Masquerader

Chapter 8

           One night, Cenne went to the store with Scar. On her way, Cheio and Jack were sitting by the side of the road. When she was coming back from the store and passed by them Jack said, " How are you?" Cenne didn't respond. When they got a little ahead Scar asked Cenne why did he say that? Cenne said I don't have any idea. And they both started laughing.

           It was August, Cenne, Zoe, Scar, and some other kids were at the park playing monopoly. Jack and Cheio were on a bench in trousers. They stayed there, watching them. Zoe's class fellow passed from the path between them and she waved at her. Cheio waved towards the girls maybe because he thought they were waving at him. When everybody had gone back and only Cenne and Zoe were left, they went home to eat. When they came back, Jack and Cheio were still on the street. The girls were going for the bench when some boys on bicycles came. They were shouting something at them and one even called out Cenne's name but she didn't hear anything. Zoe told her what they were saying. When they got where Cheio and Jack were, Cheio stopped them. He said something to them and the next thing Cennne knew was that Cheio was kicking that kid's cycle. That was such a scenario. Jack was looking at the girls and girls were looking at them nobody had any idea what happened. Cheio was talking to them and then he made those kids bring his bicycles with them and he took them to his brother. When Cenne asked him what had happened? He told her that he brought them to his brother and he made them apologize and he was gonna make them apologize to you too but I wasn't sure if I should bring them to you or not.
             Cenne would spend most of her time on the roof. Even in the sunny days of the hot summer and the cold nights of the freezing winter. All that time she would just look down on the road peeking at everybody that passed hoping to catch sight of Cheio or walking randomly imagining fantasy scenes with him. When she would finally see him passing, there would be a big smile on her face. He never looked up but she would always stare at him. Looking at him hoping that he might look up, at her. She observed him so much that she could just recognize him by the way he walks, his arms, neck, his hair, and back of his head. She even knew what clothes he had. She could tell if that is him or not from a great distance or in a busy crowd.
One summer evening, a person came in the park just after the call for the Maghreb, he was in white shalwar kameez and his personality was breathtaking. The way he walked. his back, and everything else. Cenne wasn't really sure if it was cheio or some random guy passing by. She was on the roof. She kept staring at him. He went through the whole park and all this time Cenne was thinking that he kinda walks like Cheio but she has never seen him in white shalwar kameez although she had seen pictures of him in it. She was confused. When he came out of there and was right in front of Cenne's house, she got the perfect view of him and to her amazement, it was Cheio. There again, was the happiest smile on Cenne's face.
              She started chatting with him regularly. She liked him. One day, he didn't reply to her. She was waiting for fir his reply with great curiosity but he wasn't replying. Hours passed and just like that, days. It had been more than a week when his reply finally came. He told her that he didn't have his phone as he gave it to her sister because she needed one and hers was dead.
Cenne was so into him that she even started taking leaves from school only to talk to him. He asked her about her birth date and what she wanted for her birthday. She said she don't want anything. He asked her "What do you like? As in jewelry?" She told him that she likes watches. Only watches. She also had bought a gift for him weeks before his birthday. It was a plain white mug which she was gonna decorate herself. She had thought about putting some flowers and chocolates in it. She always had a creative, crafty mind. She would talk to him all day as no one else would be home. He had told her that he has bought a present for her birthday. It made her happy; she liked presents and she like Cheio so that was double happiness. On his birthday, she didn't go to school and started talking to him as soon as her mother stepped outside. He had told her that they will meet sometime. She could come to his house or she could invite him to hers. She thought he would take off from the office that day and they will meet but he did not. He went to the office, they were still chatting and they were talking about her family. Although she was the one who started to rant he said something that got her really mad and she blocked him, permanently.
               Cenne would be with Maple, Jacey at school. Maple told Cenne that Cheio wished her on her birthday. She was wondering how did he know about her birthday.
                She really liked him but she was double as mad at him. She didn't even miss him or thought about him desperately for a whole week, which was great because as Cenne was expecting she would be all depressed and sad.
                She was so cross at him that she decided to return the chain he had gifted her and she took it with her to school in the pocket of her blazer. She planned to return it to him on her way back from school as he would always be in the way. When she was just exiting from the school gate she put her hand in her pocket to check if the chain was still there but it wasn't there. She checked all of her pockets, her bag, she went back to the classroom, the ground, and traced every path she had taken that day. But she could not find it. She even went to the mall and checked out every single shop if they had a chain like that one but no one did. She felt so stupid. She had to return it at all costs.
               Cenne's birthday was fourteen days after Cheio's birthday. It was a sunny day in the mid-winter. She got many wishes from the teachers and friends, many presents from her friends at school. She was happy but not fully because she was missing something and that was Cheio. It was as if she was expecting something from him. Her dad picked her up from school that day so she was minutes earlier than the school bus and Cheio wasn't at his usual spot which made her sad. She had plans with her family and they were going to get a fancy dinner. When she got all dressed up and got out of the house, she was still thinking about him. Even in the car, her eyes were looking for him but she didn't saw him.
              Days later, she had heard about an accident that took place between a heavy truck and a motorcycle. Cheio drives a motorcycle and the person who was on a bike got severely injured. He was Cheio's age. Cenne was really worried. She was praying for him. She was so tense, she told Zoe about that and asked her to call him to know if he's alright. She didn't call him herself as she had to go out of town with her dad. All the way, she was praying in her heart for his health and she was continuously praying to the Almighty that please the person who got in the accident would recover quickly and that that was not Cheio. She didn't know why was she doing this but she was just praying. When they were coming back they met a person from their town. He came there to know about the health of the person in the accident. He told her father about that person and she was so relieved to know that that wasn't Cheio. She still prayed but for that guy's health and quick recovery. When she met Zoe the next day, she told Cenne that she called on Cheio's cell but nobody picked up so I called again and the person who picked up the phone wasn't Cheio but his brother. Zoe asked him if she could talk to Cheio. He said, " Who are you? What's your name?" She replied, " I don't have a name." He said, " What? Your parents didn't name you anything?" She replied, " No." He then said, "I know you're from the same area as you're calling from the landline. Which one are you?" She didn't say anything so he asked again, "What's your name? She said, "I'm a baby, I was born a few days ago." What he said next was shocking for both Cenne and Zoe. They had seen him and knew him too but he didn't know who HE was talking to. They were kids to whom he said, "Oh, so you're mother would be probably breastfeeding you." which was a big deal for them. She ended the call.