Do you remember? (A Ninjago Jaya fan fiction)

Chapter 14 - The last place we left off

Chapter's title from Snow Patrol - Set fire to the third bar

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" I asked nervously about as I gazed out the window.
"Are you kidding? It's a great idea! A day out at the beach is the perfect way to chill out after these hellish last few days! Lloyd almost begged his uncle to let us have a day off from training. I'm glad he did!"
Cole sounded way more excited than I was. I couldn't tell whether he was overdoing it to pick up my mood or if he was genuinely that happy.

My sturdy best  friend was however truly enjoying the ride in his brand new jeep - his most recent automobile toy since Master Wu and the commissioner had forbidden him to use his massive earth driller ever again in the streets of Ninjago.
Thank god because that bloke with his hell of a machine were a real menace to society. The number of times a portion of the highway was destroyed in order to escape the traffic jams was simply appalling.

I opened the window to feel the fresh air whipping my face.
"No, in fact I meant, bringing Kai along." I was terribly moody after the last few days and I wished Cole hadn't insisted so much on getting me out of monastery. The last thing I wanted to do was face that prick again or endure his presence, not to mention let him get the better of me with his bitter remarks.

"Don't worry about him. He went out early to pick up Skylor on his way to the shore and you know, he's a different person when she's around. I bet what happened between you two already came to her ears and he's getting his head chopped off as we speak." He chuckled then briefly turned towards me.
"She always talks a lot of sense into him, and before long he'll apologize to you. Trust my words."
I kept my eyes intently on the landscape passing out the window in a multicoloured blur.
"Whatever I don't care."
"You sure?"
"Yeah I'm not one to hold a grudge for long anyway. Ultimately we both want the same thing , right?"
I sounded more indifferent than I intended to. Maybe I was being less naive about things and people. At last.

"Alright, Mr Wiseman. You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm good. Do you mind if I make a call?"
"Not at all."

I swiped  my phone out of my bag and fast dialed the first contact on my favorites list.

After five long seconds (I could almost hear them rushing to grab the phone, hollering "Coming through, hold on!"), a breathless but heartfelt voice delivered the usual slogan: "Ed and Edna's Scrap 'n Junk. How may I help you?"

I couldn't help but feel relieved and warm inside. The muscles in my shoulders relaxed ever so slightly. Home. I breathed out and initiated with as positive a tone as I could offer, given the circumstances:

"Hi mum, it's me. Hi dad, I suppose he's listening too, is he?"
"Yes of course he is ! Ed !!! Our sweet Jaykins on the line!" Mum cried out in my ear which made me wince.

"I'm here! I'm here! Hold on! How are you son? Do you know how you got your old parents worried sick. Figure, we didn't hear a single word from you since you went back to the monastery. No calls or texts. Your mum could hardly get a wink of sleep for days. You know how she is. I told her you were probably very busy catching up with your friends but still, she would be on pins and needles all day. Not that I wasn't anxious myself but you know how mums are."

Do I? How could my real mother leave me to strangers like that? Did she ever happen to worry too? How could she spend the last 20 odd years not contacting me, not looking for me? It baffled me. For the last couple of years, I convinced myself she might have died. It seemed like a logical narrative. Nope she was alive, she had always been there, somewhere. Not giving a second thought on her son.
In the background I could still hear my dad, well Ed, blabbering away while I was lost in my own petty rambling. We might not be biologically related, but we at least shared this rather annoying ability (or so everybody pointed out) to get carried away with an endless flow of thoughts, whether it be aloud or in our own minds.