Islander

Chapter 11: The Meeting

So George was kind to me, like I said. I know, it was still weird, but Jasper said I needed a friend; he was probably right. Or, did I? You see, my past experiences had totally altered my beliefs in friendship. So maybe I did not need any friends. "I could handle my shit," I kept telling myself. I was more comfortable to sing to myself that all the people in my life were mere acquaintances. I did not talk to many people, however, but the few I talked to were just people that coexisted on this Earth with me; for the fun of coexisting perhaps.

You see George first put the idea of a job in my head. I didn't totally like him, yet, but he had a point. I still had to represent my school in the fair. My school was not being supportive at all. They were willing to give me a workshop at least, but I needed way more than that. I needed to buy materials, I needed manpower, and I was still surviving from hand to mouth, barely.

"Where are you going?" Jasper asked.

"Oh." I snapped out of my thoughts. I had gone in so deep, I had taken steps away from "home" without even noticing.
"I'm going for a walk."

"Can I come with?"

"Nah. I really need to clear my head."

"But dude... You need Uncle J to..."

"Leave me alone Jasper." I snapped. His countenance fell, but I was too engrossed in my problems to pay heed. I left the bridge.

My hands were covered in my pockets. I had taken to a lonely path in a quiet, nearby estate, and to be honest, this rare "soul-finding" time was rewarding. Slowly, I walked down the road, kicking pebbles in the coal tarred floors as I came upon them. Football, it was to me. I would score a goal if I kicked a pebble and it ended up in one of the slits on the sidewalk that made way to the gutter beneath. I was still thinking what to do with my life though. Even if I did make it to the fair, there was no guarantee that I was going to win. That would mean coming back to Nigeria with no dreams and nothing else to do but school. And if I did win the fair, I would probably be Emperor of Krypton, or better, or worse. I'm not too sure.

Jasper liked flowers. I thought of him when I saw the host of sunflowers carefully bred on the flowerbeds next to the brick fence of a huge house. These were not the regular wild sunflowers we saw in the bushes. These were the beautiful, sweet scented ones. I walked to the fence and picked one. Its scent was overwhelming. My hands were immediately perfumed. Or maybe I was just paranoid, I did not care. So, one by one, I began to pick the flowers and stuff them in my pockets. It was all fun and games, until...

"Hey!" A manly voice called out from behind.

"Uhhh... Hello?" I replied.

"You are?" He asked.

"None of your business." I replied.

"What? Have you any idea who you are talking to?" The man said, infuriated.

"Nope, I don't know you. I don't care either. Leave me alone in peace, will ya?" I said, lackadaisically.

The dogs beside him sensed his fury, or the disrespect in my tone. I can hardly even tell. But they barked at me so furiously, with contempt written all over their faces. Two huge, black Rottweilers, this man wielded. I loved dogs, but these ones had funny looks.

"You hear that?" The man asked.
I continued to pick the flowers in silence.

"That is the sound of you in big trouble."

"Okay, fine. Let's pretend I care who you are. What do you want right now?" I asked, fed up.

"I want you to stop picking my flowers! They cost me a lot to maintain!" He shouted at the top of his voice.
I halted. I literally froze

                  *************

"Oh my God, you don't know how sorry I am." I said, remorseful. I felt so bad that I talked to this man so coarsely. I then realised, I was frustrates, broken, and was taking it all out on him- like I did Jasper earlier today.

"Yeah you better be" I thought one of the rotties was thinking with the look on it's face. I made a face at him reading, "don't blame me, bad day," and he yawned in response.

"I could call the cops on you. You have trespassed on my property." The man said, cutting short my dog conversations.

"Please Sir."

"Don't beg me. You're the same kid that was running his mouth here some minutes ago."

"My bad." I said. "Please forgive me. I can stick your flowers back in the ground if you want."

"No. Don't stick them in the ground. What I do want to know is why you were picking them in the first place."

"Jasper." I muttered.

"What?" The man asked.

"JASPER." I said, a little louder than usual, but with a downcast intonation. 

Author's Note:

Hey guys. I wanna take out some time to appreciate MoonlightStar50. She's great and played one half of a major role in bringing me back here. And also YvonneDiva. She played the other half of the major role😂😂😂. Bless you both, this Chapter is dedicated to you.
Now I don't mean to single out these two users and ignore every other reader of my works, no. You all are very amazing. If you're reading this right now, know that I love and appreciate you very much.

Thinktwice Darkson.