What happened at Marlon’s house had somehow drew them closer. Though they never talked about the incident to anyone or with each other, there was something intimate about sharing the experience and keeping it like a secret.
They continued their study at 13th West Lexington Hills, but they took the back door ever since that initial encounter with Marlon’s mom. She was always home, always drunk, sometimes she can be seen wandering around the house, but she usually stayed in her room for a long period of time.
Hazel caught someone coming out of Marlon’s mom’s bedroom when she came out to use the bathroom. A young man, he couldn’t be older than 25 years old. She was shocked to say the least, because the guy was zipping up his fly and Belinda can be seen half naked on the bed when the door slowly closing.
She didn’t know what to do or what to think. She wondered if it was a regular thing around the house, and if she had to say something to Marlon. But she chose not to. If there was anything going on in his parents’ bedroom, it would be better if Marlon found out on his own.
All the time they were studying at his house, she never saw his dad. It seemed like he didn’t come home very often, or he hasn’t come home at all. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been a guy coming out of his bedroom with his wife half naked on the bed.
Marlon seemed to pay more attention to his lessons with each passing day, although he would fall asleep once in awhile especially when learning about history. He made more effort in doing his own assignments, though he still wanted Hazel to guide him every step of the way, not because he needed it.
It made Hazel felt like she had accomplished something. The time she spent with Marlon meant time lost with Lee, but she was beginning to feel like it was okay. She felt like she had found an unlikely friendship with Marlon who didn’t feel like a celebrity to her anymore.
“Is your friend still here?” Belinda asked. She was sitting in the dining room with her feet up the table, her head back and smoking her cigarette.
“No … I took her home,” Marlon said while looking for some food in the fridge, and not paying attention to his mom’s drunkenness. It was almost 5 PM and she was already on her second bottle of whiskey.
“She saw Calvin came out of my room, you know?” she said casually.
Marlon froze for a moment, the fridge door still opened and he was staring blankly into the cold and empty shelves. There was nothing but beers and leftovers from last week takeaway.
“She didn’t say anything to me,” he finally said.
Belinda let out a soft snort, “Good … let’s hope she doesn’t tell anyone about it.”
“She won’t,” he assured her.
“Have you fucked her yet?”
Marlon took a can of beer and opened it, he took a big gulp and turned to look at his mother. “We’re just friends.”
“Huh … you haven’t?” she took a drag of her cigarette. “Well … she seemed like a nice girl … someone who would be scared of you … probably even a virgin.”
“She has a boyfriend,” Marlon said.
His mom laughed, “So? That never stopped you before … every girl you ever brought back home wouldn’t leave the house a virgin.”
“She’s not like that … we just study together,” he was getting annoyed by her insinuation.
“You know what your brother would say?”
Marlon took the rest of the six pack in the fridge and slammed the fridge door. “No, I don’t know what Eli would say … because he’s not here anymore … I’m going to get something to eat.”
He hated it when she brings up his brother in a conversation, and she does it all the time as if out of spite because she knew how much Marlon was still hurting from losing Eli. He was halfway out of the dining room.
“Get something for me will you?” she said loudly.
He knew she would pass out before he gets back. “Sure,” he said without looking back and left the house like he’d done so many times before.
When his city friends were around, Marlon would go out to the beach and hangout with them. Home was the last place he wanted to be. But when they’re not around, he would go on a drive by himself with his beers. He would park somewhere quiet and looked at the sky until it turns dark.
He used to do the same with Eli back in Goldstone, but now Eli was gone. There isn’t a day he didn’t think about his brother, how it used to be, how close they were, the things he said to him especially the last few months before he died.
His mind would wander aimlessly in the memory of the life he used to live with Eli and it would get harder and harder to hold back the tears because he missed him so much and there was nothing he could do to fill that empty space inside of him.
Marlon opened the glove compartment and took out a small leather pouch. When the pain gets too heavy for him to carry, the pouch provided him with a way out. A place where he could feel nothing for a little while, and that made everything okay again.
He took out the white powder from the pouch and the tools he needed to consume it. He felt a sharp pang in his chest as he recalled the last moment he saw his brother’s face before he fell and he didn’t bother to use any of the tools. He poured some powder on his hand and put it against his nose and snorted.
He threw himself on the driver’s seat and laid his head all the way back. In seconds he was transported to another place where it was peaceful, and calm. The day was turning grey, his hunger had disappeared completely. Eli had gradually left his mind, so was his mom, and for some reason … he thought of Hazel and how he appreciated his new unlikely friendship with her.