The Trio

Chapter 9

Laughs

The car ride home was short and when we arrived, mom told me to sit by the fireplace. She pulled up a nearby chair. She had a very serious face on and the room had a stuffy feeling to it. She took a deep breath and said, "Yari's mom was killed" I didn't believe her...she can't be- "Tori...you have to be strong...Be strong not just for him...but for Bira as well..." she said as she placed her hand on mine. I nodded and she stood up and kissed my forehead. "I have a late shift tonight so you'll have to eat cereal for breakfast tomorrow...love you..."

I heard the door close and the lights dim. But my body wouldn't move...it took me about two hours to process, I was wondering and trying to understand why my mom told me that she was dead and why she told me out of the blue like that. What am I going to tell Yari? Even worse...how am I going to tell Bira?

The weekend came and went and Yari was healing well. The doctor said he could leave as soon as Tuesday if things went according to plan. Bira still meets up with me after school and asks about how Yari's doing. Since he was still in the hospital, he was all she wanted to talk about.

"How about you come with me and my mom to go visit him?"

I could see the water build up in her eyes, "...ok..."
The bell rang and the teacher dismissed us from class. That day, the sun felt like it hardly shone at all. "Hey mom, can we take Bira with us today?"
"Yah"
As we drove to the hospital Bira called her mom to let her know where she was going and who she was with.

"Bira...there's something I need to tell you..." I met eyes with my mom in the rear view mirror when I started.
"What is it Tori?" She asked
I turned my attention to her and said, "Yari's mother was killed by his father. That is why he's staying with us..."

I finally said it, but it hurt my heart so much to see the look in her eyes. Her face didn't look fazed in the slightest, but her eyes...they went from a joyful summers breeze, to a dark stormy night in an instant.

We got out of the car and by the time we reached the entrance Bira had just broke down. She just stood there holding her hands to her face, wiping away the tears as they spilled out.

"Awe honey..." my mom approached her and she gave her a hug. "It's ok" she said stroking her hair. I walked over and held my hand out for Bira to hold. My heart didn't want her to take it but at the same time my body wanted to comfort her. She rubbed off the last few tears and took my hand. We entered and as we got closer to his room, her grip got slightly tighter with each step.

Finally, we reached his door. We knocked and opened the door. Still dressed in his pjs and that annoying sound of silence in the room except for the constant beeping of  the machine.

"Go ahead and say hi" my mom urged us. Still holding hands, we both walked closer. We looked down at the sleeping boy that was in pain. Bira's grip was so tight that my hand looked white. I turned to give her a hug and she buried her face into my chest. I didn't know what to do. All of it happened in an instant. I remembered what my mom did and started stroking her hair. It was so soft. The sent of it was like flowers blowing in the wind.

I looked down over to his face and saw that his eyes were open! "Bira!" I said pointing over to Yari. "Yari!" She said and laid her hand over his. "Bira! What a nice surprise!"
"I'm so sorry!" She said with a shaky voice.
Yari reached his hand out and put his hand on her cheek. "Thank you". He gave her a gentle smile and removed his hand. I am assuming she got the message that he knew about his mom and that she blamed herself for what happened.

The look on her face said that she was surprised as to what he just said. I put a hand on her shoulder and gave a warm smile. "Hey man!" I said and held my fist out.
"Sup" he pounded it with his. Bira laughed and said, "you're not dead!"
"Hey give me some credit! It takes a lot more than a knife to kill this guy!" He said trying to sit up.
"Hey man take it easy, it's only been two days since the stitches."
"Nah it'll be fine-"
I gave him one of those looks and he laid back down. "Mk! Bira, now that you've seen him for yourself will you stop sulking over Yari?" I looked over at her and saw her turn slightly red and say, "what?! No I wasn't, I mean- I was only worried about the wound! Nothing else!" At the same time Yari was going off saying, "wait, Bira was sulking over me?"

I couldn't help but bust up laughing! It was too good! Seeing the three of us back together brought a sense of warmth in the room. It was no longer silent, it was filled with laughter and joyful tears. "Hey man, you better get well soon! You got that?" I said
"Yah yah" he said waving his hand around.
"Why's that?" Bira asked
"Hehe, it's a guy thing" we said in unison. Bira rolled her eyes at our reliance. We stayed there laughing and making jokes. Though it was hard for Yari to laugh cause of the stitches.