They thought it was because of dad. It was because I was waiting for you.” He whispered pressing his face to the cool glass. He watched the world go by. Rat was silent as he drove.
“You have those friends at school. I only had you, then Safu. The only friends I ever made.” He said after a while. They drove into the parking lot finding a place near the back of the building. Shion hurried inside.
Safu greeted him at his locker. She had it opened. All of the text books he had gotten the day before where there. She handed him the ones for his morning classes. They didn’t have to go to home room today. Instead she led the way to their first class.
Shion doodled in his notebook as the teacher talked about grammar. About half way through class the teacher called on him. He answered the question without looking up. There were snickers throughout the room. Shion glanced to Safu.
“Please keep your head off of your desk, Shion.” The teacher demanded. He sat up; eyes furrowed. He didn’t like displeasing people. He set the pencil down and stared at the desk for the rest of the period.
Today Rat didn’t force him to sit near him. Shion came into classes as Safu dropped him off. He sat in the front every time. He didn’t want to get yelled at again, so he kept his eyes on the teacher throughout the class. Writing in his notebook only when told to take notes. No one spoke to him aside from Safu.
At lunch the girl stayed with him. She threaded a path toward the windows. The big blonde guy from the day before got in her way.
“He is Rat’s little pet. He comes with us.” He told her.
“Leave them alone Monkey boy.” Rat said walking by. “I have better things to do than baby sit.” He added bored as usual.
Shion said nothing, just looked at the ground. Science was the same. Rat acted like the seat beside him was empty. Shion tried to make himself as small as possible. He had his books stacked up before him. He kept his elbows tucked tight to his sides. His shoulders hunched over the notebook he wrote in.
Today they had gym class. Safu took him to the boy’s side of the gym. She explained what he needed to do. He nodded walking into the noisy room, head down. He glanced out of the side of his eyes to find a row of lockers with no on in it. As he passed Rat and his friends, his foot hit something on the ground. Shion stumbled into a locker accidently closing it on the fingers of Monkey boy. The large teen turned on him.
Shion stared at the fist coming for his face. It smacked into the palm of another hand. Rat shoved the hand away from Shion. He said nothing to either boy. Shion fought to keep the tears in until he was in a bathroom stall. He wiped at his face as he changed. Rat hated him; he was sure of it now.
They did some warm up exercises, then broke into teams. They got flags on their belts. Shion had no idea what to do. He was on the yellow team. Safu was there to tell him the rules. It didn’t matter because every time Shion was out on the field, Monkey boy targeted him, ripping off his flags nearly as soon as the kid set foot on the playing area. Rat only watched this happen, keeping his face a mask on neutrality.
Shion walked with Safu back outside after school ended. “That was a nightmare.” He said. Before he could do anything else a voice called his name. He looked back to see Mr. Gates’ the school counselor calling him.
“Shion, I would like for you to stop by my office tomorrow on your lunch period. Safu will show you the way.” He said. He went back inside when the pair nodded.
“I don’t need another counselor.” Shion muttered. They pair walked down into the parking lot. They were headed toward the road when Shion’s mother’s car cut them off.
“Why is Rat driving your mom’s car?” Safu asked.
“Oh, she let him drive me to school so we wouldn’t be late.” they walked to the car. On instinct, Shion moved to the back door. Safu to the front. Safu and Karen would often talk on trips, while Shion looked out the window or through one of his many books.
Rat just glared at this arrangement. He drove straight to Karen’s bakery. He tried to give Shion the keys before he got out of the car, but Shion had dashed inside as soon as they stopped.
“Why did you make such a show out of knowing him yesterday, but today you ignored him the entire day?” Safu demanded as they got out of the car.
“None of your business.” Rat told her. She grabbed his arm.
“It is my business when I am the one who has to listen to him cry himself to sleep because he thinks you hate him.” She said.
Rat ripped himself away from her. “Don’t worry, I get the message. Leave Shion alone. From now on you’re his only friend.” He threw the keys at her and stormed off. Rat didn’t look at or talk to Shion for the rest of the week.
Shion named the cat, Puma since it was black. It slept on his bed at night. When he went to counseling the next day, it was only to review his previous history. Mr. Gates asked him how school was going. Shion muttered fine. It was decided that Shion would meet with Mr. Gates once a week, until he adjusted. Shion only nodded.
Friday came. Safu was scheduled to go on a trip for school that weekend. They were leaving right after the finale bell. She wrote down detailed directions with street names for Shion to get home.
“Please call me when you get there?” she begged him. Neither one saw the dark boy watching them.
“I will.” Shion promised. He held tight to the paper she gave him. She kissed his cheek before rushing off to the classroom. Shion walked outside. He got to the end of the school grounds. Glancing down at the paper he looked for the next street name. He had to cross the street and then turn right.
Shion did as the directions stated. That was as far as he got. Some young girls were drawing on the sidewalk in front of a house. Shion stopped to admire their pictures. They talked to him for a moment. Shion started off again. He didn’t look at the paper.
He wandered down a block, not seeing the name of the street he kept going. About a third of the way down a voice spoke from out of nowhere.
“You’re going the wrong way!” Shion looked around. Not seeing anyone he turned. Looking back at the paper he frowned. He was sure he hadn’t seen the street name. Rat appeared around the corner. He was slightly out of breath.
“You turned around when talking to those kids.” He pointed out. Shion looked back. He could still see the girls in the distance. With a nod he started walking back toward them.
“Oy, Shion.” Rat caught his arm. He took him down a side street then another block. There was Karen’s bakery. The boys went inside. There was a mess.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re here!” The floor was flooded in the kitchen. The boys helped her bail out the water and clean everything up. Apparently, a large tin barrel had gotten placed over the drain where the dishes were washed. They were all soaked to the skin by the time they were done.
The tight blue shirt Rat wore hugged his body. “Oh, you can’t go home like that.” Karen said. “Shion take him to your room and find him something to wear. I will wash and dry these.” She held her hand out for the shirt the other wore. Rat took it off handing it to her.
She blinked at the mark on his chest. There over his heart was a purple Shion flower tattoo. It was a little faded. “You’re only sixteen.” She said. Rat looked down at the tattoo.
“A guy did it when I was in a holding hospital before the Thomas’ took me in. It covers up a scar.” He said. Shion’s face flamed. He didn’t say anything as he headed to the stairs. Rat followed.
Shion opened the door to his room. Puma jumped up on his desk for a head rub. Shion gave it to her. He laughed a little as she pressed against him.
“Shion?” Rat said. He hunched his shoulders at the sound of his name. A hand touched his shoulder.
“I don’t like not talking to you.” He said. “It feels… empty.” He added. He looked away.
“I don’t like you not talking to me either.” Shion told his dresser as he opened it to pull out a t shirt for the other boy to wear. He held out a bright red one. Rat took it, slipping it over his head.
“The people I hang around….” Rat walked around the room as he spoke. It was a bare room, a bed a desk, a closet, a dresser. No posters or personal things anywhere. He looked at Shion.
“I don’t want them messing with you.” He said. “Why the hell don’t you have anything personal in here?” he yelled at the starkness.
“Because I only sleep in here.” He flashed a smile at Rat. Grabbing his hand, he laughed pulling him from the room. He ran to the end of the hall, opened another door and raced up the stairs. Flicking on a switch that turned on white and blue Christmas lights, Shion illuminated his favorite place.
There were shelves of books everywhere. Junk was piled up in weird places. Jars with things floating in them sat on shelves. There were plants hanging off of the beams. Though it looked chaotic, Rat saw the order in it. This was Shion’s mind. He looked out the window. Shion came to stand by him.
“That house with the skylight panels, is Safu’s.” He told him. Rat nodded. He went to another window to look out. There it was. He smiled.
“Shion, come here.” He demanded. When the smaller boy came over Rat placed him before him. He leaned on Shion’s shoulder.
“That house, the one with the red roof, you see it?” He asked. Shion nodded. It was in the far distance, and you had to look between two other houses.
“That’s my house.” Rat said. Shion smiled back at him.
“I understand you not talking to me in school because of your friends….” He paused. Looking back outside he asked. “But, outside of school?” he waited. Rat chuckled.
“You help me with my science grade and I ….” Shion agreed happily. Rat smirked.
“Spend the night here?” Shion asked stars dancing in his red eyes. “I have a lot of space to sleep in.” he rushed to show another room with bunk beds and a separate twin bed. Rat laughed.
“I have to go home, see if the old man needs anything, and get my clothes, but I’ll be back.” With that Rat walked out. The smile on Shion’s face etched forever in his mind.