Chapter 6
"Think it'll rain tonight?"
I was sitting on the bench, holding my knees up to my chin. I got tired of that position & put one leg down.
"You can tell by the wind . . . but I'm not sure."
Jann Lee was talking about the weather. It was suppose to rain that day, but it didn't. It was windy. The air was heavy & moist. And the sky was dark grey, making it seem as if it was late. It had been that way the whole day. It was the perfect day to rain, but it didn't. There wasn't even a storm nearby, nothing.
"It's gonna rain tonight . . ."
He had on a windbreaker suit. All I had on were some shorts & a long T. It was too hot for me to put a jacket on. Besides the wind was soothing. I had let my hair out to flutter in the wind & cool my scalp.
"It'll rain tonight & throughout the rest of tomorrow . . . Everyone's gonna stay inside & the clubs'll probably be closed, too."
He was standing near the pond with his back to me. But I already knew his expression: that same thoughtful look he always has, mostly after a fight.
He was now crouching to pick something out of the water. I never went near that pond. It was dirty & it sort of reeked as if it came from the sewers.
"That water's infected," I told him, smirking, "It came from the sewers."
"Is that so?" he was looking at me with the same smirk on his face, "Let's check to make sure."
He used that thing he picked up out of the pond to splash some water on me.
"Jann Lee!" I nearly screamed, putting my legs up so he would miss.
He was laughing at me now, "Typical woman! Afraid to get dirty!"
"Why should I get dirty when I don't have to?!"
"Whatever . . ."
He stood up, dropped that thing back in the pond, & then wiped his hands together to get rid of the dirt.
"That's what you get," I said, "What was that thing anyway?"
"I dunno . . ."
"And you just touched it . . ."
He looked back at me with a frown on his face. I ignored his glare & looked around me to see if anyone else was out. There weren't many people. Just some workers walking outside their stores then going in & about ten more people walking around. Each one of them wearing coats or jackets.
Am I the only one?
Behind me was a woman wearing a coat & pushing a stroller around. She looked about my age & she looked frustrated. The stroller bumped into a crack in the sidewalk. She pushed the stroller as hard as she could, not even bothering to go around until the stroller was over it & she was walking with it again. I saw a little girl's head pop up out of the stroller & look back at the woman. The woman just pushed her back in her seat & kept walking.
Some people just don't care, do they?
I thought I heard Jann Lee say something to me, but I ignored it & asked him if he was going to have kids in the future. I looked back at him & he was standing there, looking down at the ground, fiddling with his hands. I knew it wasn't the best thing to ask him. I don't even know if he ever had a girlfriend . . . But I wanted to know. Basically if he was going to settle down soon.
I said his name so he would respond, but all he said was maybe. Then he left.
"Where ya goin'?" I asked him, standing up.
"I said I was leaving," he said as he kept on walking.
'Oh, I've spent too much time with Leifang & she's trying to dig into my head. I think I'll leave now.' Is he ashamed or something?
I sighed & sat back down.
You're human, Jann Lee, you get lonely just like everyone else. It's nothing to be ashamed of.
That man was hard to talk to.
I lied down on the bench with my arms behind my head. I looked up at the sky.
Rain, rain . . .
It was a weird day. No rain even though it was meant to rain. It was as though the sky was holding back its tears, not wanting anyone to see it cry even though it was so evident. Maybe it was too big to cry. A big mass who is too stubborn to cry, afraid that people might underestimate it. The sky is powerful. It can produce massive storms if it wanted to.
Like Jann Lee . . .
That man likes to hide stuff. But it'll catch up to him sooner or later. The sky can't hold back its tears forever & Jann lee can't hide his feelings forever either.
I had my eyes closed when I felt little drops of water on my face. Then I felt it on my legs.
Is it raining?
I opened my eyes only to have drops of water pour all over my face. I sat up & stretched my arms to the sky, taking in all the rain the sky could give me. It felt as if the sky was massaging me, cooling me down at the same time.
You finally opened up, you big lug . . .
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Leifang! . . . Leifang!"
I tried to get whoever it was shaking me away then shook my head to get back in reality.
"Don't tell me you fell asleep sitting up . . ."
I blinked to take in Hitomi's face in front of me.
"You were sitting there, staring at the wall . . . Are you okay?"
I was staring at the wall? . . . I could have sworn I was at the park . . . Maybe I was daydreaming . . .
I took a quick look around me. I was in the music room, sitting on a stool next to a harp.
"I was daydreaming, sorry," I said to her.
"Are you sure about that? It took me a whole minute to get you back."
" . . . Oh."
I didn't know what happened to me. I must have fallen asleep sitting up.
"Oh, I forgot why I came here! Leifang, the police are here to see you!"