by A.L. Bridges
****
I came into consciousness to a pounding headache and a steady beeping noise (the latter not helping the former). The sound of two people talking in the room grabbed my attention. Since I was unable to open my eyes, I listened in on the conversation.
“Then Rei screamed Cole—” Jason said before being cut off.
“But Chezarei doesn’t speak,” Tia said, interrupting Jason.
“Well, she was earlier,” Jason continued.
“She screamed his name a total of three times, usually after bouts of moaning,” Jason paused, as if remembering that Cheza and I are siblings, and then he said, “Sorry. I make stupid jokes when I’m nervous around pretty girls.”
“Well he might be stupid, but at least we know that he’s honest and has great taste in women!” Tia exclaimed and Sara scoffed, making her presence known to me. Based on Uncle Eric’s lack of laughter, I take it that he took Cheza home.
“Umm… Thanks?” Jason replied. “Anyway, Rei shouted his name three times, but the first time was most important. I had stopped the video after Cole got knocked out because it didn’t look like he was going to get back up again and I had all the evidence I needed. I moved from my spot underneath the tree and started to run towards the security room. Then I stopped when I heard Rei scream Cole’s name and Dwight started shouting at her.”
Ah, so that was Ogre’s real name. Jason continued his recalling of events.
“I was torn between running to get help and intervening to increase Rei’s chances of not getting hurt. Suddenly, Cole gets to his feet as if he were a puppet suspended on strings and he charged at Dwight like a man possessed. I stood there, stunned by the total badassery, as Cole flew through the air and threw an elbow into the back of Dwight’s head, forcing Dwight into the wall. Then Dwight was on his knees, screaming and holding his arm, and then there was this blur and Cole was kneeling on Dwight’s chest pummeling his face into the ground! It was great! Specks of that asshole’s blood were flying everywhere, hitting the wall and a bit even reached Rei! I started to run toward them to make sure Dwight’s two cronies didn’t finish Cole off. When they turned and ran, scared shitless and covered in specks of Dwight’s blood, I slowed to a jog.
At that point, Rei stood and started to get closer to stop Cole so I called out to her and warned her to stop in case Cole caught her with a reeling elbow from his punching. Then Cole turned around and looked at me so I introduced myself and he introduced himself and Rei. Then the security officer came around the corner and blah, blah, blah, Cole collapses on his face, Rei screams. The ambulances comes and the EMT’s load Cole into one of the ambulances. Rei starts in after Cole but the EMT is all ‘No I’m sorry miss but you can’t ride with him’ but Rei wasn’t having any of that. The look on the EMT’s face was priceless! Understandably too. I mean, if I had a girl with specks of blood on her face staring icy daggers into me like that, I’d get the hell out of her way too haha! I followed into the ambulance after her while the EMT was still stunned, and here we are.”
“Thank you, Jason. You have been very helpful. I just have one last question: why do you hate this Dwight boy so much?” Tia asked.
“During orientation last year, he purposely tripped me down a flight of stairs, breaking my arm, and then just laughed in response,” Jason explained.
“Thank you, Jason. You may leave now,” Tia said making it sound a lot more like an order than an option.
“Alright cool… Well, I’m going to the cafeteria to get something to eat. I guess I’ll come back in like an hour to see if he’s awake and then I’ll rethink my options,” Jason replied.
“Isn’t there someone that can come pick you up?” Sara asked, warmth and concern emanating from her voice.
“Nah, my mom is always away on business and my dad isn’t around. I just walk to and from school. I only live about two miles away. Anyway, need food,” Jason replied sounding a bit uncomfortable, and then he left the room.
“Tia! Did you notice that kid!?” Sara urgently whispered. “And it sounds as if Cole—” Tia cut her off, making a tsk sound by sucking her teeth.
“Just get some rest Cole,” Tia said to me.
As sleep took me, I heard Sara say, “Damn he is getting good at that!”
…
I awoke some time later to a pounding headache, a steady beeping noise (the latter still not helping the former), and a warmth on my right hand and leg. I looked over to investigate the heat source and saw Cheza holding my hand, resting her head and shoulders next to my leg from her seat at my bedside. She was wearing jeans and a blue t-shirt, confirming my earlier hypothesis about Uncle Eric taking her home. A familiar fruity smell was permeating the air that I quickly recognized as Cheza’s hair. The smell reminded me of frozen mandarin oranges for some strange reason.
I quickly scanned the room and noticed the bathroom to my left, diagonally from the door to the right of my bed. I moved slowly so I wouldn’t wake Cheza, and then made a brisk walk towards the bathroom. I didn’t feel too bad, all things considered.
“Well, you have certainly gotten bigger since I last took a bath with you seven years ago!” I heard Tia say, knowing that seductive smile was on her face because of her tone. I froze and slowly turned, suddenly aware that I was completely naked. Tia was sitting in a chair with a book face down on her lap, wearing white shorts, a blue t-shirt, and matching blue sandals that just screamed ‘Athens’ to me. The reason I hadn’t seen her is because the chair was blocked by the folded privacy curtain on the wall.
“Here, put this on in case Chezarei wakes up,” Tia said and tossed me a gown that was on the table to her right.
“Thanks,” I muttered and then hustled to the bathroom to do my business and get dressed.
I exited the bathroom to find Tia reading her book and Cheza still sleeping. Not surprising considering the rough day that she had, what with the getting covered in blood while her brother nearly beat a guy to death after watching her brother get the shit kicked out of him. Wait, I’m that brother.
Cheza snorted slightly before whispering “Cole” on the exhale. I started to wonder if she could say anything else.
“As far as I can tell, that is the only thing she can say so far,” Tia said, interjecting on my thoughts. I looked over to find that she hadn’t even looked up from her book. I didn’t reply while I carefully climbed back into bed.
“You just missed Jason. Sara is giving him a ride home right now,” Tia informed me in a hushed tone.
“Am I expelled?” I asked.
Tia snorted in response. “No, I had an associate of mine take care of it.”
Tia’s response immediately made me think that my earlier assessment of her previous career had been a little off. I don’t think she was a bear assassin… I think she trained bear assassins! And I don’t mean people who assassinate bears—I’m thinking of bear assassins. An elaborate montage of scenes flashed into my head:
Four different species of bears sitting around a table in a dark room that is lit only by a Pixar style lamp that is shining directly on the dossiers of their targets. There’s a bear sitting at a café wearing a brown fedora and matching trench coat, reading a newspaper while watching one of the school’s board members order his coffee. The next day, he is working there as a replacement for the regular barista who is ‘sick and totally not tied up in the trunk of his car’. When the board member comes up and orders his regular, non-fat latte with caramel, BAM! Poison!
Another bear is running surveillance on another board member, making notes of the times she goes to work each morning. A team of two other bears hides in the bushes in the dead of night while wearing night vision goggles. They rush over to the second board member’s car that is parked in her driveway and rig a pound of C-4 to the ignition block. The next morning when she turns her car on, BOOM!
All four bears are sitting around the table, which now has stacks of magazines on it, looking ridiculous as they cut out letters for an anonymous thre
atening letter to the third board member that says “If you don’t want to end up like the other two, then do as we say! Bring two million in non-sequential bills to this address. OR, leave the affairs of *undisclosed* private school to the school’s principal,” Finally, Tia talks with the school principal to seal the deal.
“But you do have to see the principal once you go back to school,” Tia finished.
I stared at Tia, still horrified by the thought of her team of bear assassins.
“Don’t worry! That guy isn’t dead. He is just in a mild coma. I am tempted to send one of my associates to persuade him to assure that he never messes with you or Chezarei again. You know, when he wakes up… or if,” Tia said while completely misjudging the look of horror upon my face.
A picture flashed into my head of two bears holding down Dwight’s arms, his ass sticking up in the air while a third bear rips down his pants and carves ‘I WILL NOT FUCK WITH COLE OR CHEZAREI’ into his ass with a shank, followed by an alternate picture of a bear holding a pillow down on Dwight’s unconscious face.
I just looked at Tia with my mouth agape after snapping out of my montage, and said “Don’t do that.”
Tia laughed in response and said “I’m going to go get something to drink,” as she stood up and started for the door. When she reached the doorway, Tia turned around, walked over, and hugged me.
“You did well, Cole… protecting Chezarei like that,” she whispered into my ear, causing me to become officially freaked out.
Tia broke away from the hug and gave me a warm, tender, smile while resting her hands on my shoulders, a gesture that had seemed almost impossible from Tia.
“Get some rest, Cole. You’ve earned it,” Tia said
I was officially convinced that this was all a freaky dream so I allowed unconsciousness to reclaim me, hoping that it would wake me up.
****