Jaylin.
I close my eyes.
I breathe in the air. I feel the vibration of every beat of the song.
"Hey! You wanna get some ice cream?!" Rayne yells from the loud wind coming through the car.
"Yeah!" I yell back as my hair fly's across my face, not being able to see anything.
We blast out the song "Blow" by Kesha from Rayne's car with all the window's rolled down.
I've got to be honest, she has the energy to liven up the mood, to make your mind only focus on the moment right there, nothing else.
But will she stay?
I haven't even had a friendship that lasted more than a year. Will I ruin this friendship like every other one? Or am I just going to really hurt her?
"Hey! You still there?! I feel like I'm jamming by myself like a crazy person! Not that I'm already am!" She smiles widely, taking her eyes off the road.
"Hey! Eyes on the road!" I laugh, leaving my train of thought.
We come to a stop light as the song came to an ended.
"You've got an okay taste, I've got to say," she says as she turns down the volume. "After this light switches to green, the ice cream will be right around the corner," she says excitingly.
We wait for the red light to change but I guess it's true that time slows down, the more you think about it. As we impatiently wait for the light to change.
But then right at that moment a motorcycle pulls up on the next lane on my side. I turn to see the motorcycle then see five other motorcycles pull up behind the first motorcycle.
I don't know why but I suddenly thought of him and his five other friends that were always beside him.
I let out a small laugh catching Rayne's attention. I see the light turn green but Rayne was too focused on me.
"Rayne," I laugh as I say her name. "The light," I say starting to laugh hysterically.
"Shit!"
I see her freaking out before roughly pressing on the gas, making a rough start. I should say she's not the best driver.
We roughly pull up to the ice cream shop and my door wouldn't open and she just kicked it open for me. Her car is a bit...broken, I should say. But me and my dad don't even have a car so lucky her to even have a car.
We go into the ice cream shop, wondering what I should get, I hear Rayne already asking what she wants. I hear her say, "Could I have 2 scoops of vanilla and this girl would have...?" she turns to me, waiting for me to tell her what I want.
"Uh could I have some..." the thought just hit me.
I haven't had ice cream in over two years...well that's depressing.
I try to play it off and choose the first thing I see. "Could I just have one scoop of cookie's n cream? On a cone," I finish off.
I give her my money but she already hands her money to the worker, paying for the two of us. I feel bad. As we were about to grab our ice creams over the counter I feel a harsh wind hit us with the sound of glass breaking. Rayne and I fall to our knees, hitting our heads against the counter, falling to the floor.
There I saw half of a car in the ice cream shop and a man on the floor, his hands trying to hold himself up.
I see blood rushing down his forehead, blood dripping down his nose, and see the fear in the man's eyes.
He backs away as those eyes were filled with fear, looking at someone. I turn my neck by the slightest feeling a tight tension sting in my neck and see a motorcycle helmet over the person's head.
I see the helmet guy step over some glass and starts walking to the man, he grabs his right hand, and slides off one of his gauntlet gloves then the other glove. He throws it to the ground and grabs the man's collar.
"If you want to steal my bike and take pictures of that lady at the same time," he points to the ice cream worker. "Then people will say that you need to be in jail, but I want you to be in hell," he growls through his helmet to the man.
I turn back to see Rayne and see that she has a bruised part on her hairline. I see her glaring at the man that's on the ground in disgust. I ask her if she's okay and said she's fine.
I painfully get up, feeling pain shoot through my knee, ribs, and head but I ignore it and try to look for the worker. I look over and see her in shock, tears running down her eyes. Terrified.
"You okay?" I ask swallowing down a dry feeling down my throat.
She just nods.
I would also be in deep shock too. I reach over and grabbed her hand that was on the counter. She meets my eyes and I look her in the eyes.
"It's okay..." I don't know what I'm saying but as soon as I say that, she brings more tears down her eyes, that fall down onto the counter, I see her bottom lip quiver.
Two things that I would want if I was in her position...Is having a person by your side...And telling you it's okay...No matter what.
Telling me it's okay...Knowing I'm not alone.
She's young. She is around 15 to 16 years old. I can see. I see her break down in terror. I've known this girl for less than two minutes, no, I don't even know this girl. But I feel like I already know her. Rayne hurries over to the young girl and wraps her arms around the young girl. I let my hand go from her and I feel the warmth of her hand leave my hand.
I start to see black spots in my vision. I feel my face turn blank as I fall against the counter, feeling my legs go into sudden numbness but I feel hands slide under my arms, lifting me up a bit.
"Jay-" Rayne calls out my name but pauses herself as she sees the helmet guy lifting me back up.
I turn to see the helmet guy lifting me back and me being me; my legs go into spaghetti noodles for a split second almost falling down like an idiot again. But he doesn't let me fall. I turn to see the man, that was on the floor, being handcuffed by the police, I didn't even see or hear them come in.
"Can you stand?" he asks me. Wow. Holy Shit. His voice is fucking hot making me feel my guts rearranging. Shit, that's not normal, right? In short and simple terms...His voice is hot.
I nod. I slightly feel heat coming to my cheeks as I feel him move his big large hands to my waist that perfectly wrapped around my waist. He then brings my arm over his shoulder and slightly crouches down so he matches my height.
I see a lady jumping out of the ambulance as it pulls up and moves my arm that was over the helmet guy's shoulder and moves it to her shoulder and walks me to the ambulance. I start to get treated sitting on the edge of the ambulance and watched the helmet guy walk away and vanish as multiple people pass through, losing my path of eyes on him.
I see Rayne running towards me and I only hear muffling sounds from different voices from Rayne, the medical technician who was helping me, and other random people.
I wake up from my trance and the medical technician was already helping Rayne with her forehead.
"How is she?" I ask Rayne as she sits beside me.
"She's okay..." something is worrying Rayne, I can see it.
"What's wrong?" I ask her.
"I was in her position once...I felt like I was seeing myself in her...I was so alone and terrified and I shut myself out...You know getting your pictures taken by old creepy men as a minor." She says it as it happened many times to her. I feel a sharp pain in my heart for her. I never realized how bright she is but with a such dark past.
I spot the ice cream worker. "I know what you can do for her." Rayne turns her head to me. "She must be scared, just like you were, she probably doesn't know what to do because she's so terrified...and alone...you should go comfort her, be by her side when you didn't have anyone."
Rayne stares at me with surprise then settles down with a 'thank you' written on her face. She brings me in for a hug and I hug her back and I watch her walk to the ice cream worker. After a while of watching from afar, I see them getting comfortable with each other. I see a police officer coming up to me.
"Some gentleman asked me to give this to you." He hands me a cracked phone and a flash drive.
"T-this isn't my phone...or flash drive," I tell the officer. Remembering I left my phone in the car.
"I don't know if this is or not your phone but the gentleman who gave me this says that I have to make sure you see all of it, which I'm not sure what it means but..." He just shrugs his shoulders.
I look at the cracked phone and stared at it, wondering why I'm the ONE who's supposed to be watching this. I swipe up and see a video that pops up and I see it shaky. But then I see my and Rayne's back through the window, then I see it.
Zooming in, in between me and Rayne, and zooms in on the ice-cream worker's face. This stupid bastard was fucking videotaping a minor.
Rage filled through my hands as I squeeze the phone tightly in my hand. My eyebrows furrowed, creating a crease in between them. I feel my whole body tense up, my body clenching together, feeling my face get tense.
I watch the rest, the man who I now see as a fucking pervert, gets slammed into the glass and falls to the floor, and the phone slides against the floor and records the entire thing. I now look at the flash drive that is labeled "Security Camera 08".
"Do you have a computer?" I ask the officer who just saw everything that I just saw.
He brings back a laptop and I pluck it in and I see a file that pops up and I click it open and there I saw the man trying to steal the helmet guy's bike and taking a video of the ice cream worker, caught all. in. one. video. These aren't just a broken phone and a random flash drive, these are evidence to get that criminal into their home. Jail.
"Wait you said a gentleman gave this to you? To me? Who? What did he look like?" I start throwing out questions to the poor police officer who has to hear me ramble.
"Yeah, he looked young, about the same age as you actually, and yes he did tell me to take it to you," He answers calmly than I expected, actually answering all my questions.
~~~~~
Was it the helmet guy?
This question roams through my head non-stop, I can't help but wonder if it was him. The police officer took the evidence to the police station and probably right now, they are questioning the man right now and also probably getting his mug shot. Hah.
"Why you laughin'?" Rayne asks as she drives me and the girl home.
"Oh I was thinking of that bastard getting a mugshot right now," I send Rayne a smile.
"That stupid bastard deserves his ass to be whooped!" Rayne slams a smack to the wheel, accidentally hitting the middle releasing a honk. "Oops..."
We all stare at each other as the front car, sticks out a finger out the window, sending us a precious middle finger. After a second of silence, we laugh our heads off, I hear everyone's genuine laugh from everyone, even the girl, whose name is apparently is Aviana. Laugh that was real and not fake. It felt good to let out a true and real laugh after a long time.
"Stay safe, I'll see you around Aviana," I turn around and hopped out of the car. "I'll see you at school Rayne!" I wave as I go up to my doorstep.
I hear Rayne saying something. "Watch your...!" I fall on my ass. "Step..."
I feel pain shoot up to my ribs. I raise my hand up and gave her a thumbs up as my head is still down to the floor.
"I'll see you at school Jaylin! Nice meeting you!" She screams as she pulls out and I watch her drift away. I'm alone again.
I made a friend. I went to my school for the first time. I got ice cream for the first time in over two years. I witnessed a man getting taken down by a helmet guy. I helped a girl. I found evidence or was given evidence about the man who to committed two crimes at once.
What is wrong with today...
~~~~~
I opened the front door, slowly, trying to avoid any creak noises. Praying no sounds are going to be made.
"Where the hell-" I see my dad pause himself, shocked to see bandages and cuts on my face. Fuck. He's supposed to be asleep. "What the hell happened to you?!" He runs over to me lifting my face up to him.
Never really imagined for him to be worried but it's nice for him to finally act like a dad.
"Just something...I'm fine," I shoo his hands away.
Now there's an awkward silence that is filling the gap between us. I don't like this. I don't like how we are so uncomfortable with each other even though it wasn't like this before.
"Okay. Go upstairs." He turns his tone back to emotionless and turns away, walking up the stairs and closing his bedroom door.
"Okay. Go upstairs." Those are his words to me after seeing me filled with cuts and bandages all over my face. No yelling. No discipline.
Get mad at me dad, even more. Like a bad teenager who stayed out late and came back to get yelled out or grounded.
What was I even expecting?
I drop to the floor, crouching, knees to my chest, I cry into the palm of my hands.
One moment I laugh. Another, I cry.
(2479 Words)
Published: Feb 7 2/7/22