P for Perfect

Chapter 35- Yamíl

We're really just kids– Jibril

    I'm extremely curious as to why exactly Osas's sister came to school. I didn't know who the medium height dark skinned lady was until Faith met us near the parking lot and told us she was Winnie. That was probably why Osas was smiling so much, oh how mortified she would be if she realized how wide her smile was.

  Either way, my curiosity would have to wait, right now, we were going to handle Travis. Without Osas though, for obvious reasons. I notice that Faith has both of her hands shoved inside the pockets of her shorts, signifying that she was nervous. Worried.

"I'm sure he's fine," I assure her, placing a hand on her back. She gives me a small smile.

"I hope so." We arrive at his front door and ring the bell. Silence. After a moment Faith rings it again.

"I don't think anyone's home," Jibril says, staring at the closed windows ahead of us.

"They have a driver. He stays here," Faith tells us.

"Well if they're out then he probably drove them out," I reason. We stay still, just standing and thinking for a moment. Until Jibril raises his head.

"I've got an idea, why don't we ask around. They might not know where he went but at least they might know when he left," he suggests. Faith and I shrug at him, unwilling to go ask. He rolls his eyes and walks over to a small shop across. We wait silently as he speaks.

"Do you think he's sick?" Faith asks from nowhere.

"No, he beat me at taekwondo yesterday. He's definitely not sick." I was hoping my comments would reassure her but her face only falls some more. "What is it?"

"What if it isn't he whose sick? He mentioned something about his dad yesterday... let's go to the hospital."

"Chill, I don't understand what you're saying." Before she can speak Jibril comes back to us.

"They've been gone since last night. An emergency but she's not sure what sort of emergency," he informs us. Faith's eyes grow wider with every word.

"Let's go to the hospital," she says again.

"Well which one, there's like 3 of them in this area alone," I demonstrate the distance with my hands.

"The nearest one," she replies immediately.

"North or South?" Jibril asks. She pauses at this one.

"If you were rushing because of an emergency would you go left or right?" She wonders aloud.

"I'd go wherever the wind directed me," Jibril replies immediately. She gives him a look that says: I would slap you right now if I wasn't so busy thinking.

"Let's go right," she declares.

"Why? Left looks so much like an emergency route," I joke, just to make things lighter. Faith turns without glancing at me and scoffs.

"You two are more hectic than I realized."

••••

  So Faith was right. She was so freaking right. About the road and about the sickness. The moment we step into the Hospital grounds Jibril spots Travis's dad's grey Hyundai. And Faith reassured me that yes, it was his Hyundai. Then just as we were thinking of where exactly to look for Travis he appeared out of one of the blocks in the compound. God made things easier.

  But still. The sight of Travis is heart breaking, dude doesn't look he's slept in a week.

"Travis!" Faith screams the moment her eyes lands on him, ignoring that we are on hospital grounds. When he sees us, he stops trying to fold his napkin perfectly and kind of just stands, looking like he's lost 20 pounds overnight.

  Faith runs to him and wraps her arms around him in a big bear hug while Jibril and I quickly make our way to them.

"What happened? What's wrong?" Faith asks after she's pulled away from him. We're encircling him, all of us watching in horror.

"How did you guys even get here?" He says instead, ignoring her question. Even his voice sounds broken. I'm growing more and more worried.

"Faith's a compass I guess. What's wrong?" I ask again, stepping back so I don't seem to be crowding up his space. Travis avoids all of our gazes and focuses on his car.

"My dad's sick," he says finally. "He has lung cancer, stage three."

"Jesus," we all exclaim together. I get the feeling that Faith wants to hug him again but she decides against it.

"Have you been here all alone?" She demands.

"Nah, my aunt was with me. She just left to go pick up my mum," he sniffs.

"Have you eaten?" Jibril asks.

"I'm not really hungry. I should go back to stay with him now–"

"But you have to eat," I insist.

"The hospital's killed my appetite," he waves me off.

"I'll buy the food. You guys go inside, we're not leaving you until you eat okay?" Faith states quite clearly. Travis nods slowly and she runs out to go get the food. We should have actually bought those fruits.

"He'll be fine," I say to him, resting one arm on his shoulders.

"Thank you guys for coming, it's been hard doing this alone," he admits as we make our way to the car.

"You know you always got us. That's what friends are for," Jibril assures him. This seems to help him a bit, I'm glad we came to visit. Nobody has to experience this alone.