I walked through the wooded area without any deer companions this time. As I neared my house, I saw my moms car in the driveway and heard laughter. I recognized the laughter as my sisters, Yasmine, and a few of her friends probably sitting on the porch. Her dog, cotton, started barking when I was in sight. When I came closer, he barked even louder and the little thing started trying to charge at me, but he was on a chain, so he got choked.
"dumb dog", I laughed. The girls attention was directed to me.
"hi Tyler", they chimed in unison. I waved, "fuck it is?". They laughed. I forgot most of their names, but I knew that one of them had a serious crush on me, judging by the way she acted towards me- and from what Yasmine told me. She also got into my music, her phone had most of my music, and she even got one of my shirts from my store. She was a cool fan, but she was younger, and I forgot her name, so I wouldn't consider her a "friend"... More of a sisters friend...an acquaintance even.
I walked in through the back door and greeted my mom, who was on the phone, with a surprise kiss on the head. She jumped a little, then smiled when she realized who it was.
"I'll call you back, Dee, my son just got home", she said as she pressed "hang up"," hey, Ty, hows it going?".
"good...just got back from TC's"
"I hear, he called me". Why did TC call my mom?
"what was the convo about?", I said as I pulled a bag of pretzels out of the pantry. I poured some in to a bowl as she went on.
"he said you were still stressing over Renée... He didn't call, I did, I was trying to find out where you were". So she was snooping that time? "oh", I said with a mouth full of pretzels. I grabbed the bowl and headed up to my room. I felt that alone feeling again. I wasn't going to sit here and do nothing about it- fuck I look like? Not a loner I suppose. I grabbed my army fatigue bookbag and threw on my burgundy supreme hat and headed for the park. I would go to the lake but I wasn't for it at the moment... Too far of a walk, and Slater, my bike, had a flat tire that I wasn't in the mood to fill it up.
I hardly was in the mood for anything.
as I opened the door, I guess my moms motherly instinct went off.
"Tyler? Where are you going?".
"to the park, mom... I'll be back soon", I yelled. "okay... Be home for dinner, cool?", she said.
"yeah, whatever...cool". I shut the door behind he and walked down the block to another main street that lead to a park at the end. As I walked, I thought about my mom. She tries hard to be great, but I feel like she didn't need another man in her house to help raise us, so when she married my stepfather, who she had Yasmine with, I just couldn't wait for the divorce. Sure enough, he wasn't the one for her, and I was the man again. I felt good to be the man in the house because I loved to help my mother, and I didn't want a man to come in and change that. I was at the end of the street and cars rushed by me. I tried to stick a hand out to stop a car that would let me through. None did, so I Ran for it. When I made it, I felt relieved... A little excited. It gave me a rush that made me want to do it again. Excitement got the best of me and I ran straight for the street. A car honked and someone yelled and I was yanked backwards. I opened one eye and I was back on the curb with some dude hovering over me with a shocked look on his face.
"what the fuck! You could have got killed, kid!", he yelled. I squinted and groaned," who are you. He sucked his teeth, "your guardian angel". Sarcasm.
"who... Are you!", I asked again. He rolled his eyes, "ugh... I'm Christopher, but you can call me Frank". He stuck out a hand and pulled me up. I brushed myself off, "why frank?".
"not the point... Why were you trying to kill yourself? You look like you got something to live for", he asked. I wasn't trying, it was just a sensation that got the best of me. "I was just playing around... Having fun, that's all". He looked at me as if I was stupid, "who plays like that?", he said," once again- you could have died! What would your mom and dad say?". I smirked, "I don't have a dad..."
"oh....me neither, he walked out, you"
"same", I replied. We began walking down the block.
"well... Your mom, you have one, right? If you don't mind me asking this stuff...". I nodded.
"without you, what would your mom do?". I shrugged. "she'd probably be sad!", he said. I shrugged again," yeah... I guess".
"well, your lucky I saved your life".
"uh... Thanks I guess". There was an awkward silence.
"so... Why frank?", I questioned him. He sucked in a breath, "short for Francis, my middle name. Christopher Francis Breaux", he said," I just moved from Florida, I lived in Louisiana, born in Los Angeles".
"why all the moving?".
"Katrina", he sighed. I thought he meant a girl, but he meant the hurricane. "how?", I asked, still curious of the background of my guardian angel.
"after my dad left, we moved to Louisiana and then our house was destroyed, along with most of my treasured possessions, and my mom was pregnant. We moved with family in Florida and just when we thought we had it all together, they put us out". Harsh, I thought.
"anyways...", he added," we moved back here, and now I'm here. Depressed, suicidal and lonely". Kinda my case, I guess. I felt like he was like me in a few ways.
"I'm sorry to hear". He shook his head,"no, no... Its cool. I'm glad that I saved you. I was on my way home thinking suicidal again, and you showed me that if I did, how would that affect the ones I love, the ones that love me?". I let that sink In, and then I thought about Renée. If I died when I jumped in the street, how would it affect her?
probably like dust on her shoulders: she'd brush it off. That pained me even more. I thought about my family and friends and fans. They would be sad and disappointed. He checked his phone and looked ahead, "uh, I gotta get ready to go home..my mom needs my help unpacking more", he said, "if you need more help, just call or text me, pull out your phone and I'll give you the number". I opened contacts and he told me the number. "thanks", I said, "how old are you?".
"22, you?"
"19".
"cool", he said, "well, I'd better get going... Head home and stay outta trouble. Don't do any dumb shit". I laughed and turned around. It wouldn't kill me to be home early for dinner, maybe squeeze in a guitar lesson.
"hey, Wait!", someone yelled. I turned around and frank was smiling.
"you never told me your name, friend!", he laughed. I laughed," Tyler...i create- Tyler, the creator".
"hey, you own that store... The one with the donut logo, like a few blocks away, right?". I smiled and nodded. "'aight...well bye".
I waved, "take care... Friend". I smiled and walked across the street, this time, making smarter decisions. On the way home, I walked farther down another street that short-cut to the shopping center TC was in. I stopped at a florist and picked up a bouquet of flowers and 2 boxes of chocolate for my mom and sister, also a teddy bear for Yasmine and a card for mom. I smiled again. I met my guardian angel today, and he taught me how to cherish what I have, cause I could lose it, or they could lose me, I guess.
