See In Him

13

  "You look tired today," Jesse commented. Kennith was brooding over a plate of uneaten eggs. He had slept in his own bed last night, which was an improvement, but he didn't seem well-rested in the least. That was going to be a problem if Jesse wanted Kennith to go along with his plan.

  "Because I am."

  "So... no school today?" The school assignments were still piling up.

  "Obviously." Kennith had already had that fight with his father that morning. Aja left in the middle of the night, so Kennith didn't have to fight with her, although the only reason she left was because there had been a nasty crash on the freeway and she was the one who had to pronounce the victims as brain dead. Then she would have to tell the family. In all honesty, he wished his mother didn't have to go.

  "Sweet," Jesse cheered.

  Kennith looked up in shock. "Sweet?" The guy wasn't begging him to attend just one class a week like every other person in his life? Kennith could see the blurred blob of man dancing around to the sink with his dirty dishes.

  "That means we get to go out! I got the best plans today. You'll see." Dishes clattered as he washed them. His excitement wore on Kennith.

  "Yeah... I'm gonna say no. I have a date with half a bottle of sedatives."

  "Nope. You're gonna seriously love it. Like, more than you liked the movie we saw."

  Kennith really, really liked that documentary. He had run out of new books to read. Did he want to stay home, sleep, and re-read books he had read a thousand times before? Not really. But Kennith didn't exactly trust Jesse's plans, either.

  "Where would we go?"

  "Nope. You come or you stay. I'm not telling what we're doing."

  "That makes me not really want to go," he admitted, shoving a fork full of eggs into his mouth. The action was more out of a search for distraction than hunger. "Well, you can stay home and be bored then."

  The fact that Kennith was even remotely considering it told him that his medication was working. The side effects hadn't completely set in yet, and until then, Kennith might just be that much happier.

  "I mean, I can't force you to go, but I thought we could also stop by a bookstore if you wanted."

  Jesse, with his face turned away, didn't notice the golden expression on Kennith's features. He dropped his utensil, and, without thought, blurted, "There's one right down town that has a good selection of braille!"

  "Hell yeah," Jesse agreed, before asking, "Are you done?" The boy had been playing with his food. He had eaten his fill a while ago. "Yeah," Kennith replied, allowing Jesse to take his plate and clean it. He wrapped his arms around himself. "Get ready to go, yeah? It's hot out, so maybe not black, if you can accomplish that," Jesse chuckled. Kennith didn't reply, although he wanted to inform Jesse that, really, he couldn't see a lot of colours very well, and the clothes he wore were safer to him than bright, unfamiliar tones. The brighter they were, the more they reminded him of night terrors, panic attacks, and that headache blooming steadily behind his eyes.

  Jesse left him alone at the island.
 
———

"It's really hot out today," Jesse commented. The air conditioning was nice, although the scalding sun beating down through the window to Jesse's truck was merciless. Kennith worried he would burn.

  Jesse's truck was a black blob that sat in their driveway for a long time. It made his parents' cars look like golf carts. The mammoth, shining tires stood to his hip. Kennith was about five feet and seven inches, so he honestly felt even smaller to be in the truck. The vehicle matched Jesse's personality, though; they were both huge and impossible to ignore. Inside, Kennith could smell aged leather and metal. It was hot. There was a thing layer of dust on the passenger door handle.