Why I Can't Rule The World

No. 4

""But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him
... And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise.""
--Luke 10:33-37
(The Parable of the Good Samaritan) [ESV]

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That night when I drove my siblings home, the ride was nearly silent for the first five minutes. Asher was sleeping deeply in the back, his small inhales and exhales keeping my thoughts from wandering too far from the present. Pearl looked out the front window, unblinking. I kept looking over at her to make sure she was still alive.

Finally, she spoke. I almost didn't catch what she said, it was so soft and unexpected.

"She told me that she wouldn't miss it," she said, turning to look at me with a pained expression on her face. "I saw what happened when she didn't go to your stuff and you became upset. I told myself not to get too hopeful, because I knew what would happen. I told myself not to even ask her."

Pausing, she looked away and swallowed.

"It's not your fault," I said pathetically.

"Tin Tin, I told myself not to expect her. I made sure to keep that in mind all day but... I truly thought she'd show up. I was so excited to show her what I could do. I wanted her to be - to be proud of me, for once."

The words tugged at my heart. I was speechless.

"Don't tell her I was this upset okay?" Pearl choked out. She was crying again.

"But she needs to know how much this meant to you," I started.

"No. She doesn't. It's just a game. I don't know why you even care in the first place," she interrupted.

"Okay," I breathed, not saying anything more.

We went back to not speaking. The only sounds in the car were Pearl's sniffles and Asher's steady breathing. The broken-hearted and the innocent.

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A day passed, and it was finally Saturday. I never did tell Mom about how Pearl felt, that she had cried. Asher kept quiet too. He's a good little man to tell things too; he doesn't have the vocabulary or the peers to say anything to.

Jimmy and Marcus invited me to go to the movies with them. They picked me up to go see an afternoon showing at the good movie theater about forty-five minutes away. It was an okay movie. Not that we really paid attention, Jimmy hates serious things. They acted like everything was normal between us, like I hadn't yelled at Ace or anything. Maybe they had forgotten about it.

As we were walking out of the theater, it was around dinner time and the three of us were starving. Marcus went to go get the car while Jimmy and I waited for him.

"Stupid chick flicks," Jimmy groaned. I laughed.

"Yeah, it was pretty bad."

"I saw at least ten girls crying, so dumb. He clearly didn't love her from the beginning!"

"What makes me laugh is that you're so into debating about it," I pointed out.

"Oh, hush." He slapped me on the shoulder and I laughed. Then he reached into his back pocket for his phone and a shocked look spread across his face. "Awe dude."

"What?" I asked.

"My phone. I think I left it in the theater."

"Wanna go look for it?"