“Where do you think you’re going?” Josh’s voice stopped them by the threshold as they were going out.
Marlon turned around to look at his dad, “I’m taking Hazel home … she has a date,” he raised a brow.
“Oh … well, you’re still grounded young man, but I’ll take you Hazel … I think I’d like to thank your mom while we’re at it,” Josh took the car keys from his son’s hand.
Marlon tucked his hands in his pocket and pouted, he seemed nervous.
“Really?” Hazel chuckled nervously, it was a delightful surprise. “I … I have to text my mom first, she’d be thrilled to see you … we don’t want her to faint or anything like that,” she laughed as she took out her phone.
Marlon cleared his throat and looked away, he wasn’t comfortable with the whole thing.
“Oh, please do text her, we don’t want to frightened her,” Josh commented lightly. “Okay, you stay home and study,” he pointed a finger at Marlon.
He nodded lightly, reluctantly, “Fine … see you later Hazel.”
“Bye baby,” she said playfully followed by a giggle.
Josh was still smiling in amusement when they get into the car. “I’ve never seen my son look so … peaceful …” he chose the word. “I’m pretty sure it has something to do with you,” he continued.
Hazel grinned widely, “I don’t know about that … he’s a really peaceful guy, if you ask me, Marlon’s cool.”
He nodded in agreement, “He is … it’s just that … ever since … you know?” he glanced at her quickly, “He’s not the same, I don’t think he’ll ever be the same … but I can see him doing so much better lately and I can see that it has much to do with your friendship.”
She smiled, “I like having him as a friend too, he’s actually really smart Mr. Reynolds, he doesn’t need tutoring to be honest … he can do his assignments just fine.” She couldn’t bring herself to call him ‘Josh’ no matter how many times he asked her to.
“Is that so?” he curved his lips, “I guess he just likes the company then?” he nudged her with his elbow. He laughed lightly, “He never had a real friend, you know? The people he hung out with are …” he cocked his head to one side, “We have a very different crowd in Goldstone, he’s never been in a school setting before, that’s why I want him to have some kind of normalcy after what we went through.” His face turned solemn.
“I understand … he doesn’t talk much about it, but I can tell he was very close to Eli, and it’s very hard for him to lose his only brother like that.”
“It’s very hard for all of us, especially for him … we’re doing the best we can right now, though it doesn’t feel like it’s enough,” he opened up. “But it’s nice here, I never had the chance to take my son’s friend home in Goldstone,” he chuckled. “I’m not much of a family man in Goldstone, which is what I regret the most I think … I’m sorry if I said too much, I’m just …” he let out a sigh, “I need to get through to him more than ever … and I’m hoping I can do that through you, you seemed to have a special bond with him.”
She thought about it for a moment, she realized maybe that’s why she felt comfortable sharing intimate details about herself with Marlon though they’d only known each other for a fairly short period of time.
“He left his channel unattended … they were pretty successful, they made a lot of money from there, he rejected all movie offers, modeling gigs, everything … as if he just stopped living, he stopped wanting anything … I’m sure he’ll get his head around it when he’s ready, but I’m concerned … you know?” he glanced at Hazel.
She nodded.
“But with you … I can see a spark of life in his eyes when he’s with you, a spark of hope like things will get better for him, and that’s more than enough for me … I can’t imagine what he must be going through, I wish he would reach out to me but he just shut me out … I don’t take it personally, I know that’s how teenagers are with their parents.”
Josh was pouring his heart out and it was intentional. Hazel could hear the frustration in his voice. She was talking to a father who was concerned of his son’s well being.
“I have to be honest, I’ve been wanting to talk to you about Marlon for a while because I know you’re the person closest to him now … I mean, you spend the most time with him … quality time in that matter,” he laughed nervously. “I’m not around very much, and his mother is … ” he cleared his throat.
“You don’t have to explain anything to me, Mr. Reynolds, … if you ask me, I think Marlon is a good kid … troubled, but he can be good … maybe he just needs some time to heal, like you said, your family had been through a lot.”
Josh nodded, “I’m glad you see it that way … thank you,” he said it straight to her eyes. “He’s a troubled young man for sure … but I know he can be great, he has his whole future ahead of him and I’m worried if he takes the wrong path now … he can jeopardise that.”
“I can’t say about his future, but I can be his friend … that’s all I can do.”
He turned to Hazel with an appreciative smile, “That’s what he needs right now.”
Hazel returned his smile, a sense of sadness came over her. She thought what Marlon need was his loving parents to console him and help him through the grief. She was sad for him that his own father couldn’t provide that. Though Josh Reynolds obviously worried about his son because he loves him, he didn’t seem to know how to be there for him.
“We’re here,” Hazel said pointing to the Google map on Josh’s phone.
“Right,” Josh looked outside the window at her house. “I’m glad we can have a chat, I hope you don’t mind,” he said.
“Not at all, thanks for the ride, Mr. Reynolds … would you like to come inside?”
“I’d like to say ‘hi’ to your parents if they’re home,” he turned off the engine.
Hazel giggled, “My mom’s home, I think that’s her peeking through the window.”
“I can’t wait to meet her too,” he opened the door and stepped out of the car.
Joshua Reynolds the movie star walked over to the front porch of The Williams home in the capacity of her friend’s father. Hazel’s life was getting more surreal by the day.