Chapter 7: Snow Fall Smile
There was a sudden BANG at the door. Cody's eyelids flung open from his deep sleep at the sound. Half dazed, Cody vaguely realized that it must have been well into the later part of the morning, due to the light that was streaming in from the window. Looking through the window, he tired to search for Nina at Turtle Pond, but another BANG disturbed his search. He was quite tired; he was up for much of the night yesterday. He was certain he hadn't left Abiba at her home until 3 am at least. BANG! Cody feebly stood up from his bed and went to open the door.
"YOU BASTARD!" came a shout. Cody had squinted at the sudden flush of light outside, and didn't completely know who was yelling at him. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME, CODY? WE ARE FRIENDS!"
Soon Cody's eyes had gotten used to the light. It was Gustafa before him; the man's green hat was unmistakable. Though he wasn't very certain as to why Gustafa had come to his home, shouting at him, being as tired as he was, Cody yawned and muttered, "'Morning."
"HOW DARE YOU PRETEND NOT TO KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!? YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THE DECENCY TO PUT ON CLOTHES WHEN ANSWERING THE DOOR!" It was true, Cody normally slept half naked. While Gustafa was yelling his heart out, Cody stood there, being massive, muscular, and slightly confused in his boxer-briefs. Cody was particularly fond of this pair he had on at that moment, they had a pattern on them that resembled Michael Angelo's The Thinker statue. But of course, this was the only ting going through Cody's mind at the time. Though Cody usually woke up sharp as a tack, this morning, nothing seemed to sink into Cody's mind. It was all rather pleasant. "HOW COULD YOU TAKE ABIBA OUT LAST NIGHT?!"
Now Cody was awake.
Cody's stature grew taller, tenser as he looked down at Gustafa. "What did you say?" he questioned.
"YOU HEARD ME! YOU TOOK ABIBA OUT TO THE WEDDING, FULLILY KNOWING THAT I LIKE HER! I HAVE TOLD YOU THAT A THOUSAND TIMES! CONFIDED IN YOU! AND NOW YOU STAB ME IN THE BACK!?" There was such rage in Gustafa's voice that Cody wasn't sure what to do.
Yes, Cody remembered Gustafa constantly saying how much he liked Abiba; but when Abiba asked him to the wedding, Cody hadn't thought of Gustafa at all, he had been too happy to do so. Cody felt this pain in his chest. He hadn't meant to hurt Gustafa, Gustafa was one of Cody's closest friends. The chilled fall air began to take its toll on Cody; he was getting cold with so little on. "Gustafa, I-"
"You could have at least TOLD me you liked her too, Cody!" Cody stiffened. "Then I wouldn't feel as I do now! Man, you think you know a guy!"
Cody's voice was sincere, "Gustafa, I really-"
"SAVE IT!" Gustafa interrupted. The man in the big hat just stood there fuming for a few moments. "I don't care anymore." Cody could see past Gustafa's rosy sunglasses, his eyes were a frightening mix of rage and disappointment. "Go to Hell." Without another word Gustafa walked away.
Cody didn't stop him. He watched as Gustafa walked back to his house, not glancing back once. Cody slowly closed his door before getting himself dressed. The rest of the morning was slow and solemn, Cody hardly paid Nina mind when he went to Turtle pond.
"Are you feeling alright, dear?" asked Nina looking very concerned. "Yesterday you seemed in a much brighter mood, did something happen?" Cody shook his head in order to calm the old woman's nerves. He didn't want to upset anyone else today.
The air in the Valley was much cooler then usual. It seemed to reflect Cody's mood. There was no music in the air, Gustafa would not play today. Cody walked about the Valley, not really knowing where he was going. Cody should have known taking Abiba to the wedding would upset Gustafa. He should have said no to Abiba. Gustafa was now aware that Cody was fond of Abiba, did anyone else know of this?
As Cody crossed the bridge his head sunk below his shoulders. He shouldn't have gone out with Abiba. He shouldn't have. All he did was hurt Gustafa and probably Abiba too. Sure, Cody liked Abiba- more then he was willing to admit. She was so kind, so gentle, so sweet, so intelligent, so insightful- so beautiful. What was Cody thinking?! He could hold no candle to Abiba. He would only end up causing her some kind of pain. He knew it. There was no way for him to be with her. They were- too different. And there was no way Abiba could return his feelings.
Cody found himself at the boulders near the edge of the Valley. Here he could rest himself. And it was quite cold. A little nap couldn't do any harm. Cody's mind wouldn't rest that easily though. He only drifted off into an uneasy sleep…
"Mama?" There was a woman in an armchair located in the corner of the room. "Mama?"
"He's dead- he's gone- never coming back…" whispered the woman. "Dammit, Conway- how could you leave me?" She broke into tears, covering her face from the world
A small, wide eyed boy stood beside the armchair. He reached out to his mother but she paid him no mind, too consumed with her own grief. "Mama? He whispered before turning away…
The boy appeared again, maybe a year older- this time with a white line upon his cheek. He stole money, possessions. As he grew stronger, his work increased, as did the number of white lines on his face, until he finally had a white line tattooed onto his arm. He was the leader. A leader of terrible deeds. The leader looked at himself in a mirror that was attached to no wall. It was dirty and smudged- and his reflection was that of a twisted monster. Anger burned inside of him. With his mighty fist the leader went to destroy the monster.
He was suddenly stopped. His fist was caught in midair by an old man with gray dreadlocks. He looked very sad. The old man's gaze was soothing, full of concern. He slowly shook his head. The leader stood for a moment, he wanted to understand what the old man meant, but didn't. Again he looked at the mirror with rage- but in front of the mirror was a woman. She was small with copper hair and purple-gemstone eyes. She smiled at the leader kindly. He was massive and intimidating, but she was not afraid to approach.
The woman walked up and took the leader's handkerchief from his neck. She began to clean the mirror. She did this calmly, silently, demanding no answers or explanations. Simply cleaning the mirror. But she couldn't clean it all. The leader's eyes grew heavy in tears; they ran down his face onto the floor at the sight of the kind woman. She went to him, gazed into his eyes with such great understanding. She used his tears to clean the rest of the mirror- the monster seemed to vanish, in his stead was a small, wide-eyed boy, looking to the ground, too sad to look up. The kind woman took the boy in her arms, and he quietly sobbed in her embrace…
Cody slowly stirred from his sleep. There was a small pain in his back from napping on the boulder in the wrong position. But he paid very little mind to the pain, and as his sat up he noticed that he wasn't alone. Abiba sat upon a rock over looking where Cody had rested. She was looking at him, smiling at him. "Afternoon, sleepy-head," she said.
Cody wanted to stand up, but when he was about to he noticed that a blanket had been placed over him. He touched it gently with his huge palm. "How long have you been sitting there?" he asked.
"Long enough to know you make a deep humming noise when you sleep," she sneered. "You looked a little restless- bad dream?"
Cody looked at Abiba, up on the rock above him. Her copper hair caught the light beautifully. Perhaps Cody was still very tired from the lack of sleep he had gotten, but he knew Abiba looked angelic atop that rock. "No- a good dream."
"Oh?" Abiba paused and touched her hand. She looked at her hand then looked up. "Oh!! Look Cody!" Cody looked up at the cloudy sky as the first few snowflakes came down from the heavens. "It's snow!!" she said in awe.
Abiba was so happy to see snow that Cody couldn't help but smile. The snow began to stick to the ground and the two decided to go home and stay warm. A week later Cody saw Gustafa talking to the red-haired Nami near the bridge. Gustafa caught a glance at Cody. Though neither man said anything, they both nodded to each other and went on their way.