chapter four
859 Words
"That's it, I can't take it no more!"
The sudden loudness in such a quiet place made me jump.
"You're so god damn stubborn" Ambrose continued
I was looking at him now. His eyes were hard and he was clearly searching through his thoughts.
After not getting much reaction out of him with my short responses, I ended up moving to the silent treatment.
And an hour later, here we are.
"Just speak to me Ayanna"
"Will you tell me the truth about everything?"
He dramatically tilted his head back while creating a grunting noise.
"Fine, you're choice" I stated
"Okay!"
I looked at him intrigued now, I wanted to hear the rest of what he was going to say.
"I think mother is just freaked out after hearing father died..." he began
"Why? it was an accident"
His eyes quickly averted mine and looked at the floor before turning back to me.
"I think it's because we've always been separated. You never got to really meet father and I guess she was worried you'd never meet me"
I thought about his words, he was right. I'd never properly met my father. I know he was there when I was young but I can't actually remember him.
Even when hearing about his death, although it sounds terrible, I didn't really think about him.
It was just like another stranger passing. If we had a father, daughter relationship then I would've been devastated but I personally can't grieve someone I didn't know.
"Why wouldn't mother come to see you too?" I asked
"It's complicated..."
"That's exactly what she said" I huffed
"Put yourself in her shoes Ayanna, imagine trying to show up to visit you're son after all those years of not being apart of his life. It's complicated"
I suppose he was right again, perhaps my mother felt guilty and wasn't ready to face him. I had no idea what was going on inside her head.
"Will all this silent treatment end now?"
I nodded in response will looking at my hands.
"What was that?" He asked
"Yeah...it will" I answered out loud
"Good, now how about-"
A knock at the door cut him off. My gaze snapped towards it, who could that be?
"Wait here" Ambrose whispered harshly at me
His sudden switch in tone caught me off guard. He seemed to be good at changing his tone or exterior very quickly.
He looked through the peep hole before huffing and swinging the door open.
"And what do you want?" He asked
"What sort of way to greet a friend is that?" the voice answered
"Going to invite us in?" a third voice questioned
Ambrose stepped to the side and allowed space for the two people to enter.
First a brown hair boy stepped through the door. He was tall and slim with striking facial features. The sling that supported his arm caught my attention.
Then the second boy stepped in, he was a real blondie with pale skin. He was shorter then Ambrose and the other brown haired friend but was made of muscle.
"Ayanna, this is-"
"I'll introduce myself thank you very much" the brown haired boy cut him off
I found myself quietly laughing at the sassy tone to his voice. I could already tell that he was a joker.
"I'm Wyatt and you must be Ayanna"
He held out a hand towards me and after a moment, realization kicked in so I placed my hand on top of his.
He brought it up to his lips and kissed my hand delicately.
The quick action of Ambrose clipping Wyatt around the head with a stern "don't touch my sister" caused a burst of laughter from my mouth.
"My ear!" Wyatt let out while holding his ear with his good hand.
"And I'm Zander"
The name rung a bell but I remembered when I caught Ambrose yelling down the phone. He was shouting at Zander then.
"Nice to meet you" I smiled his way
Wyatt was now sat on the sofa looking for the Tv controllers while Ambrose stood learning in the door way. I could tell he was over thinking about something again.
"What happened to you're arm?" I questioned Wyatt
He looked a little unsure at first but then looked towards Ambrose.
"Sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you because I've just been deafened by a big ogre"
Ambrose sent him a threatening look after hearing the insult while I laughed at it.
"He's a mechanic but a rubbish one. Got his arm stuck somehow" Zander answered for him
"Maybe you should get a new job" I told him
Wyatt looked to the sling then nodded before chuckling.
"Most definitely"
"What are you both doing here anyway ?" Ambrose questioned causing the joke to die out.
He seemed stressed.
"Well we wanted to meet Ayanna obviously" Wyatt answered
"Yeah, it's been over a week now and you didn't plan on introducing you're best friends so we thought we'd make it easier for you" Zander added on.
"Best friends? I much prefer Azande" Ambrose answered
Both friends broke into laughter. I didn't understand what was so funny but I smiled along anyway. Must've been an inside joke.
It was nice to meet Ambrose's friends, it's like I was finally playing a part in his life. It was as if I was really beginning to see the real him.
It felt good.
Perhaps living here isn't going to be so bad after all.
- Writer
