by M.D. James
Chapter 8
At breakfast the next morning, I was told that father had to go on a long business trip and would be gone several weeks. I was sure he was being a coward and did not want to be around if I told anyone what he had done to me the night before. He could stay gone forever, as far as I was concerned. It was my day off, so Zack and I planned to go to the movies with Chris and Mark.
Mr. Bryant drove us to Atlantic Station, an outdoor shopping mall and living area. I must say, it was quite beautiful. Chris and Mark were meeting us later, so Zack took the extra time to show me all around. Besides the Regal Cinemas movie theater, Atlantic Station had clothing stores, department stores, restaurants, and kiosks. We headed to Target to look at the new TVs. I’m not sure why, but Zack always loved looking at the TVs.
“Come on, Zack….you don’t need a new TV. You already have a great TV in your room,” I reminded him.
“I know, but these are thinner, and are SMART TVs” he countered. A SMART TV included an internet connection and special applications for streaming online content. I guess that would be nice to have, but Grandfather didn’t allow the internet in the house. If he did, I would’ve been able to search for my Mom and sister more effectively.
After looking at the TVs, we headed to the clothing section. Zack also had a fascination with jackets. He saw a black, pea coat that he wanted. It was only $49.99, which was cheap for him. He wanted me to take a picture on my iPod of him wearing it. When I did, I started cracking up laughing.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“Look at your zipper,” I said. It was all the way down, and looked funny in the picture, because he was trying to look so classy with his pose. He zipped it up, and explained to me that it was broke, and always goes down. “Stop wearing those jeans then. It’s not like you don’t have thirty other pairs,” I told him.
He bought some chocolate milk from this clueless cashier, named Zeus. Who names their kid Zeus? The cashier didn’t seem to know how to scan the item, or manually punch in the UPC code. After ten minutes, and help from two other clueless employees, Zeus was able to get the item rung up and we were finally on our way.
Next to Target, there was a little stream or river. There was an arch-shaped monument or building next to it that resembled a famous monument in Paris. We crossed the bridge over the water, and made our way to Ikea.
I swear we looked at everything in Ikea. Up until then, my life had been reserved to just the house, school and the hotel, so it was nice to get out and see some of Atlanta. I liked the way Ikea had little apartment setups in their furniture section, so you could see how to fit a whole apartment in like 250 sq.ft. Zack and I played hide and seek, by taking turns hiding and making the other search. The employees didn’t seem to mind, and we had some good laughs.
“Are you hungry?” Zack asked.
“Sure,” I replied enthusiastically. “What do you have in mind?”
“Well, they have Swedish meatballs with potatoes and gravy here. Or, we can go to Which-Wich.” Which-Wich was a sub sandwich shop that made hot subs. “There’s also a Subway or a Moe’s,” he offered.
“Let’s go to Moe’s,” I decided. I love Mexican food, and it was the only place I was familiar with that sounded any good.
As we walked back to the main shopping area towards Moe’s, I kept trying to trip Zack. It was funny because he fell for it every time. And, I’d make sure to only do it when pretty girls or ladies were walking by, so it would embarrass him more. “I’m gonna kill you, Jimmy!” he said, but not in a serious way. I am pretty sure he was having just as much fun as I was.
While we were at Moe’s, Zack got a call. “What’s wrong?” he asked the caller. “Oh no…that’s a bummer, dude!”
“Who is it?” I whispered, but he just ignored me.
“Are you sure?” he asked the person on the other end of the call, in a pleading tone.
Again I asked, “who is it?” He just shushed me.
“Well, okay. Hang in there.” He hung up the phone and told me it was Chris, and that they weren’t coming. It seems that they got in trouble for talking their neighbor’s son into putting rocks in his ear. They told him it was a magic trick and that the rocks would magically come out his mouth. When the first one didn’t come out of his mouth, the kid tried again, and again. He was fine but his parents rushed him to the hospital, and called Chris and Mark’s dad.
We ended up seeing a movie alone, which was fine with me. I liked bonding with Zack. He was truly my best friend now. He comforted me when I had run ins with Grandfather, and just made me laugh when he knew I was missing my Mom and sister. During the movie, there was a part where a mother was arrested. Zack must have sensed that it would get to me, so he grabbed and held my hand. It was nice. We held each other’s hands until the movie ended.
As if he were waiting on us all day, Mr. Bryant was outside the movie theater the second we stepped out the door. I asked him if he had been waiting a long time. “No sir, Mr. James. It’s my job to be right on time, and I’m good at my job,” he said with a light chuckle.
“Yes, you are,” I confirmed. I added, “you know, you can call me Jimmy.”
“Master Muse wouldn’t like that,” he replied, referring to Grandfather. I knew he needed his job and Grandfather had eyes everywhere, so I didn’t take it personally. Mr. Bryant was one of my favorite employees of Grandfather’s. He had been working for Grandfather since 1974. I imagined he knew everything about our family. Maybe one day, I could find out if he knew anything about my Mom and sister’s whereabouts.