Notes:
Arjuna: India.
Vasil's father name is Petar, obviously.
Chapter 2
- Rollercoaster -
Mircea is once again at the park. After coming early he's left with no choice but to wait for his friend to come. He's surprised when he hears a bark and feels his hand softly licked: it's the dog he always plays with at the park.
"Hello doggie! You didn't come last week! I always come here to play with you! That was meeeaaan!"
The dog gives a cry and licks again Mircea's hands. He knows what it means since the poor dog rarely eats and always hopes Mircea might bring him something. He is never able to and feels really bad because of that.
"You are hungry, right?"
The dog barks again, louder.
"I'm sorry, don't have anything to eat. I'm just as hungry uh." Mircea says sadly.
He gets off the swing to get closer to the dog, who licks his face and makes him giggle.
"Hug doggie. You know! I made an actual friend!" The dog gives another cry. "I'm not going to replace you! He's not like my 'friends' at school you know."
While Mircea keeps playing with the dog, he doesn't realize Vasil behind him staring at the dog.
He wonders why Mircea calls him 'doggie'. The canine is outstandingly big. However, it's obvious at a simple glance that it's a stray. Even if it's big, it's thin, and the short brown hair is dirty.
"Hello."
"Hi-hi Vasil." Mircea greets back, still hugging the dog.
"Uh, that's yours?"
"Kinda. He always plays with me. Isn't he a cutie?" he says, earning another lick from the dog.
"Does he have a name?"
"Nope." he replies back, making a face as if he just realized the dog needed a name.
"Bad owner."
"You wanna start a fight? I can make the dog bite you."
"Doubt so."
"Bark doggie!" Mircea commands, and on cue the dog gives a very threatening bark, making Vasil take several steps back.
"Ok, ok. I get it!" he says, raising his hands in defeat.
"Scared of doggie?"
"The dog is freaking big. He's probably bigger than you or me on two legs."
"But he's so cute!"
"No, he isn't."
"Bark, doggie." Again, the dog barks, but this time even louder.
"He's cute, very cute!"
"See, everybody likes you, little puppy! Vasil, eh, do you have something to give doggie to eat?"
"No...sorry."
"Aw! You should spare some next time!"
"It's your dog, not mine."
"Now he's yours too! Therefore it's your duty to feed him!"
"What?" asks Vasil, confused.
"Just bring food next time." Mircea repeats more slowly.
"Ah, I'll try."
"Thanks!"
"Hey, how do you know the dog is male?"
With the question, Mircea lets the dog go and looks at Vasil's direction with a horrified look.
"...You really want to get bitten, don't you?"
"No! I didn't mean it like that! I just wondered..."
"Wondered?"
"You weren't born blind, right?"
"Ah! I get your point. Nono, I wasn't. And yes I know what a dog looks like. "
"I don't think you know how this one looks like." mutters Vasil, looking at the very dirty and famished dog.
"You have something against the dog, don't you?"
"Not really." Vasil has nothing against the dog, but if it was him he would probably not hug him.
Mircea starts playing with the dog again. It's quite amazing how the pet obeys him, as if he understands the boy.
"I kinda wanted to ask you something today." says Vasil suddenly.
"But my life so dull and boring, what would you want to know?"
"Your mom doesn't know you are here?"
"Does your mom know you are here?" he asks back, avoiding the question.
Vasil doesn't reply right away. He looks down at his feet. Not sure what to reply with, Vasil and his silence makes Mircea tilt his head curiously for the answer. When Vasil notices this, he responds with honesty:
"No...I don't have a mom."
Mircea wasn't expecting that and thus he feels bad for asking, feeling that he had intruded upon something he shouldn't have.
"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked."
"Don't worry, you didn't know. She just...left one day." Vasil says, struggling to find the correct words.
"Why would she do that?!"
"I don't know."
"Well then! It doesn't matter!" Mircea says suddenly.
"Eh?"
"My family doesn't know I'm here, and seems yours doesn't either, right?"
"...Yes."
"But it doesn't matter! It's our secret, ok?"
"Sure. It's a secret." replies Vasil with an smile.
-x-
When Mircea gets back home, it is late. He knows it is nighttime.
"Mircea!" he hears his brother call him.
"Hello Alex."
Alex gets near Mircea to hug him tightly. "Hm, big bro, eh I need your help."
"Okie, tell me," the brother responds, knowing that he's going to be asked something he probably won't like.
"You see...I got into a fight today..."
"Ay Alex, did you start it?"
"No! It wasn't me! Some kids were bullying me! When I told them to stop they just kept insulting me!"
"It's fine, Alex. For what do you need my help?"
"I got a note and mom or dad need to sign it...they will get mad at me..."
"I know, I know. Gimme the note, I'll sign it."
"Thanks big bro!" Alex says while taking his brother near the table so he can sit, then gives him a big sheet of paper.
"Show me where I have to sign it."
He puts his brother's fingers over the place that needs to be signed. "Here."
"Pen Alex."
"Here!"
"Mom's or dad's?"
"Mom's!"
His brother signs the paper and he does not even finish taking his hand off the paper before Alex takes it.
"Just try to avoid them, ok? Else they might call dad or mom and we will get in trouble."
"Yes!"
Mircea stays there at the table. His brother always makes him sign papers, and he's pretty sure he has signed papers he shouldn't more than once, yet he cannot find it in himself to care.
He hears the door being opened and knows it's either his mom or dad. Luckily for him, it's his mom.
"Hi boys!" she says cheerfully.
"Hi mama! You look nice!" he hears his brother say.
"I know, right?! I got paid today! And went shopping!"
"Did you buy me something mama?" asks Alex.
"Yep! Here!" she says while handing him an small bag.
"Candies!"
"Yesss! The ones you like! And because mama is awesome she got something for Mircea too!"
"Oh? What did you get me?" Mircea says, faking happiness.
She extends her hand, waiting for him to take an small red box, then after a moment she realizes how silly the action is.
"Silly me, hahaha. Here take it." she hands him the box with perhaps more strength than she should have, making her bite her lip. "Mama knows you love chocolate!" she continues, "So I brought you chocolates! You like chocolates, right sonny?"
"Yes mom, thanks."
"No problem darling." she responds, content with the answer.
-x-
Vasil has math classes again, and after the professor gave out work he gets near to ask if Vasil got someone to tutor him.
"Yes I did," Vasil lies right away. He had forgotten the little chat they had last week. "A friend is helping me!"
"Ok, good that you got someone you know to teach you. Still, if you need more help, the school is always available."
"Yes, sir!"
After blatantly lying, Vasil considers his options, then he remembers Mircea. He's sure the boy wouldn't mind helping him. Which is the first thing he asks about once he gets to their usual spot.
"Mircea I need your help!"
"Wait, what? Where are the manners? 'Good, thanks. You?' and all that?!"
"Forget about that. I want to recognize your intelligence!"
"Ok, I like that, you may continue."
"Can you help me improve my German, please?"
"Eh?! Me?!" Mircea looks both speechless and astounded.
"Yeah, you."
"Are you sure?" Mircea asks again, not giving credit to what he just heard.
"I don't see why not." Vasil answers not entirely sure why Mircea is so shocked.
Mircea opens his mouth to say something, but he closes it and plays with his hands for a while, hands that look clammy. He finally asks, lowering his tone:
"You trust me enough to teach you?"
"Yes." replies Vasil without any doubts, "Don't you always say that you read a lot? And you do understand me so, why not?"
"Thank you Vasil." Mircea says softly with a warm smile.
"Uh? Why?"
"It doesn't matter," he says while getting up from his place, "Well then! Let's get going to the library!" Mircea extends his hand, waiting for Vasil to take it. He does, and the smaller kid leads him outside the park.
"This is funny, you are leading me."
"Because I don't believe you know where the library I go is at."
"Yes, I don't, but you could tell me..."
"Waste of time! It's faster this way."
"Wait."
"What?"
"Let me hold you from your arm, else I look silly, being led by a blind kid..."
"C'mon it can be that bad!"
"No...it just looks silly."
"Ok, ok. Take me from my arm, if it makes you happy." Once Vasil is next to him he adds, "Damn I feel small."
"Sorry."
Mircea leads Vasil. They take the same route Vasil took when he got lost days before. They pass next to the football field, which is full of kids playing and their coach screaming at them instructions.
Unknowingly, Vasil stops and starts watching them play. When he does that Mircea looks around confused until he realizes Vasil's watching the field.
"You like football?"
"Yes...Haven't played in a long time."
"Why that?"
"Because playing alone is kinda sad, don't you think so?"
"I can play with you! Totally! I'll be the goalie!"
Vasil just laughs at the ridiculousness of the statement, "I don't believe that's going to work."
"Look at the bright side, you will always score!"
"Stop please." says Vasil between laughs.
"You will feel like a champion."
"Ok, ok. I get it. But no, I like being the goalie."
"You ask me too much there."
"Sorry. I guess I'll play again when I get more friends. You can be the cheerleader."
"What?! A cheerleader?! No way!" he says while lazily hitting Vasil's arm. "Not cheering for you. I'm going to cheer every time someone scores you one. "
"Such a great friend."
"Hahaha, sorry! But if you do like playing why not join a club like this one?"
"Don't you have to pay for that?"
"True, true. Unless you are reaaally good, they might make an exception!"
"Uh, I'll think about it."
"With that attitude you ain't going to get far. Let's get going, we aren't that far from the library."
After walking what Vasil counted out to be 12 blocks, he reaches the conclusion that Mircea's "that far" is the most inaccurate statement he has ever heard. Mircea just walks in an straight line and to Vasil's surprise he crosses the street better than him.
"Mircea...how much more do we have to walk?"
"Are you tired?"
Vasil decides to not answer, but to direct Mircea a long glare.
Suddenly, Mircea stops midway.
"I just remembered something."
"What?"
He ignores the question and takes his bag and opens it, taking out from the inside an small red box.
"What's that?"
"Junk. Is there a trash bin nearby?"
"Yeah, want me to throw it?"
"Yes, please."
Vasil takes the box, and when he does he feels its weight. "Does this have something inside?"
"Just junk, really."
"Ah, ok." he says and throws it away.
"Let's continue then, we're really near."
This time however, he was right and they got to their destination not long after Mircea announced it.
The place doesn't call much attention from the outside, yet inside is quite breathtaking. The ceiling is high with lamps hanging from everywhere. There is a main hall full of computers, and behind the bookshelves start. At a simple glance there are too many to count. Tall and full of books.
The place is also deadly quiet and the smell of old books reigns with pride.
Mircea takes him to a main desk, where there is a young man behind reading a book. He has an small name tag which reads "Arjuna". When he sees them near he blinks a few times before saying:
"You are back Mircea? With a friend even! Now talk about first times!"
"There is one for everything?" he replies back.
"Indeed! Now do tell, why are you back?"
"He came to me on his knees asking for my help you see."
"Aja. Yes, I can picture it."
"Heeeeey! Don't lie."
"Don't worry, I won't tell anybody." Arjuna tells him adding a blink at the end.
"He needs me to teach him German. Because his suuuuuucks baaaaaaadly." Mircea continues.
"It's not that bad!"
"It is." both say at the same time.
"Don't worry, I've been there." Arjuna adds."Such an unnecessary long and complicated language. Sigh. In any case, section 8 has the language books. You might want to help him with the computer to fix his pronunciation."
"You are right! Thanks Arjuna!"
"No problem. Have fun~"
With that, Mircea yet again leads Vasil to the back of the library.
"You really know this place, don't you?"
"Yep." Mircea says, still moving with agility around the shelves. "I've a good memory!"
"I noticed."
"Uh, there is a book around here I used when I first came to learn." he says, stopping near the middle of a row. "You will have to find it, eh. It has a yellow cover and big red letters! It's named 'Kind German for everybody' It's quite big!"
"Eh ok." Vasil says while looking around and finally seeing the book. "I think I found it."
"Take it, should help you with the basics."
"The cover says 'ages 3 to 5'..." says Vasil with skepticism.
"Yes! It's useful!"
"You are kidding me."
"Nope."
"You aren't making this friendship any easier..."
"All I do if for your own good?"
"I hope so..."
"Reaaally! Hear me, I understand you because I'm used to listen to people speak German horribly. But many don't! Sometimes you slip even easy stuff, like you say 'da' instead of 'ja'."
"It's not so different..."
"It is! Imagine if I went around saying 'nu' instead of 'nein', people would look weird at me!"
"As if you can even s-"
"Don't you dare finish that. Remember, I still have my dog."
"Nothing! I said nothing!"
"Also, 'Die', 'Das' and 'Der' don't work like you believe they do."
"Uh? They don't?"
"They don't Vasil, they don't."
-x-
Vasil finds himself next to his father on a long line. A line he has been waiting in for the last hour.
His father came early that afternoon and took him to pay the bills. Since his German is no better than Vasil's, he hopes together they might be able to make the whole business less distressing.
The assumption is more than wrong as since the moment both get out of the safety of their home the journey has been beyond irritating.
Not all the bills are paid at the same place, thus they have to walk a lot. Walking and being followed by long lines full of people that didn't look any happier than them.
But it's not the walking, the lines, or the waiting what pisses them off, at all. It's the workers.
They know they have issues with the language, but not to the extent of being treated like kids. They were asked several times if they were at the right place, if they knew what they were doing and if they had the necessary papers (even when they did.)
And now they are at the last place, all they need to do is a deposit and be done. No more bills for a month.
Once the long line is done it's they turn. They don't want to screw up, so they ask for help from a lady. She grudgingly gets up from her place and starts explaining Petar what he has to do.
While the lady starts explaining, which takes her several attempts until the older man understands, Vasil notices the line behind them has become pretty long and the people are starting to get impatient, some visibly tapping their feet or fingers.
"No sir, not like that." Vasil hears the lady groan. "Let's start again."
From behind someone says very audibly, "If you're going to come bother us, at least learn the goddamn language."
His father gets visibly red and the lady tries to hide an smile.
Vasil's confused, he feels out of place, and he wishes to be back home and not surrounded by strangers.
He ends up grabbing his father's sleeve and closing his eyes, waiting for the whole torment to finish.
-x-
Mircea wakes up exactly at midnight. His internal clock is perfect, always able to tell the hour. It might be that after so many years he has grown used to wake up at certain hours.
He both likes and dislikes his home. It's small, which benefits him, but it's always a mess. No matter how hard he tries to clear the way someone dirties it again, be it shoes or toys that shouldn't be on the way.
It all makes his journey to the fridge more tormenting than it already is.
Every time he wakes up all he wishes is that there are leftovers so he can at least eat something. He's not always so lucky.
The alternative of eating with his whole family is just too terrifying for him to even consider it.
So yes, he prefers not to eat at all or eat little.
Once he gets to the fridge he's reminded why he hates himself and his blindness so much. It's overly hard for him to guess what there is inside and if he should eat it or not.
After finding a small bowl filled, he picks out a fork and prays that it is something he can eat. He's fortunate this time, because it's filled with rice.
He doesn't sit on the table. He just eats in silence, alone yet again. Nearby his family, yet so far away.
-x-
It's Sunday, and Vasil is supposed to go to the library again and study with Mircea. Happens that Sundays are also the only day off his father has.
Vasil hasn't been able to spend time with his father for a long time. Before arriving to their new home, the man used to spend a lot of time with him. He understands why they haven't been able to enjoy much time together. Deep inside he's sad about that fact, but knows that voicing it will probably make his father feel bad, so he does his best to deal with it.
When he gets to the kitchen, which doesn't take him long, his father is already there.
"Hi dad!" he greets with honest happiness.
The greeting is ignored, so Vasil frowns and takes a better look at the table. There is money on the table and his father is putting it in mounds and counting. He doesn't hide the look of frustration from his face.
He counts and counts, again and again. The more he counts the more pissed he looks.
Suddenly he hits the table hard with his fist.
Vasil is not sure about what to do. He has never seen his father mad. Sad? Probably. Frustrated? Sure. But right now, the man looks angry.
Standing still, in the middle of the way, the young boy is sure he doesn't fully comprehend the situation, yet he wishes to maybe help a little to make his dad feel better.
"Eh, daddy...want me to make breakfast?" he asks, adding an smile at the end.
"I don't have time for you right now Vasil. Don't bother me." he says coldly without even looking up from the money he's still counting.
Vasil is frozen on his place, eyes wide open, not believing the words he just heard. It's the first time his father spoke to him like that. With hands in shaky fists and teeth biting the inside of the mouth he picks the first thing he sees and goes back to his room.
He has absolutely no idea what he just ate. All Vasil knows is that he should be going now to the library, else Mircea will get mad at him.
Once back in the kitchen he prays that his father is no longer angry. At least the money is no longer on the table, yet the man still looks pissed, watching TV while holding his head with his hand.
"Dad?"
"What do you want now?"
"I need to go to the library to study. A friend is helping me...I should get going now."
"No."
"Uh? Why?" Vasil asks confused.
"I can't look after you today."
"Eh? But I'm just going not far from school."
"No Vasil. I'm tired and I don't want to worry about you right now. I don't feel like watching after you, I'm really tired." the older man says fatigued.
"But my friend is waiting for me!"
"You should have asked me first."
"I thought you were going to let me go."
"Son, I want to rest my free day, not having to worry about you...Just don't complicate my life more, ok?"
"...But dad I do need to study."
"No Vasil! You can't! I don't want to deal with you right now! Go back to your room!" he shouts at Vasil, louder than he actually meant to. The intention doesn't matter at all because his son is already back to his room.
What probably angers him the most is not his son, but himself.
-x-
"You didn't come yesterday. And I waited." is the first thing Mircea tells Vasil the following Monday.
"I'm sorry. My dad didn't let me go out."
"Uh? Really? Why?"
"I don't know, he got really mad at me yesterday."
"Bah, maybe he just got tired of you~." Mircea teases.
"What?!" Vasil chokes, not realizing what he said sounded more like a cry than coherent words. He soon breaks in tears with audible sobs, eyes wide and confused, mind rushing to create thousands of horrible scenarios.
Mircea just stands there, unable to move. He didn't mean to make his friend cry at all. Crying to him is horrible and he doesn't like it. The more Vasil cries, the more heartbreaking it is.
"Nononono, I didn't mean it like that!" Mircea says so quickly and desperately that he sounds no more intelligible than Vasil moments ago. "Eh! Hug! Let me hug you! Hugs solve everything!"
"Uh?" is all Vasil is able to mouth before getting hugged, albeit too harshly, by Mircea. He's not able to give the hug back because swings and hugs weren't made to work together and he falls comically to the floor, his head hitting the sand and Mircea falling next to him.
"Sorry! I'm sorry! Are you ok?! I didn't want to make you cry! I'm so sorry!"
No reply is given, all Vasil does is give back the hug he was given moments before, burying his head into Mircea's shoulder.
Automatically, Mircea hugs in return and pats Vasil's back.
They stay like that for a long time, not daring to move one inch. It takes a long time until Vasil calms down.
"So...this was the reason there is sand here." Mircea says once he is sure Vasil's no longer crying, trying to fix the mood.
"Da, because some people are too clumsy." says the raspy voice of Vasil, even daring to add an small laugh at the end.
Mircea, happy with the achievement, joins Vasil in laughter.