Again (PUBLISHED!)

Chapter 26.

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Devon stayed true to his words.

Since the lab incident one week ago, I hadn't really seen much of Devon. It seemed like he had ceased to be my next door neighbor even though he still lived in the house adjacent to mine. He never came in my way, stayed out of my line of vision and if at all we happened to spot each other either in school or in the neighborhood, Devon would avert his eyes and walk away. If at all I saw him at his window anytime when I went over to mine, he immediately receded.

Devon no longer sat with us when Jackson and I read. Infact, Devon avoided being at home most of the times when I went over. It was like he was completely gone from my life save for those rare times when I happened to catch a glimpse of him.

I hated this change that had suddenly swept over my life. I wasn't prepared to deal with it so I felt vulnerable. I missed Devon. I missed him bad. He used to be around always and I never gave a damn and now that he isn't, I found it hard to comprehend a way to measure the depth of emptiness that was suffocating me so that I could leap out of it.

Time moved on, jumping from one day to another. It was only I who was yet stuck at the point where he had walked away...

But I didn't want Devon back in my life. We had gone our separate ways for good.

If only I had a normal past, if only I didn't carry a heavy baggage, if only I didn't have insecurities because of it, if only I were a cheerful happy girl, then I'd have wanted Devon back. Infact, I wouldn't have let him leave like this on the first place....

And then there were nights I spotted Devon getting back home in a cab in a totally drunk and sloshed state which got me extremely worried for him.....

It was that afternoon when I had just stepped out of the house to go over to my neighbors' to read with Jackson, I saw a most unexpected sight.

Devon had just stormed out of the front door of his house. The expression on his face was impossible to decipher. His features were hostile, cold and stiff....

And then I saw something else too which made my heart totally sink in despair. Jackson was dashing out of the house after Devon. The poor kid was teary-eyed and looked absolutely devastated. He tried to stop Devon from leaving by clutching his hand but the older boy roughly jerked his little brother's baby hands away. I was horrified.

Jackson, inspite of being ill-treated, pleaded Devon to not go but the latter got into his car and zoomed away. Jackson started to cry bitterly standing alone at the driveway....

I felt awful to see him in that pitiful condition. I immediately rushed over to the little boy.

"Jackson," I got down to my knees on reaching him, "hey, don't cry!" I said softly, wiping the tears off his little round face but then a fresh line of tears appeared at the brim of his small eyes.

"No, no stop, don't cry!" I hugged him dearly, gently patting his back to calm him down. Gosh I was feeling so bad for him right then.

"Jackson is a brave boy. He doesn't cry, does he?" I whispered softly.

"Jackson is a superhero! Superheroes don't cry, they save the world and make bad people cry!"

I said a couple of other things as well to cheer him up. And finally his cries were reducing into muffled sobs and ultimately he had become quiet.

"Man! You can create fat and dangerous water droplets with your eyes!" I exclaimed, looking at his face. "Do you think you can use this power to help batman fight off evil forces?"