I haven’t seen Isom since that day and almost a week has passed. The guys and I agreed if they can’t see him, then neither could I. They also made Ryan promise that he won’t tell me anything; so asking him about Isom was no use. Ryan conquered his fears of the hospital and would go there everyday to check on Isom. None of us know how Isom is doing and if he’s awake or not. I kept on thinking that he might be awake and is looking for us, but you’ll never know.
I started doing my old habit again, which is climbing up to the rooftops. Since I now live in an apartment, the place is a lot better and less dangerous. In my old house, you would literally have to crawl your way up. Using the stairs is enough to take you to the rooftop of my apartment. I cleaned the whole place up and redecorated it by adding something to sit on, which is an outdoor lounge chair that I bought in a garage sale. It was totally worth it.
I have been sitting on the rooftop all day and got to the point where I got bored but was too lazy to come down. I would just shuffle from one corner to another until I got tired. Then I moved on to sitting on the edge, where my legs dangle five floors above. From there, cars looked like toys and the people walking looked like ants. Then I caught sight of a familiar car, entering the parking lot and parked closest to my door. From five floors high, I could tell that was Mark. “MARK!” I yelled and waved like a lunatic,
He looked everywhere, trying to find where the voice came from,
“ROOFTOP!”
He looked up, shielding his eyes from the sun. He darted and disappeared inside the building. I turned on my butt so my back was against the world and waited.
“It might take a while.” I sighed to myself,
After about three minutes, the door burst open and came in breathless Mark. I waited for him to regain his oxygen as he had his hands on his knees, panting. It took another minute until he finally stood straight, “What in the world are you doing?”
“Sit.” I pointed at the chair,
He flopped down without energy left, “You’re doing it again, are you?”
“Yup, it’s been years.”
He then got quite, “…”
“…”
“…”
I hopped off and cautiously approached him until I towered above him, “What’s up?”
“I need a minute.”
“Those big bad stairs wore you out?” I smirked,
“No, not that.” He shifted a little and pulled me down without my permission. The chair was placed next to the wall so we had our backs against it.
“Then, what is it?”
“I never thought that this would ever happen.” He finally said,
“What would happen?”
“Isom.” He paused, “I’m scared about Isom.”
“Me too.”
“I can’t help it but think about all the bad stuff that could possibly happen.” He looked at me with worry,
“There’s nothing wrong in thinking about bad stuff, it’s pretty close to being realistic. Life is full of bad things, but you can’t do anything about it.”
“Can I tell you something?”
“Sure.”
“I got into a fight with him.”
“Isom?”
“Yea.” He pursed his lips,
“About what?”
“We tend to get into fights over little things. I don’t know, maybe things got into the wrong foot.”
“Did he refuse to talk to you?”
“Sort of.” He flicked his eyebrows halfheartedly, “Why?”
“I saw him at a record store with Sean.”
“They always go there.” He chuckled, “We just need to be separated sometimes, you know? Like, not see each other for a few days or so.”
“That always happens. There’s no such thing as a perfect relationship.”
“I’m with you.” He agreed,
“Believe it or not, I get into a lot of fights with Andy. Bad ones. Even though people think that we’re this perfect pair of siblings. It happens, it’s a part of nature.”
“I’m surprised.”
“He tends to get into bad moods often, then we’d start yelling at each other. He looks scary when he’s hardcore mad. The worst fights happened when I just turned eight, when we’re the most vulnerable.”
“Why?”
“That’s when mom started to get busy in Australia. One wrong word can turn into a fight.”
“That bad?”
I nodded, “That bad. I’d start throwing punches at him- but don’t worry, they were harmless.”
He chuckled, “Good to know.”
“I kept on doing it until he got sick and tired of it. When it got to that point, he’ll flick his fingers on my ear and that hurt. It got me to shut up, but it also pissed me off even more at the same.”
“You guys don’t fight anymore, right?”
“The last fight I had with him was before I turned nine. So the worst fights only happened in that period of time.”
“Keep it like that.”
“I’ll try. So anyways, I’d say ‘I hate you’ and walk away, just like that. Then he’d go looking for me, which always ends up in the roof.”
“I’m aware of your weird habits.”
“Yea.” I nodded, “It usually takes two hours for him and I to cool off. When he finds me, he’d scoop me up and put me on his lap to have a rational talk about it. I could sit there and listen to him or both of us could sit in silence until dark, both works.”
“Maybe that’s what I need. Maybe I need to have that little rational talk with Isom.” He sat straight,
“Whoa, there!” I pulled him back by the shirt, “You need to wait until the doctor say that it’s okay to see him.”
He slammed his back against the wall, “Right, you’re right. I forgot that he almost died.”
“Don’t say that, he didn’t die.”
“He almost died.”
I shuddered, “No, don’t say that!”
“How did you know?”
“Know what?”
“That it was going to happen?”
“Ryan had his worries.”
“He knew that it was coming?”
“Yup, he told me to keep an eye on Isom. I got worried too.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it’ll freak you guys out and ruin everything. You guys did great that night.”
“What did you do on stage?”
“I was looking for Isom.”
“There’s something more than that, I know it.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean.” He glared darkly,
I swallowed and admitted, “He wasn’t breathing for two minutes and I had to give him the CPR.”
He swallowed a lump in his throat and buried his head on his hands, “There goes my best friend.”
“He’s going to be okay.” I stroked his back in attempt to comfort him, “He’s a tough guy, and you have my word on that!”
He sniffled and screamed, “I’m sorry, Isom!”
“It’s okay.” I pulled him close,
“No, you don’t understand!”
“I do understand, Mark.”
He lolled his head backwards and closed his eyes, “Yea, okay.”
I sighed, not knowing what else to do. “It’ll be okay eventually.” We sat there in silence and listened to the traffic of the city.
“I could use a cigarette right now.”
“No, we made a deal. A deal is a deal.”
He scowled, “Fine.”
“Sorry, pal.” I patted him on the lap. He fell silent and so did I. We ended up listening to the traffic of the city. I don’t know about him, but I was thinking about Isom. I was thinking that he might be begging Ryan’s dad to send him home. I felt my phone vibrate and I struggled to pull it out of my pocket, “Hello?” “Where’s Mark?”
“He’s with me.”
Mark’s eyes shot open, “Who is that?”
“Shh.”
“Where are you?”
“We’re at my place, Pontius.”
I heard him sigh, “How is he?”
“He’s doing alright. Why?”
“I’m at his house right now.”
“Well, he’s not there.”
“I could see that.” He scoffed,
“What do you want?”
“Nothing. Just checking if he’s alright.”
“Yea, he’s alright.”
“Has Ryan tell you anything?”
“If he has something to tell, then he’d tell you and I at the same time.” I stated, “Wasn’t that what you made him promise?”
“I had to make it fair.”
“Well, then.”
“What’s this?” Mark asked, holding a folded piece of paper.
“Where did you get that?”
“Get what?” Pontius butted in,
“I gotta go, Pontius. Bye.” I hung up and snatched the paper from Mark, “Where did you get this?”
“It slipped out of your pocket.”
“I don’t know.” I carefully unfolded the paper and read it. The note said:
To whoever it may concern, pass this note to Mark.
Mark, if you’re reading this then I am currently looking for you. I know that things got on the wrong foot and I’m sorry about that. We should probably talk, or you could smack me in the head if you want to. I was kind of afraid to say it straight to your face, so I’m asking you through this little piece of paper that I slipped into someone’s pocket. I’m sorry if you’re still mad at me.
Isom
My heart plummeted every time I read it. I read it over and over, my eyes darting from left to right. If he was awake right now, he would be looking for Mark. “What did it say?” Mark asked,
“Do you want me to read it to you?” I asked,
“Okay.”
“Okay.” I took a deep breath, “To whoever it may concern, pass this note to Mark…”
“…”
“Mark, if you’re reading this then I am currently looking for you. I know that things got on the wrong foot and I’m sorry about that. We should probably talk, or you could smack me in the head if you want to. I was kind of afraid to say it straight to your face, so I’m asking you through this little piece of paper that I slipped into someone’s pocket. I’m sorry if you’re still mad at me…”
He tried to snatch the paper from me, but I dodged it. “Who’s that from?”
“Isom.” I murmured,
“Are you sure?”
“Well, it’s his handwriting.”
“Shit, it’s all my fault!” He cried,
“Let it all out.” I awkwardly patted his back,
“If I didn’t have to be such a jerk about it, then this wouldn’t happen.”
“Incase you didn’t know, it’s not your fault.”
“Of course it is! Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Okay, go on.”
“What do you mean go on?”
“One… Two… Three…”
He burst out into manly sobs. It’s possible for Mark, you know?
I held him as he cried on my shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Isom! I’m sorry!” He cried between sobs,
“Do you need to be left alone?”
“No, stay.”
“Okay.” I wiped his cheeks, “I’ll stay.”