THE ESILE OF FLOWER

The Unfriendly Friend (Chapter-4)

The river was calm but its current was working without any pause. It was going on and on. Did it ever stop? Did it ever stopped because of the way some people neglect it? It was still innocent. Running and never stopping like time itself. Jessica wished the whole world to stop judging her. Judging her terrible fate. People knew it best to moan for the bad fate. To moan about a horrible thing happening to others. But how many of them cared to move forward and motivate? How many of them cared to punish the Flamel's foe? No one will care about a nutter like her as after all,she is an useless waste of space. A rumbling sound woke Jessica to return to the real world beside the river. Her ears became sharp with curiosity but the bushes remained still, so was the beautiful blue sky. She hadn't noticed the sky so strangely colored in blue all this years. Birds are so lucky. They get to fly in this vast sky. Didn't it feel like heaven to them when the rich businessmen, ministers and many other people  rode an aircraft? Or when Sally Ross Sinclair said that her plane ride to Miami in United States had been a total waste of money? She stared at the direction of the sound in deep thought. 

"What's that thing you got there to do?" said a grumpy voice out of no where. She looked around already hallucinating Mrs. Flamel's spatula pointed at her but instead there was a man casting a curious smile at her. His suit was expensive but his beard showed sign of nastiness in him. His golden spectacle was cheeped in places. "I was just admiring the river." said Jessica looking at the source of the sound over and over again for the suspicious sound. 

"So, what do those freaks calls you?" Said the man sitting beside her which she somehow didn't like. She felt uneasy and uncomfortable in his presence. Even his breath smelled toxic to her.

"Jessica and my last name is Esile. Jessica Esile" said Jessica not even daring to look at his eyes. But she knew that he was hoping something more from her. Perhaps more information for the neighbors to spread rumors.  "How do they treat you? I can solve your problem, you know." said the man trying to put a hand on her back which Jessica escaped yet again. If there was someone else in her position, they would tell every bit of suppression and injustice facing out there. They would show every scar they caused but Jessica was suspicious of the man. His gesture didn't seem fit for a gentleman. " Nothing." she said ignoring his stunned face. " Nothing!" mimicked the man. " you certainly can't escape the fact that the Flamels mistreat you. The whole neighborhood knows about it." That man came closer towards her and caught her back which was so strong that Jessica couldn't escape. He was desperate and unsafe. 

"My company is bloody well for you. You can come with me." said the man now his hand on the way to Jessica's hair. Which felt really uncomfortable. She was not so used to strangers even if they live in the same neighborhood " You just have to pack some cocaine and some new drugs, I can guarantee. No extra pressure." She knew that the man wasn't friendly at all. He was a drug dealer. She stood up escaping his touch by all force before he could even reach her , her hands were becoming warmer. A flame traveled towards the man even when Jessica bit her palm to stop it. The man screamed for the little burn appearing on his hand as he started dipping his hand in the cold river water. " I am really sorry,Mister but you know what I have a theory, ' If you do something in greed, you won't even get a seed."

" Oh that's right! The Flamel's sniffer dog is here to bite me." said Mr. Not-so- friendly ( Jessica named him instantly) standing up as well. "Now let me look to see whether you have hidden a match light beneath your coat to scare me off." He marched closer to her but that served him another burn on his ankle. " I am really sad to hurt you but I never meant to hurt like every time, which I still wonder why?" said Jessica backing away from him before he marches even forward to her. But the man was dead in his tracks as he kept patting his burn. He suddenly stirred a little readying himself to take off. " Go die at the Flamels, Esile. That serves right for a nutter like you and I will make sure to double your punishments to death for defying me." The leaves parted because of his angry footsteps as Mr. NOT-so-Friendly later took off with a run perhaps fearing that another flame might hit him off. Jessica stood fixed in her exact spot . Looking at her palms full of blisters.   Before she could even force it back, drops of liquid sadness were leaking out on her cheeks and fell on the blistered palm. A bit of the occasional burning eased a bit but her mind burned in the need for answer. She sneaked into every library with a neighbor and read every book possible about Human body but there was no phenomenon like this that you could create fire when you think that unfairness is happening to your surrounding or simply because you were upset. If she was in place of any other normal human being then she would think it absurd as well. It was insane. Fire is a natural object. Course a mortal can't produce it as per their wish. Then the whole world would have been on fire. Wiping her cheeks with her hand and glancing at the river for the last time, Jessica went away. Making herself braver for the worst of the punishments waiting for her. Look at the brave woman  in Africa. One of them was literally hit by a bullet in the head just for the sake of their rights. "It won't hurt much" muttered Jessica to herself. " It is just like the bite of an ant." 

•But luck stayed with her as she entered the cottage door to find it locked. The Flamels had left for their ghostly work early in the twilight. Seizing this opportunity and glancing at the stars to thank God in abundance, Jessica engrossed herself to study for the final exam she had been fearing for years. The 7th Grade final exam which would be her last opportunity for education as 8th grade education would start in another school that the Flamels would never ever care to afford even if the whole Scotland pushes them. And with the bad reputation, she had made for the incident with that awfully friendly guy back at the river bank, Jessica knew it at once that the way people looked at her were caused by nothing but Mr. Not-so-friendly. Days flew away as the horrible exam finished showering the students with a big summer vacation that Jessica hated and every normal student adored.