Hybrid Read online

  I got up and went outside to the lawn, my sanctuary. Since I am living alone, this place is always eerily calm, but I always feel uneasy, anxious. There are two places where I like to spend my time. One is garden and the other one is my art room. My parents hardly ever came home after that Incident when I was three year old. If ever I was in trouble, which I rarely ever was, then they used to come. They never once shouted at me. When I was four years old. I thought, if I will get into some trouble they will come, as I knew that was the only time when I felt their love. But soon enough I realized that if they don't love me, there is no point in rebelling. I am 14 years old now. I am not that girl anymore who wants her parents attention. I am home tutored by a lady called Nicole. She never asks anything about my parents. She just comes and sits with me for 5 hours in morning and teaches me Maths, English, History, Geography and Arts. During my morning session with Nicole, Simon is not allowed inside. He can come after she goes from this place. Initially Simon was not allowed to stay here after 8 pm. As I reached 10 years of age, I started showing little signs of depression. So they striked off Don’t allow Simon after 8 pm from the Do’s and Don’ts list. After that he rarely ever went home for staying at night. One day I asked him that why his parents have no problem with him staying here. He told me that he himself was surprised that his parents had no objection. This was a peculiar behavior which I didn’t expect from his parents. His parents were doctors. They were really very close to each other as Simon was their only child. I had also gathered there closeness by the loving look that Simon has whenever he talks about them. I have never had the opportunity to meet them, as the only time I went to his home, they were not there.

  "What are you thinking?" Simon asked which startled me out of my thoughts.

  "Nothing much. I am just thinking about my parents." I said sadly.

  "You are thinking too much. Everything will be fine. Your parents love you. I can see them in their eyes. It is just that they have work to do. It is not that they can leave their work and stay here permanently." he responded softly.

  I don't think so. They think sending gifts for me and this big lonely mansion will make me happy. Even my brother has started giving me gifts now. I wish I could ask my parents why did they give me birth if they are going to treat me like a prisoner and a stranger.

  "I know what you are thinking. See it this way. Why will they provide so much security? It is because they love you. They even let me be friends with you." he uttered looking me straight in the eye.

  Leave it to Simon, for making me feel better. I gave him a small smile. There is no point in making him sad. Before I could change the subject, he himself altered it.

  "I want you to make my portrait." he cajoled

  "Ok. Let's go to my art room." I said cheerfully. Just the thought of art room makes me so happy.

  I told him to sit on the couch.

  I started with my charcoal pencil on the paper. I took one look at his face. His face was a bit round in structure, white tanned skin. His eyes were brown in color, unlike mine which were greenish blue in color, he had some light freckles on his nose, a perfect shaped nose and had a flabby stomach. He was wearing yellow mickey mouse shirt and trouser. He was really cute looking. My chimpanzee.

  After 25 mins his portrait was done.

  “Come here and take a look” I said excitedly.

  He literally jumped out of couch and happily sat beside me. “It is very difficult to sit still.” he uttered honestly.

  His eyes literally bulged out of the socket as he looked at his portrait. “Wow! Unbelievable!” he looked up at me with little sadness. “You know had your parents allowed you to attend my school, you would have become really famous not because you are the daughter of a very rich man, but because of your amazing skill. You are an incredible person." he paused for a second and then continued "I wish you could see yourself through my eyes. People like you are such a rare commodity. You have changed my life in so ma-”

  I chose that moment to cut him off as I didn’t know where he was going with this. One thing I was sure was that I was about to cry and I didn’t want to do that for the second time in a day “I am not a commodity.”

  He understood, like always. So he asked "When are you going?"

  "You won't believe what happened. My brother said someone is coming to pick me up in two weeks." I said still not quite believing what I had heard. Something must have prompted them to take such a decision.

  "It is very strange. Are you sure you don't know him?" he asked seriously

  "Yes. I am 100% sure." I confirmed

  Simon looked thoughtful for a moment "I think your parents are really trying to bridge the gap between your relations. That is why they are sending someone else this time. You will have at least one more person in your friend list."

  “I don't think so. I think they are sending someone so that I will have one less reason for hating them."I contradicted his reasons.

  Tack, the security head came inside and narrowed his eyes at Simon "Your mom is calling you. Go home." He barked in a hostile tone.

  Tack had this habit of talking down to him. Why does he always behave like this? These people should really loosen up a bit.

  Simon didn't like talking back to him. He just nodded. He turned his head towards me and whispered "I will call you. If it is important, I will have to stay there tonight. I will see you tomorrow." Then he got up. He looked again at me and said."Take care princess." Then he turned and walked graciously out of that room.

  Then I looked at the paintings around me. There was one portrait of my parents hanging on the white wall. Next to that was one of Sammy. When I started with his portrait, the entire time he was fidgeting. I still managed to draw him. At the end he said that this is the only sketch that I will ever get of him as sitting still is a very stringent task.

  The conversation we had today was so strange at so many levels.

  Zach? Who is he? Is he my parents relative? If not then what did he do to earn my parents trust?

  hYBrID III

  Dec 15th 2014

  Years passed by like a blur with each day dissolving seamlessly into another and before anyone realized it, the Big day had arrived. Today my parents were coming here. I mean I will be seeing them after two long years. Plus, I will also get to see Sammy when we will reach JC. Mary had already packed my bag and now I was anxiously waiting for my parents. In the meantime, I was mindlessly shuffling between the songs in my ipod as my restlessness was growing with each passing second.

  My phone ringtone echoed in the room, which was eerily quiet, like always. I frowned as I looked at the caller ID and saw an unknown number flashing across the screen. Nobody apart from Simon, my parents and Sammy had this number. Someone by mistake had dialed this number.

  I picked up the call.

  "Hello" I greeted casually. May be it was my Sammy calling me from a different number.

  Silence

  I waited for ten seconds.

  May be he is not able to hear me. 'Hello' I said little loudly this time.

  Once again I was greeted by the silence.

  "I am hanging up" I declared and.............................. still the same situation leaving me with no option other than hanging up.

  The phone rang the second time and the same thing happened.

  No response when I picked up the Phone.

  But when it echoed the third timeMary dashed into the living room. She was better than Beth, but still had that blank look on her face. She did her work sincerely and slept in a small house that my father had build for her in the backyard of our house.

  She looked at the phone and then at me.

  "What happened? Why are you not picking up the phone?" She inquired.

  "First I thought it might be from Sammy, but the continuous calls has vitiated my guess." I pointed at the phone and added."The caller is not saying anything. Furthermore, It is from an unknown landline number. Either the person is poor or has parents like me
who doesn't want their kid to have a cell phone until they reach a certain age. Simon was telling me the other day that cell phone is a very common thing these days. People own it like I have guards. It is pretty clear that the person needs some financial help." I stopped my rambling as Mary's face changed from slacked to serious one.

  "What is the area code?" She covered the distance between us in three long strides.

  "I don't know. It's not from West Virginia" I said and handed over my phone to her.

  Her face paled as she saw the number.

  "What's wrong?" I enquired coolly and took the phone from her hand which was shaking so badly that I was sure that had I not snatched my phone from her hand she would have dropped it.

  She didn't reply to my question. The phone started ringing again. Her hazel doe-eyes were wide and fearful, looking from place to place, but avoiding the place where I was standing.

  "Don't pick it up." she responded blatantly ignoring my question. She became more and more nervous and distraught. Her behavior was so unusual that I wanted to laugh. I mean it was just a call. No big deal. Looking at her panicked- stricken face I wondered if she even heard my question..

  "Mary. Do you know the caller?" I blurted out to get her to talk.

  But it seemed the wrong question as she started mumbling something under her breath. I just heard the last part."It's time" she muttered in a very melancholy voice. Her eyes had ceased its motion and now she was too busy staring at the floor.

  For what?

  I raised my hand and gently touched her shoulders. That broke her out of her trance and she looked at me in confusion.

  I removed my hand "Time for what?"

  She looked away and then glanced in my direction for a brief moment.

  "I...... meant it is time..... for breakfast and your parents will be here soon. Why don't you go and take a nice warm bath?" she suggested and sprinted out of the room as fast as her feet could take her, which was so fast that I blinked several times after her haste exit.

  Sometimes these people are really weird. I hope that I don't turn out like them. With this thought I went to my closet and grabbed my clothes and dumped my thoughts in that dark place and rushed to the bathroom.

  *****************************************

  Present

  Through the window

  I see you waiting

  You are smiling

  Cause I'm coming

  Your eyes are a story

  A smile tugged at the corner of my lips as I played this song. I played it again for the second time. Simon had changed both the phone as well as the alarm ringtone few days back to his favorite number as the previous ring tone had dared to meddle with his sleep. Even I didn't like that song that much, but since I hardly ever got calls from anyone so it was fine with me. I only received calls from my parents once a week, mostly on Saturdays and thrice from Sammy, whose schedule was not fixed, he called whenever he felt like. Once my phone got lucky and it received calls from some unknown caller by mistake. This happened in december when my parents were coming here. That was the one and only time it happened, but unfortunately I couldn't talk to that person.

  Apart from that, I was technological impaired, as I only knew how to receive and end a call. So he must have felt that unless he does something about it, things are not going to change and he will have to listen to that annoying song every single time the phone sound reverberates. So this was how I came to know about this song. Then he taught me how to play the music in my cell and I wished I had explored this function earlier, it would have saved my ipod a lot of trouble. I was missing Simon terribly, his father was not well, so I had forced him to stay there for the timebeing. Moreover, he being a boy, should shoulder his dad's responsibility till his father becomes better. His parents, however, were not happy with this arrangement, they tried to force him, but he refused and I am glad that he did that. Family should always be the first priority.

  Song was still playing and it was so relaxing that my eyelids fluttered.

  Tomorrow I am going to JC.

  This time I had no expectation from anyone, not even Sammy. This was the last thought before I dozed off into a dreamless oblivion.

  hYBrID IV

  "The sun has already risen, and it's time for little Sleepy Head to get out of bed!" Chimpanzee was whispering in my ear.

  No, not yet.

  I groaned and turned my head in the opposite direction and reached for the pillow below me and covered my tender ears. Who let him come in to my room so early in the morning? Better yet, Why did he get up so early today? It's not like he was going to get any award for getting up so early in the morning and that too on a public holiday.

  How do I know about that? All The credit goes to Nicole. She will not be coming today. This was her first leave in this year. She rarely ever claimed leave, not even on weekends, which was quite strange as I knew that she had a family. She had given birth to a girl last year. This was the only thing I knew about her. I still remember the day when I was 10 years old and I had asked about her family members. She stared at me for two minutes as if this was the most difficult question she had ever faced. Then she stated in a flat tone that we are deviating from the course and resumed her teaching. It was such a simple question, but her reaction had prompted me to reconsider my notion.

  I felt the mattress dip beneath Simon’s weight as he climbed in and inched closer to me. He snaked his arms around my waist and murmured "I am gonna miss you." I felt a blast of warm air on my right cheek and I jolted upright, startled and scooted away from him. My eyes was now open and stretched to its maximum limit. I blinked once, twice and then wiped my right cheek from the palm of my hand.

  "Why did you do that?" I enquired with my hand still on my cheek.

  My eyes lowered to his mouth.

  Did he rinse his mouth after breakfast? He never did when he had his breakfast here, in spite of sink being just few steps away from the dining hall. There was a very thin chance of doing that at his place. I groaned at the realization.

  Before I could clarify my doubt, he stated with a shrug "It was just a kiss Ash. Kids at my school do it all the time. Plus, I wanted to do this before you leave."

  Another realization dawned upon me, I was going to JC today. I had completely forgotten about it, even though it had been on my mind for the past 13 days.

  Simon’s deep chuckle reached my ears and I glared at him. How could he forget about the most yuckiest thing? "I might get cooties. Did you rinse your mouth?" From far away I stretched my hands, opened his mouth and scooted closer to check his breath. His breath was smelling like a poo. I quickly covered my nose with my fingers and recoiled in disgust.

  His face fell and he opened his mouth and raised his hand to his mouth and blew air into his palm and smelled it. "I don't have a bad breath. It seems that you have a morning breath" he said unhappily while getting up from the bed.

  "Mary has packed your stuff and she has lined up your bags in the living room." he informed and picked up his slam book from the table and then came back to sit on the bed.

  After begging for a week, I finally caved in to his request. I couldn't say no this time even though I wanted to say that word sooo badly. I hate filling it. He had given me a similar kind of book two years ago. The problem was there were so many questions and I had nothing to fill. And when I accidentally viewed the filled ones, it brought tears to my eyes. Its fate was decided then and there. There will be no entry from my side. It remained in the same untouched position for several days. In the end, Simon was left with no choice but to take it back. But this time he was adamantly bent upon getting it filled. In fact this time the slam book was so different from the old one. I had to just fill one page and luckily mine will be the first entry.

  Simon eyes narrowed, which he always did before getting into reading mode.

  "Name: Ashley Sorenson.

  Best friend: Simon

  One thing you love about your place: Simon makes this pl
ace better, easier to bear.

  My first Boyfriend: Simon”

  He paused and started laughing clearly amused with my answer "Do you even know what a boyfriend is?"

  I hated him whenever he laughed at me like that, that too when the question was a no brainer. " Do you think I am stupid? Of course I know what a boy friend is. A boy who is your friend and you are my first boy friend." Upon hearing this he started laughing even harder than before. His whole body was shaking so badly that even the bed creaked under his jerky movements.

  I glared at him, but unfortunately it had no effect as his laughter continued to echo in the room.