It was nearly a month until I saw Leon again, and it was the most agonising time of my life. He hadn’t come to school since that Friday – his empty chair was a big enough presence on its own – and by the end of the first week, I almost said fuck it to the entire idea of going back. I don’t know why I carried on, maybe for the sake of hope that one of the days I would walk into that shitty hole of a school and he would be reading our English lit book on the stairs, or finishing maths homework in our registration class.
And, while it was neither of those two places, on the Thursday, three weeks later – the Friday after was our last day at school before a week off – I saw him.
And before, I lied. This was the most relieved I had ever felt in my life.
“Leon!” I couldn’t help but shout across the street. He was in the park, sitting on one of the rusty swings, with a zipper hoodie done up all the way and some old battered combat boots on. He was looking down, and if not for the hair and the beautiful light brown skin and slightly crooked nose – I wasn’t even going to lie about how much I liked looking at him anymore – I would barely have been able to tell it was him, and for a horrible moment, I thought he was asleep, or worse, passed out.
“Leon!” I said again as I got to the park gate, and this time got a response. He lifted his head, his brows furrowed, for a moment, and then they relaxed.
And then I properly look at his face, and hands, and ankles. Oh no. No no no no no.
“Leon, oh my God, I can’t believe you’re here,” I said, practically sprinting across the park, dumping my backpack somewhere along the way. “It’s been so long, I was so worried, I thought something... well... I don’t know what I thought had happened, but God knows I’m relieved.”
He looked back down, and I took a close examination of his face. Both eyes blackened, bruising over his cheeks and jaw, his nose bent more than it usually was. His lip was split, and there were darkened spots of blood down the side of his neck. The nails on his hands had been ruined, with most of the fingertips sore and bloody, and the fingers purple and bent awkwardly as he tried to hide them in his shallow pockets. I sat on the other swing, and leaned over, a little. “Talk to me, Leon, please.” I said, but he looked dazed, almost like he was about to go to sleep. “It doesn’t have to be about what happened, if you don’t want. Just about... anything. Let me know you’re ok, now.”
“I... I am sorry, Callum. I am very sorry.”
“It’s ok, Leon. You don’t need to apologise now. I’m here, and so are you, and we’ll work through everything together, right? I promise you.” He nodded, and clutched his stomach, doubling over. “Oh fuck, are you hungry?”
He paused, for a second, and then nodded, a little. “Alright. There’s a cafe over the road, I’m going to go and get you something, ok?” He shook his head a little. “No, it’s not an option. You are my best friend and a wonderful person and I am going to make you feel as good as I can. Now you have to promise me you’re going to stay here, alright?” He nodded. “Super promise?”
“I promise you, Callum,” he said, almost whispering. “Thank you.”
I gave one last quick look back at him, and then ran across the park, almost tripping over my bag, and opening the café door with a slam. The woman behind the cake display looked at me strangely as I went through the prepackaged items they had on offer like a bull in a china shop, but I didn’t care. I rifled through each type, a thousand different things running thriugh my mind as quickly as my heart was beating.
“Uh, these, please.” I looked down at the cakes underneath. He needs a treat. “And one of those slices.”
She nodded, carefully taking out one of the little sugar slabs with tongs and putting it in a paper bag. I had to stop myself from hopping from one foot to the other like a child waiting to pee. Come on, come on, I have to go, can’t you tell? “That’ll be six pounds fifty, love.”
Shit, shit, I knew this place was overpriced. “Right, yeah,” I said, rummaging through my blazer pockets. “Here’s a fiver, and, um... two pounds, here.” I practically threw the money at her, picked up the cake and sprinted through the door, barely hearing the woman shouting that I had forgotten my change, like I gave even one shit right then.
“Hey, Leon, come on, don’t fall asleep now, okay? I’m back, and I’ve got food. I realised I should’ve paid more attention when we ate lunch together, because I had no clue what to get. It was going to be ham salad, but then I got scared because of your father and I thought maybe you were a Muslim, so then I just got cheese, so I hope that’s ok. As well as a bit of something sweet for later. Here,” I ripped open the packaging, and gently took one of his hands and placed it on the palm. He winced, a little, but didn’t jerk away as I closed his fingers around the bread.
He looked up at me drowsily, his eyelids drooping as he slowly took a bite. I sat on the swing next to him, trying not to make him too uncomfortable, but I couldn’t help but lean over and watch him.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and started fiddling with the sleeves of his jacket. “Feel better now?” I asked.
“Yeah. Thank you, Callum.” He smiled, a little, but still looked like he could fall asleep at any moment.
“It’s no problem – I just wish you’d have told me what had gone on, I was so scared, you know?” I shook my head. “Let’s not worry about that, though. Come on, can you walk? It’s only up the road and down a street, okay?”
“Wait,” he looked up at me. “Where are we going?”
“My house,” I said, and even though he shook his head, I put my arm around his waist as gently as I could to lift him up. “And don’t protest. You don’t need to feel bad about this. People are made to work in groups, yeah? We’re pretty useless on our own, generally. So when you need help, I’m here, and I hope it’s the same the other way around, if that ever happens.” He nodded.
“Of course,” he mumbled, wincing as he put his foot on the ground. I grabbed his wrist gently and placed it around my shoulder.
“Come on, slowly now. Just relax, and take it a step at a time, ok? We’ll do this together, won’t we?”
“Yeah. We’ll be... together.”