To The Place I Belong

ETHAN

“Alicia Walting? That blond girl, the dancer one?” I asked Ben, not removing my eyes off the tv.
“Ahuh” Ben had all his attention turned towards me. He wasn’t even watching the movie.
“History department you say?”
“Yup…”
“But how did you two get hold of each other? I mean she is pretty sexy and-” A pillow cam flying towards me and I caught it in right time.
“What do you mean, you assholic son of a bitch!”
“I mean, okay” I said laughing, “but how is she with you?”
“That’s a long story…”
“And I’m not going to listen to it now…”
“No you are.” Ben switched off the t.v.
“This is not done Ben!”
“Shut up and listen you moron. Jeffrey called me up on Friday to ask if  I were free, he and his friends were going out on a movie and he had a free ticket. Apparently one of his mates had fallen sick. So I said why not.”
I looked at him yawning, “Can you fast forward a bit?”
“Okay listen. I met Alicia there. She was of course with Zen, you remember him? Zen? That guy?”
“Which guy?”
“The hulk of our school?”
“Hulk? You mean Zen Langston? The fatty one? Zen?”
“Yes!”
“Our mighty hulk ? Is he in our college or something now?”
“Oh no, no, he is somewhere else now, I didn’t have the chance to ask but certainly not in our college, anyway, this mighty hulk has transformed into a muscular model, you would be awed!”
“What are you saying mighty Hulk into muscular model? WOAAHH!” I couldn’t help but gape at him.
“Indeed, difficult to believe, anyway our mighty hulk is with Alicia, I mean was with Alicia…”
“Wait! ‘Was’? Ben so you broke them up?”
He gave a laconic grin.
“What? Why? Just for a ball?”
“Man listen, George has got Isabel, you have got Sylvia, and where do I go?”
“What do you mean by I have got Sylvia?”
He was grinning again, “no Ben, it’s just the ball, we don’t even-”
“Okay!” Ben interrupted, “whatever, but I can’t die a virgin, okay? Since childhood it has been my only dream, not to die a virgin.”
“Alright what happened how did you break them up.”
“Actually I didn’t have to do anything, they were already so pissed off at each other, I mean they have had a fight before and unwillingly ended up at the movie. So here I come, a comforting boy, in the midst of a wreck, and guess what?”
“What ?” I asked drowsily.
“We even went out on a coffee date!”
“Hey wait! What? Without me knowing? How could you, you son of a bitch!”
“Hold on, I had called you that day, but you were driving somewhere with Sylvia. Remember?”
“I remember”
“So since then we have been going out.”
“By the way, Ben, how was the movie?”
“Movie? Movie my foot! This guy you see before you was busy providing his handerkerchief to the only girl who had ever put her head on his shoulder.”
“What a prat you are!”
“What for providing her my handkerchief?”
“No for missing such a good movie, I mean girls and all are okay, but that movie, Ben, it comes with some wholesome reviews.”
“Oh some other day!” he said absent mindedly.
I slapped him in the face and said “Wake up, ’cause what you are doing is wrong Ben”
“What? What’re you saying?” he folded his arms with eye brows crooked.
“I mean, its just a ball Ben, and you said you like Myra and were mad for her and now this thing- dating Alicia, taking advantage of a bloody little fight, that’s not right Ben”
His look softened. “Yes I do like Myra. But when there’s no alternative, it’s better not to stick around like a cute little Romeo for his Juliet to come -you know what I mean?”
I sighed. “I don’t know Bennie.”
“Okay by the way…” he sat up straight looking excited, “What about our clothes?”
“What about it?” I asked perfectly disinterested.
“Dude, have you ever thought Sylvia in the sexiest clothes and you in your worst shabby ones. How would you two look on a ball? Dude, don’t spoil it for her atleast.”
“Ben I hate it how you drag her into every conversation as a defence mechanism” I warned him gulping down a handful of popcorn and chewing it rapidly.
“Oh come on, now I know you’ve got your tuxedos ready, haven’t you Ethan?” and there his devilish smile tickled my conscience.
“Oh yes I have, actually.” I grinned back his devilish little smile.
A cushion hit my face followed by a punch, “TRAITOR! YOU TRAITOR ! ACTING LIKE AN INNOCENT ‘I DON’T CARE’ KID!”
“WOAH! Stop this rain shower of punches, damn you are choking me!”
“Okay, what about me?”
“I guess there’s something called ‘shopping’ which you need badly Ben. Especially taking your awful choices into consideration…you do need a guidance, a guardian angel to guide you…”
“Aha! So very funny! Alright” he said, his face receding into a thoughtful look, “I will try out a coat and shirt, it has been there untouched in the cupboard since centuries, okay? If that doesn’t do… then we resort to plan B : the moronic ‘shopping’.”
“Okay buddy, go move your ass and change into your clothes. Go!”
Ben shot up with, a zealous scuffle around the room and there he was in his white t shirt and unfitting black coat.
“Bennie…”
“What do you think?”
“I think, these are quite good only the coat-it’s a bit too oversized. You need shopping bro. Why don’t you go out with that girl on a shopping spree? Won’t that be good?”
His face suddenly illuminated, “Right! Right! Bro! Now that’s a great idea, only you won’t be there, that’s a problem we need to sort…”
I said hurriedly “Oh no, of course I won be there, but you two could have another date, think about that… After all I can always come over to see it…”
“Oh yes that’s that…” and he receded into calculations.
I just didn’t want to go on any shopping again, the tuxedo shopping had left me so tired, after all when Eliza and mom are involved in it, it cannot go smoothly. Actually it had been hours before I got to see home again.
“What’s that calculation all about?”
“My savings, you know… mom won’t lend me a penny.”
“How else are you going to get hold of a tuxedo?” I asked looking at his trodden face, “No, no, no, don’t think about borrowing.”
“No not that but there’s something else that you should know too. I forgot to tell you.”
I placed the pop-corn bucket on the table with all my filmy ardour, placing a hand over my heart showing a dignity that was hurt due to ill-bred friendship.
“What is it?”
“I’ve got a part time job at the wall-mart.” He said jeering.
“Oh really? Oh but that’s a good news, why didn’t you tell me…” and then I guessed it right. This Alicia Walting has got to his head.
“Alicia,” he said with a doubtful look, “she said that it wasn’t a great job, seeing my abilities, taking them into consideration, and stuff. I could do a lot more than you know… just get a petty job at a store…” He scratched his head and gave out a sigh.
“Has she gone crazy? Leave her, have you gone crazy? How could you ever think and entertain that nonsense inside your head? And forget that, you were mortified to tell me? Me of all the people? And you could tell that Alicia girl?”
“Oh-whoa-hold on. No, no, not mortified you know but still…”
I bashed him with the same pillow with which he had hit me and then gave him a strangling hug.
“Oh Ben, how could you ever be so stupid”
And with this came a grim realisation- Miss Alicia Walting had to be done away with before her venom poisons our whole lot. I had never really liked her.