GLITCH

CHAPTER SIX

By the time I made it back out to the general hall, Xera, Femi, Richard and Evie had returned. They were looking ragged for some reason. Their eyes had this sunken look to them; as though they'd been through hell and back. But they quickly masked it as soon as I entered into the room. Femi was the first to break the silence.

"Oh, look what we have here. A classic Cinderella story. Your city would be proud." He laughed, referring to Cinder City. The one place that destroyed me from inside out. But since it was Femi, he had the emotional intelligence of a cockroach. Which was saying a lot.

"How long did it take you to come up with that? 40 days and 40 nights?" I quipped making the others chuckle. Femi didn't find it though, the joke flew over his head.

"But, I've only been gone for a few hours..." Femi made as though to explain himself before Evie burst out laughing. Richard consoled Femi even though Femi had no idea why. He was even worse than I gave him credit for. Or maybe his arrogance made him blind to jabs at him. Probably the latter.

"Does sarcasm always skip past you or is your narcissism the only thing you have going for you?" I jabbed, making Evie inhale a breath and Xera stifle a cough. It was quickly masked but not before I heard it. I was glad to realize that she still had her sense of humour.

"Don't worry about it," Evie said to Femi who looked as clueless as a day old child. I started to feel pity for him but I didn't let the feeling linger.

"So, how was it?" I asked, letting myself plop down on one of the vacant chairs in the hall. The uncomfortable silence that ensued made me look from one person to another, wondering if they heard me.

"How was what?" Femi broke the silence, acting as clueless as usual. I thought maybe he was dumb at first then decided against it. He knew exactly what he was doing. Playing dumb was also the specialty of a narcissist.

"The main reason the four of you ran out of here like hell itself was on your tails. Care to share or am I the odd one out?" I asked, merely to make them feel guilty and spill everything right out before they realized. But, that much wasn't enough to faze them.

"Stuff. We did stuff." Evie said flippantly, still admiring her nails. She had a thing for those nails that I couldn't understand. But while such a behavior would look weird or unseemly in others, it positively radiated her personality. Xera was quiet. As though she was brooding about something. I wanted to reach out and place my hand on her face like I used to, to feel that bond we once had. Xera wasn't just a friend; she was a sister. We did virtually everything together once. Her eyes would twinkle and the grey in them would be so visible, they shone like stars.

"Marv, see. It is alive." She'd squeal in excitement, cradling the once broken body of the bird that fought to stay alive. She'd nurse it back to health and the pure joy that exuded from her was enough to make me stop and stare for a few seconds. Xera had always been the pure one. She called me Marv even though I tried to tell her spelling Mavery meant the 'r' comes later. She never listened or cared to. So, Marv stuck.

"You've done it again, performed a resurrection. How do you feel?" I'd ask, sharing in the excitement she brought. She was always that way, always the optimist. She exuded a kind of charisma I could only rejoice in, but never have. I was a pessimist, I didn't believe anything could get better. The Blacks were relatively left alone to fend for themselves so the regulators never really bothered with us. We got food ourselves and starved on the days we couldn't. Xera was the only light I had during those days. My mother was there but wasn't. She always had a faraway look in her eyes, as though she was where she wasn't supposed to be. I could relate. I didn't want to be in the Black sector either.