by Manu Amun
Chapter 20
On my way to my lunch I ran across a particular fellow, he was in a few of my classes but he kept to himself. He was pushed around a lot by the “cool” kids who to me were my future garbage men and mail carriers; nevertheless, he was the butt of a lot of torment to many at the school. His name was Zayin, and I had introduced myself right before I made my way into lunch.
“Hey what’s up, I see that these guys are not only just jerks to me I see.” I said.
“Yeah they have been like that since freshman year. They have never called me a terrorist though, that is new. You handled it pretty well, these days that is the worst thing to call someone.” he said.
“People say what they can but it does not mean anything to me. I know who I am and what I stand for which is more than a lot of these so called tough guys can say about themselves. Do you know who that kid was by the way?” I asked.
“That was Aleister he has some spell over the student body at school. They think he is so cool but I do not see it, he just seems like a jerk to me who has nothing original to add other than his money and his parents’ exploits in government and entertainment.” Zayin said.
“Well to each his own, I am hungry who you sitting with?” I asked.
“Oh I usually do not eat in here, I just grab something to run and head to the library.” he said.
“Today is different; you have to meet my crew. You seem cool and we are new and need to get to know people so why not?” I asked.
“Sure what is the worst that can happen?” he added.
As we walked into the room I was still receiving pats on the back, seemed like Aleister was not the most liked guy in the school so this was a great situation for us. I saw Bilal in the lunch line and made my way over to him.
“Hey Bilal this is Zayin, seems like a cool guy so I thought I would introduce them to the mob.” I said.
“Just a fair warning our sister and her friend who might as well be our sister too are crazy and inseparable. So do not take whatever lumps they give you personally, I think they enjoy tormenting the souls of others.” Bilal said.
Before I could even massage his worries a loud bang was heard from the other side of the lunch room.
“Next time you call my brother a terrorist I will end you do you hear me1” Nyema said in a loud voice that carried over the entire lunchroom.
I pulled my head down for a moment in shame and quickly made my way over to the disturbance although it was more to make sure she did not hurt anybody. As Bilal and I pulled the two culprits from the scuffle with Aliester which of course was Skylar and Nyema luckily nothing had escalated to the point where teachers had to be involved.
“You said make an impression right.” Nyema said as we were walking away with a sadistic smile on her face.
“Yeah but you probably scared the hell out of every guy in the school. You all do not have the concept of blending in at all. You three are going to make me a social outcast, and then Zohar is bringing around strays. I mean come on!” Bilal said.
As we made our way back to our lunch table, I caught Aleister and his friends starring a hole into us but I paid it no mind and began to try to figure out what Nyema was thinking.
“Really Nyema, really?” I asked.
She responded with her famous shoulder shrug which she has been doing since a toddler.
“Somebody needed to check him and Bilal did not say anything so what was I suppose to do?” she asked.
“And you know we follow each other up on everything!” Skylar added.
“Did he touch you?” I continued to question.
“Do you think he would still be walking around if he did?” Nyema said.
“Nyema, Zohar already won without having to step outside himself, there was no need for us to get involved.” Bilal said.
“Well he lost twice today then, and I did not step outside myself Bilal. I was completely in character and everyone in this school got a glimpse.” Nyema continued.
“You all said we needed to meet different people, and what better introduction. Two beautiful ladies that can get a little dirty when needed. Isn’t that a guys dream?” Skylar asked.
“I guess we will see.” I said
“And who is this guy at our table?” Nyema asked still turned all the way up from the confrontation.
“This is Zayin; we met him on the way in here. He has had issues with Aleister as well. We did not get too much into their issues yet which why I asked him to sit with us. If I would have known that you two ladies were on the strangest popularity campaign I have ever heard of ready to fight for respect I may have told him to come by tomorrow.” I said.
As we sat down and ate our food we were able to get a better glimpse into who Zayin was. He was a recent transplant from New York City where his parents were relocated for work because his father had got a new teaching opportunity in the area. He seemed to have a hard time adjusting to life in Arizona. He hated the heat, missed the grass-well what little he saw in the concrete jungle of NYC, and most importantly he was not a fan of Aleister. I lived by the rule that the enemy of my enemy was my friend and Zayin made that statement easy because he was so easy to be around. He had that arrogance and cockiness of your typical New Yorker but there was an energy that he gave off that made us feel like we had known him forever. We all just clicked and that was not easy with us.
With all these warm and fuzzy feelings in my first impression of Zayin we were never too comfortable to reveal who we truly were. Still, with such a big secret unable to be revealed we still all knew that he would be our friend.
That day after class we saw ourselves transforming in the eyes of the student body as all eyes were on us but I had moved on and began to prepare my mind for tonight where we would be continuing our study session. I just hoped that everyone kept their mouth shut about the events of the day where I set mistakenly put the spotlight on the crew with Nyema and Skylar following suit at lunch. Bilal was able to fly below the radar but he got along so well with everyone, I was never concerned about trouble from him except for with the ladies. And right on cue as we were leaving school we ran into Binah and Shekinah in the parking lot.
“He guys, you hanging with Zayin now?”Binah asked.
“What is it to you?” Nyema responded.
“He is just a little strange is all and keeps to himself; I just didn’t think he liked people. I guess you all bring the best out of everyone.” Shekinah responded.
“Well that is what we do; you all need to get with the home team.” Bilal replied.
“Yeah Zayin is cool though you all should make sure we come by the lunch table tomorrow and we can all kick it. I will make sure school is without incident from us, we will stay out of trouble. Scouts honor.” I said.
“Yeah your sisters scare us; we thought they were going to kill Aleister today.” Binah said.
“Yeah well I don’t take kindly to people coming at my family sideways, girls included.” Nyema said.
“You see, she doesn’t play. You all better be nice to us or we will be sending the girls out there for you. Do not be fooled by the pretty face and girlie clothes. She scares me and has been beating us up since we were little.” Bilal said.
“But we have to get out of here and do our homework, so we will see you al tomorrow.” I told them.