Meanwhile, in Manhattan and in the college club, a guy brought a tray with beer glasses and laid it on a table in front of a couple of guys and girls around his own age.
The peer welcomed him with a lot of cheers.
“It’s on the house men!” He called, as his friends picked up glasses from the tray.
They sat in a corner of the large club which also had a loud music playing. Some youths danced and hang around on various corners, sharing romantic intimacies.
The first guy picked his own glass and tasted the drink with his eyes closed. He shook his head as the sip of it run through his throat and down to his stomach. “This is good.” He commented to his friends.
“Yeah Wayne,” A girl replied, after having a puff of her own glass.
She wore a dark leather backless blouse and short matching pants. Her hair was dyed with purple and white and she had plenty of ornaments on her body.
Wayne sipped again, taking plenty of puffs this time.
“Guys? What do you think of the first year intake?” a boy with yellow hair dressed in a cape, asked.
“Ah. They are okay.” Another girl, a brunette and the only differently dressed among the group replied. She also did not have a glass in hand. Gradually, she wagged her head to the music that filled the hall.
Having almost emptied his glass, Wayne turned to the second girl and walked to the couch, dropping down to sit close to her.
“Annie. Tell me seriously, when are you really, going to be a part of the hood?” he asked, loosely holding his glass in front of her.
She grimaced and pushed his hand away. “I don’t drink.”
He offered her a silly grin. One that told Annie, he was up to something stupid.
Like she expected, Wayne dropped the glass on her lap and before she could panic, he forced himself on her to steal a kiss.
The rest of the group laughed and cheered as she struggled to free herself from his heavy body.
She only succeeded when she bit his lip.
“Ouch!” he whined before she slapped his left cheek.
The boys laughed loudly.
Wayne grinned devilishly at her. “Ah. You are a feisty… one.” He said just when his phone buzzed in his pocket.
“You! Never do that to me again!” Annie rasped.
Wayne in turn rose and took out his phone from his pocket. He turned to Annie after checking it. “I will be back.”
“Who’s is it Wayne?” The yellow haired boy asked.
Without replying, Wayne, abandoned the noisy hall and entered the men’s room to receive his call.
#
“Hallow Astrophe?”
“Yes father?”
“Tell me, where are you son?”
“I’m at college. You know that.”
“I know but, I have been looking for you since morning. I also sent you a lot of voice messages and there has been no reply from you.”
There was an impatient sigh. “Well, we are talking now, ain’t we?”
There was a disappointed sigh. “Okay. Your mother is sick.” The man said and paused for a reaction from the other side but, there was silence. He sighed again and went on. “The doctors have said the cancer has reached to a certain point that, even chemotherapy is not going to help her survive. Your brother is here and we wanted you to come to Ohio to see your mother and perhaps, make her feel that she has all our support.”
There was a short pause before Astrophe came. “I will think about it.”
The man later sounded angry. “Astrophe. There is no thinking about anything. Listen, your mother is dying and I am telling you to come home so that we may be together. For her.”
“Father. I have school and besides that, I don’t want to see Chris.”
“This is not about Chris son, it’s about your mother. She needs you.”
“Listen dad. I love mom but, if Chris is gonna be there then, I ain’t coming.”
“Astrophe. Better sort out your differences with your brother and right now, come to show that love you feel for your mother.”
There was silence.
“Son?”
“Okay dad. I will think about it.” He repeated.
“Please come home quickly son. I’ll send you money through your account.”
“I don’t need it. I have a credit card.”
“No. Better not to use your credit card often. You could fall into debts if you don’t pay up. I’ll send you the money tomorrow. Let me expect you by the end of the week.”
There was a short pause. “Tell me, how critical is she?” Astrophe asked, sounding very sensitive.
“Your mom?”
“Yes. How long does she have?”
“A month. Maybe less.”
There was a deep sigh.
“See son? You have to come and see her.”
“Bye dad.” Astrophe replied and hang up.
He paused, leaning on the wall of the men’s room with the phone in his hand. The condition of his mother added to the tragedy in Astrophe’s life.
He had a long feud with his brother simply because, they always disagreed on everything.
Sometime later, his brother went to live in another state and when their mother begun getting sick with cancer that ate her up, Astrophe or Wayne as he called himself in Ortegun, discovered the involvement of his father with his secretary.
Their home was always hostile and full of fights; between Astrophe and Chris, Astrophe and dad. But, whenever their mother showed up, they pretended to be alright.
Mrs. Harts was not all that deaf or blind in her house either. She argued with them for arguing with each other. Soon, she resisted therapy and medicine and became bitter with life.
Astrophe’s only consolation was the gang he headed when he begun taking studies in Ortegun. They were carefree persons who knew how to party and to have fun.
Recently, they admitted Annie into what they called ‘Hood’. She was the daughter of a professor who also taught psychology in their University. Annie was their latest and greatest conquest.
Now, hearing that his mom was sick and about to die, Astrophe was lost. He kept on queering why everything had to be that way. He cursed himself, his family and life itself. There was no relief anywhere. None except in coke.
As the thought came to mind, he left the bathroom and returned back to his friends.
#
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